the one-legged chicken
Once upon a time there was a family who owned a big farm that raised chickens. They sold the eggs to stores and restaurants or to individuals who just wanted to have fresh eggs for their own families. It was a very good business to own because there were a lot of people that wanted fresh eggs. Nana and Papa owned the farm, and their grandson, Mickey, lived with them too. Mickey was in fifth grade so he was big enough to help with gathering eggs in the morning before he went to school. Mickey’s favorite part of the farm was the little baby chicks because they were so cute and small.
Mickey always goes into the egg barn as soon as he gets home from school. He can always find his Papa there working with the chickens. One day when Mickey came home from school, his Papa was standing outside the barn waiting for him. Papa said, “I wanted to make sure that you would come into the barn.” Mickey said, “Papa, you know I always come into the barn before I go into the house.” Papa said, “You are right! I wanted to make sure that you came into the barn first because I have something you’ll want to see.” Mickey asked Papa what was so exciting? Papa said, “Come in and I will show you.”
Papa walked with Mickey to the back where he had a special incubator for the newborn chicks. There had to be at least two dozen little yellow chicks in the incubator that were just a few hours old. They weren’t even born yet when he looked in the incubator before he went to school in the morning. Mickey’s Papa said, “There is a special one that I want you to see.” Papa picked up about ten little chicks looking for the one that he wanted to show Mickey. Finally, he picked up a little chick that didn’t try to run away like the other ones did. He handed the chick to Mickey and said, “I would like it if you could make sure to take special care of this one.” Mickey said, “Thank you Papa! I will take very good care of it.” Papa then said, “But before you agree to take the chick, I want you to take a real good look at it.”
Mickey held the little chick up to the light, but he didn’t see anything wrong. Papa said, “Take a real good look at her.” Mickey held the chick up again and looked the chick up and down, then stopped and said, “Oh my goodness! This little one has only one leg!” Papa said, “Yep. That’s the problem.” Mickey said, “I will take especially very good care of this poor little one-legged chick.”
Mickey asked Papa if he could use one of the small cages that were hanging on the wall for the chick. Papa said, “Yes, you can use it until the chick gets too big for it. Mickey walked over to the wall and picked a small cage made out of screen for the chick. “I am sure that Nana wouldn’t want the chick running loose in the house!” Papa said. Mickey laughed and said, “I am sure she wouldn't!” He thanked Papa for the cage and put the little one-legged chick in it. Then Mickey opened the barn door and headed for the house.
When Mickey walked into the kitchen, Nana asked Mickey where he had been and, as Mickey shut the door, Nana could see the cage. Nana smiled and said, “What did Papa give you this time?” As Mickey got closer to Nana, she could see the little chick in the cage. “And tell me where are you going with that cage with the chick in it?” Mickey said, “Can I keep it in my bedroom?” Nana said, “And why do you want to keep a chick in your bedroom? You know chickens smell really bad. You know how the barn smells when it hasn’t been cleaned.” Mickey held the cage up so his Nana could see the chick and said, “Look Nana. This chick only has one leg!” Nana came closer to the cage and bent down looking into the cage to see the little chick. She said, “Oh my goodness! I see that! Only one leg. Poor little thing!” Mickey said, “I promise I will take very good care of this little chick and I will keep everything very clean so it won’t smell.” Nana turned and looked at Mickey then said, “You better be very careful with this little one.” Nana wondered out loud if the chicken could walk with only one leg. Mickey said he didn’t think she could yet. “I am going to start training her tomorrow,” Mickey said. Nana said she felt very sorry for the little chick and then said “If you need any help taking care of her, just let me know. I will be very happy to help you.”
Mickey set up the cage for the chick with a heat lamp and soft bedding in his room. When Mickey placed the chick in the cage, she fell asleep right away and slept peacefully. The next morning when Mickey got up out of bed, he went straight over to the cage to see what the chick was doing. She was just laying there at first, but when she saw Mickey she tried to get up, but every time she tried, she would fall over. She just couldn’t stand on one leg. Mickey opened the cage and picked the chick up. He looked right into the chick’s face and said, “Poor little chick! Today we are going to start working on you learning how to stand on just one leg, but for now let’s get some breakfast, then we will go out in the yard and start you on standing lessons. Will you like that?” The chick stared at Mickey and it looked almost as if she understood. Mickey and the chick went down to the kitchen and sat down at the table. Nana came over with a big plate of pancakes and said, “Now put that chick down and eat your breakfast before it gets too cold.” Mickey said, “This looks so good Nana, I am sure it is going to taste real good even if it’s cold!”
Papa walked into the kitchen and came over to the table to join Mickey for breakfast. “What are you and the chick going to do today, Mickey?” Mickey said, “I am going to take her out in the yard and work on helping her learn how to walk on one leg.” Papa thought that sounded like a good idea. Then he asked, “Did you think of a name for her yet?'' Mickey said, ''I've been thinking and I think I will call her Chicklet.” Mickey's grandfather thought that was a good name. “I think you made a good choice too,” Nana added.
Mickey finished his breakfast then went over to Chicklet in the cage and said, “Come on Chicklet, we are going to go outside and teach you how to walk.” Mickey found a nice shady tree to sit under. He put Chicklet's cage on the grass, opened the cage door, gently reached in and picked up the little chick in his hand. She was so small he had to be very careful when he picked her up. She was the color of the sun. Her hair was such a soft yellow. She really was a cute little chick and if you saw her you would just fall in love with her. She seemed to be very attached to Mickey too. They were both very lucky to have each other.
Mickey put Chicklet on the grass, but poor Chicklet just sat there. She just couldn’t walk with one leg. Maybe she was afraid of falling. Mickey talked very softly to Chicklet and told her not to be afraid. He told her that if she did fall, she would fall on the soft grass, so she wouldn’t get that hurt. It seemed that Chicklet actually understood what he was saying because she tried to get up again, but she just kept falling over.
Mickey said, “Ok Chicklet, we have to do something else.” But what, Mickey wondered? He put the chick on his lap and told her to just relax for a few minutes. While he was sitting with Chicklet on his lap thinking about how he could help the chick learn to walk, she hopped off Mickey's lap and landed standing straight up in the grass. Mickey said, “That's it! You got it Chicklet! You can’t walk, but it looks like you can hop! Let's try it.” Mickey picked Chicklet up again, then got down on his knees and carefully put Chicklet in the grass again. Mickey said, “Now Chicklet, don't try to walk, just hop.” She looked at Mickey, as if she understood and hopped almost 6 hops before she fell over. Mickey was so excited. He just couldn’t believe what he just saw. He picked Chicklet up in his hands again and looked her right in her eyes. “See, you didn’t walk, but you sure were able to get to the place that you wanted to go! That’s as good as walking,” he said. He held Chicklet next to his cheek, gave her a very gentle hug and told her that he was very proud of her. “You are going to be able to go wherever you want now. We will practice again tomorrow. I am sure that you will learn to hop even better in the future. Let's go to the barn to tell Papa the good news. He is going to be so surprised when he hears it,” said Mickey.
Papa was candling eggs when Mickey and Chicklet came into the barn. Now let me tell you a little about what candling eggs means. After a chicken lays eggs, the farmer takes the egg, holds it up to a very bright light and checks to see if there are any dark marks inside the egg. If there is, it could mean the egg is fertilized and will become a baby chick, or it could mean the egg is bad and the farmer will throw that egg away because it could be a spoiled egg. So when you bring home eggs from the grocery store, you can be sure that the eggs are real fresh and everything is okay with them because the egg farmer makes sure that all the eggs that go out of his barn are good eggs. So now we will go on with the story.
When Mickey came in, Papa quit doing his work and turned the bright candling lights off. Mickey was so excited when he told Papa about how Chicklet hopped across the grass. Papa said, “That’s wonderful Mickey! I knew you would help that little chick! Let’s go get Nana and we can all watch Chicklet hop in the grass.” They called Nana out to the yard and the three of them all cheered when they saw the little chick hop all over the yard almost as fast as any of the chicks that had both their legs. This was an exciting day for everyone!
Soon it was summer vacation so Mickey had a lot of time to be with Chicklet. She was doing very well with her hopping. She could get around just as well as if she had two legs. She was growing very quickly though and she needed a bigger cage to stay in. Papa told Mickey that there was a bigger cage in the store room of the barn that he could have. Mickey thanked Papa as he headed to store room to get the bigger cage for Chicklet. After it was all cleaned, he put Chicklet in it, but she just sat there and didn’t move, like she was scared. Mickey said, “What is wrong, Chicklet? This is your new cage. Your other cage was getting too small for you. You are going to like this one better because you have more room to hop all over the cage. There’s nothing to be scared of. You’ll like it when you get used to it.” Chicklet just sat there looking at Mickey. He said, “I know you liked your old cage, but you are just too big to fit in it anymore.”
Mickey sat on the front porch swing after dinner watching Chicklet hopping around the yard, when Ashley, the next-door neighbor came riding up the road on her bike. She spotted Mickey and rode up to the porch. She was in the same grade as Mickey was, so they both knew one another. She got off her bike, came up on the porch and asked Mickey if she could sit on the swing with him. Mickey wanted to say no, but he knew if he did Nana would get very angry with him, so he told Ashley that she could sit on the swing with him. Nana came out with two glasses of cold lemonade and handed one to Ashley and one to Mickey. She told them to enjoy the cold drinks as she was walking back into the house. Then Ashley saw Chicklet and said, “Hey, that chicken only has one leg!” Mickey teased back saying, “Really? Where did his other leg go? I better call my Mom for this,” then started laughing. Ashley laughed too after Mickey told her that Chicklet was his pet chicken. She said, “Having only one leg sure doesn’t slow Chicklet down at all!” Mickey agreed.
Ashley stayed for a long time, until it was getting dark. Mickey told her she better head for home before it gets too dark. She said, “You’re right Mickey. It is getting a little too dark, so I better head for home before my dad comes looking for me in his car.” She said good night, got back on her bike and headed for home. Mickey watched her until he couldn’t see her anymore, then went and sat back on the swing. He thought to himself that Ashley wasn’t that bad to talk to and he guessed she is sort of cute. Then the door opened and Nana came out to ask Mickey if he was going to stay out on the swing all night. Mickey laughed and said, “No Nana. I was just getting ready to clean up my mess and come inside.”
Mickey came in carrying Chicklet and went upstairs to his bedroom. He put Chicklet in her new cage and worried she would make a fuss because she wanted her old cage back again, but almost as soon as he placed her in the cage, she fell asleep. After he got his pajamas on, he went downstairs to say good night to his Nana and Papa, then back upstairs where he climbed under the covers and went to sleep. The next morning Mickey was happy to see Chicklet hopping around her new, bigger cage. He was glad that she got over being scared because this new cage gave her way more room to hop around.
Time went on and Mickey grew older. So did Chicklet. Mickey grew taller and so did Chicklet. She also got feathers, a lot of them. Soon she got too big to be an inside chicken, so Papa and Nana said that she had to go out to the barn with the other chickens. Mickey was sad when he had to bring her out to the barn, but Chicklet seemed very excited to be with the other chickens, so that made Mickey feel a little better. When he put Chicklet in with the other chickens and she start to hop, the other chickens stopped what they were doing and watched her, but after a short time, they just went back to what they were doing. Mickey was glad that the other chickens didn’t care that she had only one leg because he had been afraid that they might have been mean to her, but they accepted her as one of the flock.
Every day Mickey would stop in the barn to check on Chicklet. When Chicklet would see him, she would hop over to where he was so he could pet her. One day, a few years later, Mickey went into the barn and saw Chicklet sitting on a nest. He went over to her, picked her up and couldn’t believe his eyes. She had been sitting on five eggs. Chicklet was going to be a mom. Mickey checked on her every day before heading to high school, as soon as he got home and several times before he went to bed, and then one day a few weeks later, while he was checking on Chicklet, the eggs began to hatch. He was glad to see the first four chicks hatched all had both legs. The fifth egg started cracking and soon out came the last baby chick. Mickey couldn’t believe it – this little chick was just like her mom and had only one leg. Mickey laughed and said to Chicklet, “Here we go again! Glad I still have your old cages!”
Ashley and Mickey started dating in high school and after graduation, they even enrolled in the same local university too. Ashley loved coming over to Mickey’s to see Chicklet and her babies, especially the little one with one leg. They decided to name this one “Hoppy” because, like her mom, she got around by hopping and was just as fast as the other chicks. Hoppy stayed in a cage in Mickey’s room until she got bigger, just like his mom, Chicklet, had done when she was little. Soon, Hoppy was big enough to go back to the barn and be with her mom and the other chickens.
Mickey and Ashley liked animals so much, they both decided they wanted to be veterinarians. It took them many years and a lot of hard work, but they both graduated veterinary school. After graduation they got married and opened an animal clinic on Nana and Papa’s farm. Nana and Papa gave had retired and moved to Florida, so they gave Mickey and Ashley the farm as a wedding gift. Ashley took care of all the house pets like dogs cats, hamsters, while Mickey took care of farm animals, like chickens, cows, pigs and horses.
Many people brought their sick animals to the animal clinic. Mickey also had to make many trips out to farms to take care of sick farm animals. Mickey and Ashley decided they were just too busy with the animal clinic to raise chickens to sell eggs anymore, so they sold most of the chickens to an egg farmer down the road. The only chickens that they kept were Chicklet’s and Hoppy’s family, that included around 20 grandchicks and great grandchicks, three of which had only one leg!
Years before, Nana had Papa screen in the front porch so that any one-legged chicks that were born would have a safe place to hop around until they got bigger. Mickey and Ashley kept Hoppy’s one-legged great grandchicks on the screen porch and enjoyed sitting on the swing at night watching them hop around. After a few years, Mickey and Ashley had a baby girl. They named her Elizabeth, after Mickey’s Nana. When Elizabeth was little, she enjoyed sitting on the screen porch with the little one-legged chicks. When she got older, she helped take care of the chickens in the barn. There hadn’t been a one-legged chicken for a few years, but one day when Elizabeth was watching some eggs hatch, she started yelling for her mom and dad to come quick. When Mickey and Ashley got out to the barn, Elizabeth was holding a new born baby chick that had only one leg. Mickey and Ashley both smiled from ear to ear and, at the same time, said, “Here we go again!”
