Free Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer by Kelly Jones Page A

especiially not sue’’’s,,,. collct eggs evry singleday aand refrigeratte fr next 30 dayys,,. safe to eat affter 3 days innn fridge,. might contain sand;; wattch youur teeth,.
    very important1111do not give that chickn toanyone else,,.,.obviously,,,. i don’t sellll her kind. they’’’re very rare,.,.,. chicks aare dangeererous. i trustedd jim.
    thnk you for savving her,,.
agnesss
    otherss;
3 speckled sussex hens
think that’’s aall jim had lefft

Standard height; large, rounded body; golden brown plumage; clean legs and feet. Small red single comb, red earlobes.
    Large light-brown eggs, frequent layer. Very docile. Will often go broody; excellent for raising chicks from fertile eggs.

June 25, 2014
    Mariposa García González
    Land of the Dead
    Querida Abuelita,
    I saw a flyer at the library yesterday, for the 4-H poultry program. It had a picture of funny-looking chickens on it, with feathery pom-poms on their heads. I didn’t know what 4-H was, but I looked it up and it’s for kids to learn about farm things. And I want to learn about poultry, or at least chickens. It said it meets on the last Wednesday of the month, which is today, and it’s for ages ten to fourteen, which is me, and maybe also this boy named Chris that I met, the one whose rooster got killed. Maybe even that girl with the llama book, that I haven’t really met yet. And it’s free. And, Abuelita, none of my old friends write to me. So I asked if I could go.
    When Dad dropped me off at the library, I was a little nervous. I don’t really like meeting new people. And when I have to talk to a group, it’s like my throat is strangling on the inside and I can’t breathe. But I don’t like not knowing anyone either. So I thought about my chickens, and I went inside and asked Ms. O’Malley where the meeting room was.
    She gave me kind of a funny look when she told me. The kind of look that made my stomach hurt. But I told myself that if you could be brave when you first came to LA, I could be brave here.
    When I got to the meeting room, there were already a bunch of kids inside, and they all looked like they knew each other, and almost none of them were brown. But I figured that’s how it would be. I saw the girl with the llama book, though, and she smiled at me again. So I took a deep breath, and I got ready to answer all kinds of questions as soon as I went in—who I was, when I came here, that I speak English just fine, that Great-Uncle Jim was really my great-uncle, even though I don’t look like him, that yes, I have some chickens (but not too much about the chickens)—and then I heard a voice. I don’t think I could have moved even if I wanted to. I just looked inside, and there, at the head of the room, writing stuff on the board, was Ms. Griegson. She turned her head, and I ducked back out the doorway. I left so fast I was almost running, all the way back down the hall to the main part of the library. I know she probably wouldn’t have chased me. But I sure didn’t want her to see me there.
    I went and read about chickens in the green chair in the corner of the library. Ms. O’Malley saw me, though. I know because she brought over the local newspaper and asked if I’d seen the article about Redwood Farm Supply. So I read it. Only it wasn’t about Redwood Farm Supply. It was about Ms. Griegson saying she’d always wanted to be the owner of Redwood Farm Supply, and now she’s working to reopen it, making Gravenstein a destination spot for poultry lovers everywhere.
    What is she talking about, Abuelita? Agnes owns Redwood Farm Supply. She wouldn’t sell it to Ms. Griegson, even if she did sell that hawk-chicken to her. At least, I hope she wouldn’t.
    I’m worried. I know Ms. Griegson knows a lot more about chickens than I do. I know she wants my chickens too.
    I read about chickens until it was time for Dad to come pick me up. Then I went and met him outside before the kids or Ms. Griegson could come out of the meeting