® Hertzler Farm and Feed Inc.

A Freak with a Beak

By Kayla Miller

(Kayla is 13 years old. Her mom is one of my employees. One day this summer (2007) Kayla kept calling work saying she was bored. We told her to write us a story about a chicken. The following story is what she came up with.)

I have just one question: Why am I so different? My parents, Lilly and Joe Chicken Feet, were married when my mama first laid my egg. It was unlike anything they had ever seen. Hot pink with lime green polka dots. Wow! While I was still in my egg growing I overheard them talking.

“Joe, what if he isn’t normal?” my mom asked.

“Lilly, don’t worry. Our chick will be fine. And even if he’s not, we will still love him just as if he were.”

Well now. Shall we fast forward a few weeks? My other brothers and sisters had already hatched and were with the chick sitter, and my parents were watching my egg very carefully. After a couple of days they were thinking I was a dud and were about to throw me out when suddenly…crack! A split went down the pink and green beauty. Happy birthday to me! My parents were so overjoyed. But as I looked around, I saw my egg and said, “Who was the freak in the weird egg?”

They said, “Well, we don’t think you are a freak.” What? How could I be born out of that? I’m as normal as anyone! “Well, I don’t know, but we will try to find out,” said Mom.

“Thanks, Mom and Dad,” I replied. So I went off to meet my brothers and sisters. It turns out I have two brothers and three sisters. Their names are Miley, Lola, Hannah, Jackson and Robbie.

Oh, I forgot to mention we are black japs. So we get picked on a lot because of our size. Shortness runs in the family. My chick sister, Henrietta, always calls me Shorty. I hate that. On June 1^st I made my first friend, an Australian Shepherd named Rex. We like to play “Herd the Chickens.” I get to pretend I’m a dog and he’s a chicken, and I herd him. It’s really fun. My other friends include Barb the work horse, Peter the woodpecker, and Lonnie the cat. They’re friends even though the first time I met Lonnie, he tried to eat me. Not a great way to start off.

But I still hadn’t forgotten about Mom and Dad’s promise to try to figure out why my egg was so different. So I decided to try to figure it out myself. I stayed up late with Rex and Lonnie to watch the nest. My mom kept telling us repeatedly to go to sleep, but we kept ignoring her. My sister Miley kept telling us to shut up, so I told her to take a hike. Mom got mad and told us both to hush and get some sleep. I couldn’t get to sleep. I had to try to figure out why I’m so different. Why me? I was about to drift off to sleep when I heard the crunch of feet on the driveway. I told Rex and Lonnie to be quiet and listen. It turns out Farmer Bob’s daughter, Jamie, was doing a science project. Every couple of weeks she would take an egg from a sitting hen and color it with a sharpie marker to try to see if the hen would reject it. So far none had. I was so excited I woke up the whole family to tell them my discovery. I was normal after all!