|
"Daddy, when will Hannah and I be
big like you?" the little chick asked.
"It takes a long time for a chick to
turn into a rooster. While you, Ricky, will become a rooster one day, your
sister Hannah will become a hen. Both of you will be bigger," his daddy
explained.
"I want to be big like you, Daddy. I
want to eat worms and wake all the other farm animals up with my early
morning crowing, just like you do," Ricky said. "What do hens do?"
"Hens lay eggs and eat seed. Look at
the egg you just hatched from," Daddy said. Ricky turned and pecked at the
white shell.
"It’s hard and white," Ricky said.
"Some eggs are brown," Hannah added.
"They can be a lot of different shades, can’t they, Daddy?"
"That’s correct. You’re both so
small right now. Follow me into the farmyard and I’ll show you some
things," Daddy said. The little chicks followed him. "See, over there,
there is a big barn and silo."
"What’s a barn and silo for?" Ricky
asked.
"They keep the tractor in there and
hay for the cows. Grain is stored in the silo. You’ll like grain almost as
much as worms," Daddy clucked.
"The barn is huge. Look how tall the
silo is. There must be a lot of grain in there," Hannah cheeped.
"There is. Let’s go over to the
pasture. I’ll show you the cows," Daddy said. They stood at the fence
watching the cows eat grass.
"The cows are big animals," Ricky
said.
"So are the pigs and sheep," Hannah
said.
"Most of the animals on the farm are
bigger than you. Most of them are bigger than me too," Daddy said.
"But not as important as you," Ricky
smiled. "Without you, who would wake them all up?"
"We’re all important animals,
whether we are big or small," Daddy assured them. Their mother came and
took Hannah to meet the other hens. "I’ll take Ricky with me," Daddy said.
"I’m going to give you your first lesson in crowing." He flew onto the
fence post and let out the loudest cock-a-doodle-do that Ricky had ever
heard.
"Let me try, Daddy," Ricky said. He
took a deep breath and blew. Out came a tiny cock-a-doodle-do.
"Keep trying, son. One day you’ll be
big and can join me on the fence post. Keep eating your worms and you’ll
grow up to be a strong rooster." He took his son and together then went
off to find some fat juicy worms. |
