Free The Secret Chicken Society by Judy Cox

Chapter 1
DON’T COUNT YOUR CHICKENS BEFORE THEY HATCH

    â€œHelp!” yelled Katrina. “Fuzzy escaped!”
    â€œNot again!” said Mrs. Lopez, the third-grade teacher. She peered into Fuzzy’s empty tank and shuddered. She turned to her class and held up her hand. Everyone froze. “No one move,” she ordered, “until we find it.”
    Katrina and Sam ignored her. They scrambled up on top of their desks. “I can’t stand the thought of it crawling on me,” Katrina said. The other kids stayed still. No one wanted to step on Fuzzy.
    Daniel, Harry, and Mrs. Lopez hunted through the room, checking the dark corners where Fuzzy liked to hide.
    â€œOver here!” Harry called. He stood by thebookcase. He grabbed a book. “Want me to fix it so she doesn’t get out again?”
    â€œNO!” yelled Daniel.
    â€œI was only joking!” said Harry. He put the book down but made no move to pick Fuzzy up.
    â€œDaniel, would you mind?” asked Mrs. Lopez. Daniel reached down, scooped up the tarantula, and put her safely back into her tank. He set a rock on top of the wire to hold it down.
    Mrs. Lopez breathed a sigh of relief. Katrina and Sam climbed down from their desks. The other kids went back to work. Harry gave Daniel a high five. “That’s my man,” he said. “King of the wild!”
    Later that day, Mrs. Lopez called her third graders up to the rug.
    Daniel pushed his glasses up on his nose. He scrambled out of his seat. He slid into his spot on the rug, like a runner into first base. He liked Mrs. Lopez’s meetings. She was the best teacher in the third grade, even if she was scared of spiders. With her long brown hair and blue eyes, Daniel thought she was the prettiest teacher, too.
    â€œOur study of life cycles is almost over,” said Mrs. Lopez. “So I planned a grand finale.”

    What could it be?
Daniel wondered. The class had already studied butterflies and caterpillars. A butterfly cage hung in one corner of the room. Three painted ladies crawled up the netting. The class would release them outside on the next sunny day. A tank of tadpoles sat on the counter. Soon they’d be frogs. Mrs. Lopez really liked animals. And so did Daniel.
    Mrs. Lopez waited for the buzz of excitement to die down. “I’ve ordered an incubator and twelve eggs.” She grinned. “We’re going to hatch chicks!”
    Daniel shot his hand into the air. He waved wildly. He wasn’t the only one with questions. Other students waved, too.
    â€œWhen will the eggs come?” asked Katrina.
    â€œHow long do they take to hatch?” called Sam.
    â€œWill we have chickens?” Allison asked.
    â€œCan we eat them?” asked Harry. “I love fried chicken!” Max giggled. Fiona made gagging noises. Sam wrinkled his nose.
    â€œOne at a time!” Mrs. Lopez said. “Daniel. You had your hand up. What’s your question?”
    â€œWhat will we do with the chicks?” Daniel had a gerbil named Speedy and a pet rat named Jasper at home, as well as a parakeet named Mr. Feathers. He also had a whole tank of guppies just waiting to benamed. When he grew up, he wanted to be a vet. He sure would like to add a chick to his collection.
    â€œGood question,” said Mrs. Lopez. “We can’t start this project until we have good homes for each of the chicks. Of course, we don’t know how many eggs will hatch. Usually not every egg does, but we should plan for twelve chicks.”
    Daniel pictured twelve fluffy yellow chicks, peep-peep-peeping. He could keep them in his bedroom. He’d make them a nest in his room. They’d be company for his pets.
    Mrs. Lopez clapped her hands for quiet. “It takes twenty-one days for the eggs to hatch. We’ll raise the chicks for three weeks after that. So here’s the deal. If you want to take a chick home at the end of our study, bring two dollars