Several baby chicks.

Cock a Doodle Don’t by Char Heitman

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There was a family with a mom, a dad, and a son named Leo. This family had chickens in their back yard. They lived in the city, and most of their neighbors didn’t have chickens, but Leo’s family liked their chickens for a few reasons. For one, they enjoyed watching the chickens play. They also enjoyed eating the eggs the chickens gave them. One day, they decided to get more chicks because some of their chickens were too old to lay eggs.

They went to the farm store, and the son picked out two chicks. He wanted to name them “Calvin" and "Hobbes” because in his favorite book, the characters’ names were Calvin and Hobbes. The mom said, “I like those names, too, Leo, but Calvin is a boy’s name, and these chicks are hens, which are girls.” Leo replied, “Okay, instead of Calvin, we can call her Callie, which is a girl’s name.” The mom and dad agreed.

The face of a chicken - it's hard to tell if it's a hen or a rooster. Little by little, the chicks grew. Leo loved watching and playing with them every day. He noticed lots of little things about all the new chickens, such as who ran out of the chicken coop¹ first, who liked to play together, how their feathers and colors were changing, and so on. As the chicks grew bigger, Leo noticed that Callie was growing to be much bigger than Hobbes. He also noticed that Callie was developing a big comb on her head. Leo told his family what he noticed. They worried that Callie might be a rooster instead of a hen. Hens were allowed in the city because they are not too loud, but roosters were forbidden² because they crow³ loudly and can disturb many people. If someone complained⁴ about the family having a rooster, they might get into trouble and have to pay a fine.⁵

Sure enough, one day while the family was eating breakfast, they heard a loud “Cock a doodle do,” the sound that roosters make in the morning. Callie was a rooster! Unfortunately, they could not keep her. Some friends and neighbors suggested they kill and eat Callie, but this made Leo sad because Callie was his pet, and he did not want to see her killed.

So the family put a notice on the Internet to ask if some farmer wanted Callie on their farm. They got a few calls, but everyone wanted a hen, not a rooster. Leo was worried. Every day, Callie crowed very loudly. He was afraid the neighbors would complain about the rooster and his family would have to pay a fine. A few weeks later, a farm called, and they wanted a rooster. Leo and his family took Callie out to the farm. The family looked around at the many animals on the farm – cows, pigs, chickens, goats, cats, dogs, and other animals. Callie immediately began to make friends and run around with the other chickens. Leo was sad to say goodbye to Callie, but he was pleased that his rooster could live happily on a big farm.

Glossary

1. coop (noun) – a very small building or structure used to keep chickens
2. forbidden (adjective) – not allowed; not permitted
3. crow (verb) – to make the loud, high sound that a rooster makes
4. complain (verb) – to say negative or bad things about something
5. pay a fine (verb) – pay money as punishment for breaking a rule

Photo credits: Lydia Jacobs (baby chicks), Wikimedia (chicken)