Friday, May 11, 2007

The Last Month, Day 3: Playing Chicken.

W's first grade class has played host to 24 eggs for the last month or two, and starting last Monday, they began hatching. I've said no to bringing home a chick for the last month or two as well. But this morning, W (whose nickname is, coincidentally, Chicken Shashlik, the delectable Indian dish) climbed into bed with me around 6 a.m. and renewed his campaign. And suddenly it seemed like a really great idea! Just one chick, you know? A family pet that pays its way with fresh egg-based currency. We'll train it to poop in a little doggy crate and eat from our hands and follow me around and be so CUTE! What could go wrong?

So. Around noon I trucked S and C up to Chicken's school and we played with the chicks (kids have been coming in all week, so the class wasn't disrupted--the kids are used to all the commotion, plus it's a hippie co-op school anyway, so they're doubly used to weird and random, yet educational, disruptions). The chicks, they are cute. But their poop is green, people. And there is a lot of it. I quickly rethought my plan. Plus, I am deeply biased against male chickens, i.e. roosters, and of the 13 eggs that hatched, only 3 are female. The families already signed up to take the chicks were publicly fighting over who got to take those three little baby hens, and I really did not want a piece of that. So I was saved from my own damn self. But still, they are cute, aren't they? Maybe next year.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is so exciting that you're posting every day.
As for the chicks . . . well, what can I say. Green chicken shit just doesn't do anything for me.

Anonymous said...

Personally, I think you made a lucky escape.

Cheryl said...

They are darn cute, aren't they? My cousin had some, and the hens really did follow you around the yard. I loved the soft little cluck-cluck noises they made. But I'm glad it was her yard and not mine - and her poop-covered deck and not mine. The eggs were sure good, though.

Anonymous said...

I can just see you with a little chick following you around everywhere, sitting on your shoulder, giving beak kisses. Hahahahaha...it would be so cute. I do feel a little sad for the male chicks. Poor unwanted little guys.