Yesterday, I mailed a letter to a chicken. Literally.
The Religious Education Director at our church brought one of her chickens to visit Addison's Sunday School class. Addison fell completely and totally in love with the little Wyandotte hen named Jane. Jason could barely get him to move aside so that the rest of the class could pet her. He stood there in his own little world... just him and the hen. She stayed for a snack consisting of graham crackers and fig newtons. After class, Addison marched up to the chicken's owner and with a very serious look asked where he could purchase a chicken of his own. He listened intently while she explained that the chicken came from a local Agway. "What ROAD is it on," he asked. Then guess who managed to talk his dad into getting some chickens. Mr. "We don't need any more *&^&$! animals to take care of" looked into that little face and totally buckled... turned to jello... putty in Addison's hands. I have a feeling we will be purchasing chicken supplies this weekend.
In the meantime, Addison dictated a thank-you letter to Jane. He told her he loved her, thanked her for visiting his class, and said that he hoped she could come visit his new chickens sometime. I'm sure no other chicken has ever received a nicer letter. I typed up the letter and sent it c/o Jane's owner.
Yesterday morning, Addison told one of the ladies at daycare that he was getting chickens. She asked him if they would lay eggs. He explained in a most serious manner, that they would, in fact, lay eggs. "Yes," he said, "if you give them some privacy (pronounced "iss you gib dem some privasthee"), they will lay eggs."
Remember ladies and gents... privacy is key.
3 comments:
God what a neat story - one of those memories worth keeping! You know that Addison comes by that urge to have critters naturally, and besides chickens are perhaps the very best criters to have around the home. They eat bugs like it was their full time job, provide fresh eggs (nothing compares to free-range eggs) and excellent meat, again the free-range chickens taste better too! Chickens are also almost as good as pigs for converting kitchen waste into meat and eggs. Honest to goodness!
We hope to have chickens here, but may have to wait a year or so. They are superb scorpion-killers and even will kill small snakes so would be very welcome here;-) so... if Addison ends up with too many chickens, hint hint!
It is a great story, but you might have a tough time explaining to Addison just which loving chicken of his is sitting steaming on his dining table. Just a thought, the eggs sound good though.
No, we won't be eating any of the chickens we raise... at least not any time in the near future. Addison likes his chicken nuggets and he understands that some people eat the chickens they raise, but he says "but we're not going to eat any of OUR chickens, right mommy?" They will be strictly pets and egg-layers... at least until Addison is older.
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