The Secret Chicken Society

by Judy Cox

  The incubator looked like a large spaceship with a clear plastic dome. Mrs. Lopez took off the top. Inside were places for twelve eggs. There was a light bulb to keep the eggs warm. She plugged it in, and showed the class how to set the thermostat.

  “Our eggs need a constant temperature of about 100 degrees, give or take a few degrees,” she told them. “We’ll have to check the temperature every day.” She put a thermometer inside.

  There was a water trough, too. Mrs. Lopez filled the container with water to add moisture to the air. “The humidity has to be 58 to 60 percent for the first eighteen days,” she said, putting a gauge next to the thermometer. “We’ll read the gauge every day, and add water if the trough dries up. On day nineteen, we’ll increase the humidity to 65 percent. That will keep the eggs moist so they’ll hatch.”

  In a few days the eggs came. Daniel expected the eggs to be white, like the ones Mom bought at the store. But these eggs were all different. Some were white, but there were brown, green, and blue eggs, too. Some were the size of store eggs, but there were a few smaller ones.

  “I ordered mixed breeds,” said Mrs. Lopez. “So we don’t know what the chicks will look like. They are from different breeds of chickens.” She pointed to a poster on the wall. Some chickens had stripes. Some had spots. Some had feathery topknots. Some had feathery legs. “It will be a surprise. I thought that would be more fun,” she added.

  Mrs. Lopez showed them how to place the eggs in the incubator with the small ends pointed slightly down. She marked an X on one side and an O on the other side of each egg. “We have to turn the eggs for the first eighteen days,” she said. “The Xs and Os will remind us which side to face up.”

  The eggs had to be turned three times a day, even on the weekends. First all the eggs had to be turned so the X side was on top. Several hours later, they had to be turned again. This time the Os had to be on top. The small end had to point the same way all the time.

  Daniel pointed to a small brown egg. “That one’s mine,” he said. “That will be my chick.”

  Mrs. Lopez laughed. “I like your enthusiasm. But remember,” she warned, “not all our eggs will hatch. And sometimes even when an egg hatches, the chick dies.”

  Daniel barely heard her. His eyes were glued to the eggs in the incubator. His chick was forming inside one of them. He just knew it.

  For the next twenty-one days, Daniel was in heaven. The class learned a lot of new vocabulary words, like albumen, embryo, and membrane. Mrs. Lopez handed out egg journals. “We’ll keep track of our data every day,” she told the class. “Write the date, current temperature and humidity, and any changes you observe.”

  On the sixteenth day, Mrs. Lopez showed them how to candle the eggs. “We can see what’s going on inside as the chicks develop,” she told the class. Daniel held an egg up to the flashlight. Inside, he saw the tiny beating heart of the embryo. He drew a picture in his journal.

  On Saturdays, Daniel volunteered to help Mrs. Lopez turn the eggs. At first all the kids wanted to help, but by the second weekend only Daniel and Mrs. Lopez were left.

  “Aren’t they ever going to hatch?” Daniel asked Mrs. Lopez.

  “Be patient,” she said. Daniel sighed. He was tired of being patient.

  After day eighteen, though, they didn’t have to turn the eggs anymore. “The eggs need to rest for the last days,” Mrs. Lopez told them. The class still continued with their notes in the egg journals.

  Daniel hovered over the incubator every chance he got, so he was the first one to see the eggs hatch. On the twenty-first day after the class got the eggs, Daniel was returning to his seat from the pencil sharpener. He checked the incubator for the millionth time.

  Tap, tap. Daniel peered through the window. Could that sound be coming from inside?

  Tap. Tap. Tap. The noise was so soft that it might have been Max tapping his pencil on his desk. It might have been Katrina tapping her toe. It might have been Mrs. Lopez tapping her ruler.

  But it wasn’t. Daniel looked close. He saw a tiny hole in one of the eggs.

  “It’s hatching!” he cried.

  All the kids gathered around, pushing to get a better look. Mrs. Lopez told the tall kids like Max and Katrina to kneel in front of the table. She let the shorter kids like Allison, Sam, and Harry stand behind them. But Daniel kept his place right in the front.

  The egg rocked back and forth. Cracks appeared in the shell. Peep! Peep!

  “Look!” yelled Sam. “A chick! I can see it coming out!” The shell split. Daniel could see wet, yellow feathers. But the chick still didn’t come out.

  “I think it’s stuck,” said Allison. She frowned. “Can I pull the shell off?”

  “No,” said Daniel. He shook his head, but he didn’t look up. He didn’t want to miss a thing. “You can’t help.”

  “That’s right,” said Mrs. Lopez. “Rule number one. No touching the eggs while they are hatching. The chick has to be strong enough to break out on its own.”

  Daniel leaned closer, folding his arms on the table. “You can do it, little guy,” he said softly. “Come on, chicky.”

  Finally Daniel saw the rubbery membrane break. The egg rocked harder. The shell split apart. Out popped the wet chick.

  “Ick!” said Katrina. “It’s all slimy!”

  “That’s normal,” said Mrs. Lopez. “Soon it will dry and look fluffy.”

  The chick had a big head and little wings. It tried to stand, but fell a few times before it could. Its feet were huge and it had dark eyes. Was that the egg tooth on the top of the beak? Daniel knew that chicks have a sharp point on the top of the beak for pecking a hole in the eggshell. A few days later that tiny tooth would fall off.

  After the first chick hatched, other eggs began to pip. Other chicks started hatching. The kids leaned close. Everyone had something to say. Everyone talked at once.

  “I think they’re ugly!” said Katrina.

  “No they aren’t,” said Max. “They look like baby dinosaurs!”

  “This is amazing!” said Fiona.

  “Here comes a wing!” shouted Harry.

  “He’s coming out,” said Allison. “Oh my gosh, this is so cool.”

  “Let me see!” ordered Sam.

  “Wow! See how it pushes? Mrs. Lopez, can I hold him?”

  “Can I?”

  “Can I?”

  Mrs. Lopez laughed. “We can’t hold the chicks until they are dry.” Carefully, she scooped each wet chick up and set it under the heat lamp. When the chicks dried, their feathers fluffed out like dandelion puffs. Daniel grinned. He liked the perfect tiny beaks, claws, and combs.

  When four chicks were settled under the heat lamp, Daniel turned to Mrs. Lopez. “When will the other eggs hatch?”

  “They might not,” said Mrs. Lopez. She looked tired. “I think we are pretty lucky to get four chicks.”

  In the end, five of the eggs hatched. The next day, Mrs. Lopez moved the five chicks to the brooder. The class had built the brooder out of a cardboard box lined with straw and shavings. There was a heat lamp to keep the chicks warm. There was a food tray and water bottle.

  Each chick looked a little bit different. One chick was pale cream with black feet. It had a little topknot of fluff. One chick had brown stripes. One was black with yellow stripes. Two chicks were yellow, but one was big and one was little. Daniel thought the tiny chick looked like an Easter decoration. That chick was Daniel’s favorite. It peeped steadily.

  “We should call that one Peepers,” said Daniel. He turned to Mrs. Lopez. “Which are girls and which are boys? Because my mom said I can’t bring home a rooster.”

  Mrs. Lopez shook her head. “This is the first time I’ve hatched eggs,” she said. “I’m no expert. You’ll just have to wait and see.”

  Chapter 4

  PEEPERS

  Daniel thought the next three weeks were the best three weeks of the whole school year. Every day, he fed and watered the chicks. The other kids helped, although so
me lost interest. Not Daniel. Every spare minute of the school day found him glued to the brooder.

  The chicks were wobbly at first. Sometimes they fell asleep standing up. They sat down suddenly. But now all the chicks were steady on their feet. Each chick had a tiny ridge on its head where the comb would be. Their wing feathers had started to grow. A constant peep-peep-peep came from the brooder.

  “It’s enough to drive one nuts,” said Mrs. Lopez. But Daniel liked it.

  “They stink,” said Allison. But Daniel didn’t mind. As the chicks got bigger, the brooder had to be cleaned out more often.

  Daniel really liked the one he named Peepers. When Daniel came to feed them, she was always first in line. She cocked her head at Daniel. She looked at him first with one bright, shiny black eye, then the other. Daniel picked her up. He stroked the fluff on her head with one finger. She closed her eyes. He could almost feel her purr like a kitten.

  Two weeks after the chicks hatched, Dad announced that it was the perfect Saturday to start the garden. “Organic veggies,” he said, pulling on a pair of gloves. “Zucchini! Peas! Tomatoes!”

  “Beans!” said Mom, waving a trowel.

  “But no lima beans,” said Kelsey. “Can we grow pumpkins for jack-o’-lanterns?”

  “Strawberries for me?” asked Emmy.

  Dad ruffled her hair. “Strawberries for all of us. Pumpkins, too.”

  “But I told my friends I’d meet them at the mall!” said Tyler.

  “No work, no eat,” said Dad. That was that. The rain had stopped, so after Daniel fed his pets the whole family headed to the backyard.

  The Millers’ backyard wasn’t like any other backyard in their neighborhood. Instead of a grassy lawn, they had patches of dirt. Instead of a swing set or swimming pool, they had a rickety tree house in a big maple tree. Instead of flower beds, they had weeds.

  “I’m too busy to worry about the yard,” Mom always said.

  “Besides,” added Dad, “weeds are just wildflowers. Good for the birds! Good for the bees!”

  After Dad rototilled the garden plot, Daniel helped Tyler spread compost. First Tyler shoveled it into the wheelbarrow from the bin. The barrow tilted from side to side as Daniel pushed it over to the tilled dirt. Dad grabbed a pitchfork. Emmy and Kelsey poked at the compost with trowels. Mom sorted out seed packets and strawberry plants.

  “How’s the chick project going?” Dad asked. He pushed his glasses up on his nose.

  “The drawing is next week,” said Daniel. “I hope I get Peepers. She knows me. She comes when I call.”

  “I want a chick, too,” said Emmy. “I want a green one.”

  “To lay green eggs. Hey! Green eggs and ham!” Kelsey laughed at her own joke.

  “These are real chicks,” Daniel told her. “They don’t come in green.”

  “Didn’t you say there’s fifteen kids signed up? And there’s only five chicks?” asked Tyler, shoveling more compost.

  “So you have only a one-in-three chance to get a chick,” Tyler pointed out. “Bad odds. Plus, somebody else might pick Peepers.”

  Just then Kelsey yelled, “Poison!” The big orange cat skulked in the weeds, stalking birds.

  “That cat!” said Mom, clapping her hands to scare him away. “He’s a menace to the neighborhood.”

  “Certainly to the neighborhood birds,” agreed Dad.

  Finally the day for the drawing came. Mrs. Lopez put all the slips in a jar. She shook it.

  “The chicks need to be picked up by Friday,” she said. “Remember, no animals are allowed on the bus. So please arrange for someone to come get them.”

  She shook the jar and reached inside. Daniel leaned forward. He chewed his lip. He had to get a chick. He just had to.

  Mrs. Lopez drew the first name. “Sam,” she called. Sam cheered.

  One by one, she drew names.

  “Max.” Max pumped his fist in the air. “Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah!” he yelled.

  “Allison.” Allison clasped her hands. She shook them over her head like a prizefighter.

  Only two chicks left. Daniel’s heart beat so hard he thought it would slam right out of his chest.

  “Katrina.”

  “Hooray!” Katrina’s smile stretched ear to ear.

  “Harry.”

  That was it. All five chicks were spoken for. Not one for Daniel. His shoulders slumped.

  But Harry waved his hand. “Mrs. Lopez!” he called. “I forgot to tell you. My dad changed his mind. He said I can’t have a chick after all.”

  “I’ll draw another name,” said Mrs. Lopez. Her hand hovered over the jar.

  Daniel clenched his hands. Please, he thought. Let it be me. I’ll eat all my vegetables for a month. I’ll help Tyler mow the lawn. I’ll wash the car. I’ll never call Emmy a dummy head again.

  Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Mrs. Lopez’s hand slid into the jar. She pulled out a slip of paper. She unfolded the slip of paper. She raised it to her eyes. Her mouth opened. “Daniel.”

  “Yes!” Daniel could feel a grin split his face. His heart settled back down. One chick was his.

  After school on Friday, Daniel waited in the classroom for Dad. Today was the day he got to take his chick home. Because his was the last name drawn, he didn’t get to pick. He’d have to take the last chick left. That was Mrs. Lopez’s rule. He hoped it would be Peepers.

  The chicks were growing up. They still had skinny pipe-cleaner legs, but they had feathers on their wings. They had lost the puffy, fluffy look. Cheep! Cheep! Their peeping filled the classroom.

  Sam sailed in from recess. “Sorry, Mrs. Lopez. My mom changed her mind. No chick after all. Can I have a lollipop instead?” He knew Mrs. Lopez kept lollipops in her desk for good behavior.

  “No lollipops,” said Mrs. Lopez, looking vexed.

  When Katrina’s grandmother came in to pick up Katrina, she said Katrina’s parents were out of town for six months. She didn’t know anything about any chicks, and she wasn’t going to have any dirty birds in her clean car.

  “That’s okay,” Katrina told Daniel. “You can have my chick. Grandma’s going to buy me a puppy for my birthday.”

  Daniel grinned. Two chicks! That was even better than one.

  Max had a problem, too. “Turns out my sister is allergic to birds,” he said. “Sorry, Mrs. Lopez.” He grabbed his backpack and ran out the door.

  Allison made a face. “I was supposed to tell you this before,” she said. “But my mom said no, too. We’re moving to an apartment and can’t have pets.”

  Mrs. Lopez looked really annoyed now. “What am I going to do with all of these chicks?” she said. Just then Daniel’s dad came in, trailed by Kelsey and Emmy.

  “We’ll take them!” said Daniel. “We’ll take them all.”

  “All what?” asked Dad.

  “The chicks. Tell her, Dad. You said you wanted a flock of hens. Besides, if we don’t take the chicks, what will happen to them?”

  Mrs. Lopez looked at Dad. “Are you sure?” she asked.

  Dad scratched his head. He looked in the brooder. The chicks peeped at him. They blinked their shiny eyes.

  “Please, Daddy?” Emmy tugged on his hand.

  “Please?” echoed Kelsey, tugging on the other hand.

  “If you take them all, I’ll give you the heat lamp, food tray, and water bottle, too,” said Mrs. Lopez.

  “Well, I guess five chicks are no more work than one chick,” said Dad.

  “Good!” said Mrs. Lopez. Daniel thought she sounded relieved.

  Dad picked up the cardboard box with the chicks. “Our own backyard flock,” he said. “How about that?” Then he shook his head. “I don’t know what your mother will say.”

  “I’m going to call mine Primrose,” said Kelsey as they all headed out to the car.

  Chapter 5

  WHY DID THE CHICKEN

  CROSS THE ROAD?

  “Five!” Mom exclaimed. “I said we could take one!”

  “It�
��s a little hard to explain . . . ,” Dad began.

  Daniel put the box on the back porch. He lifted the cardboard flaps. The five chicks looked up at him with bright eyes.

  “Just look at them,” said Dad. “We couldn’t leave them at school. They’re so sweet.” He pulled Mom over. She put her hands on her hips. She wouldn’t look into the box, but the other kids crowded around.

  “I’m going to call mine Daffodil,” said Kelsey. She picked up a fat, creamy chick with black legs. The chick had a little tuft of feathers on her head like a topknot.

  “I thought you were going to name her Primrose.” Daniel reached into the box.

  “That’s what I meant,” said Kelsey. She stroked the chick. “Primrose.”

  Emmy held out her hands. Daniel handed her a fluffy, pale yellow chick. “My chick’s name is Twinkie,” she said. “Give one to Tyler, too.”

  Tyler peered into the box. The black chick stared fiercely back. Tyler stroked his chick with one finger, but he didn’t pick her up.

  “What are you going to name her?” asked Kelsey. She still held Primrose.

  “T-Rex,” said Tyler. “She looks tough. Like a dinosaur. And birds are related to dinosaurs. But I don’t want a chick. I’m giving mine to Emmy. She can have two.”

  “Goody,” said Emmy. “But I’m not calling her T-Rex. That’s not a girl name.”

  Tyler grinned at her. “No, that’s the deal. T-Rex, or you can’t have her.”

  Emmy shrugged. Better a chick called T-Rex than no chick at all. She picked her up.

  Now only two chicks were left in the box. “This little one is Peepers,” said Daniel. He carefully lifted the tiny chick with both hands. “She’s mine.”

  “There’s one left,” Emmy pointed out.

  The last chick was gray. Daniel scooped her up. He held her out to Mom.

  “No,” said Mom, putting up her hands to ward him off.

  “But she’s so cute,” said Daniel.

  Mom shook her head. “No and no and no.”

  Daniel made his eyes big and pleading. “Just hold her for a minute.”