thanks suzeird . i could probably sleep now afraid i might miss something. First chick ever. ok, Story time !!! 12/13 yrs. old. i was living of all places a chicken coop. lol yup a chicken coop. with my grandma and mom. my uncle lived up the holler and he turned his little chicken coop into a small house for grandma. mom left my step-dad again. seemed to happen at least once a yr. or so. we didnt have much and my birthday was due. my aunt and uncle had a working farm and mom got a couple chickens from them to cook for my birthday. so mom says, "what do you want for your b-day?" and me, knowing she didnt have money said, "I want that chicken" she said well honey , you know i am going to fix them for your birthday and i said no, you dont understand . i want THEM for my b-day. we compromised, she cooked one , i kept one. pretty little red. well, i never had chickens before so i had no idea what they could and couldnt do. i watched moms pitiful attempt to ring the chickens neck. she swung it around and around by its neck and then gave it a fast jerk and threw it down to the ground. the chicken stood up, looked at her and said, "BAWWWKK" and walked away with its neck hanging to the side. Mom said, never , never again will i kill a chicken and i said well mom, dont look like you got this one. so we left it there at my uncles and took my new prize home. i gave it free range day and night. she liked to hop on my lap and be stroked on the head. she was awesome. a great friend when i had no one. winter came fast on us that yr. and mom woke me up ( this was about 3 months later) to tell me a big ice storm had come and my beloved pet was dead and frozen to the ground. . i was the only one able to reach it so slipping down the little hill i reached her to pick her up. she was stuck to the ice. i had to pry her feet from the ground. ice cycles went from her wing feathers to the ground and from beak to ground. i snapped them all off and as i picked her up i hear this, "rrrrr" sound. she is alive !! mom said she will die, just throw her under the house/ storage area. i did and the next day we went to dispose of the body and what a surprise to see my little red hen come flying out. it was like the Steven King movie pet cemetery. she came back but not without consequences. she would bring me things to the porch about every day. half frozen snakes , mice chipmunks ect.. totally scared us both and one day she just didnt come home. that is the story of my first chicken. 40 odd yrs. ago