My chicken story started when I was a stubborn teenager. Me and my family were visiting one of those family friends that you have to see even though not one of us was looking forward to it. When we pulled in to their drive after endless hours on the highway, I refused to go inside that ramshackle old house. I strolled around to the backyard, hoping the warm fall day would have coaxed them out of hiding. Not surprisingly, it had not. However, there was a chicken coop in their backyard. I was immediately fascinated by the motley mix of mutts, so much so that I did not notice their owner walk up behind me. "Hey!" She yelled happily into my ear. Biting my lip, I turned to see Kate, a year younger than me, and not the sharpest knife in the drawer. She smiled. "Admiring my chickens?" she asked. I smiled shyly. "well, I s'pose I have a farmer's heart." Kate laughed. "Want some eggs? My mom won't let me hatch 'em, so why don't you?" She grabbed my hand and dragged me into the house, thrusting a half full carton of eggs into my arms. "Throw them in the 'Bator and watch them pop!"
After a long conversation, my mother was convinced to to take the eggs and allow me to hatch them. Of those eggs, one hatched, and we soon got him friends, and me and my mom have been hooked ever since!
