Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer

An illustration depicts Sophie discovering a glassy egg in the coop.

Sophie writes to Agnes to admit that she was worried about everything working out, but Mom and Dad are helpful and encouraging. This morning, Sophie found a glass egg in the coop. She’s amazed by it. She stored it in a safe place in the fridge. The family is saving their chicken-safe kitchen scraps for Henrietta. Sophie loves having a chicken, and finding the glass egg was exciting for her.

Sophie writes to Great-Uncle Jim. She tells him about how Dad helped her make a swing by the chicken coop with old rope, and how she’s been sorting through the junk piles. She thinks that Jim could probably build anything he wanted out of all the junk. Henrietta follows Sophie as she works and eats any bugs that pop up. Sophie reads to Henrietta and thinks that Henrietta likes it.

Sophie heard a sound earlier and followed it to the back of the barn where some crows were gathered. She spotted Ms. Griegson next to a tree trying to coax something out of the branches. Sophie recognized the creature as a red-tailed hawk and worried about Henrietta’s safety. However, after Ms. Griegson threw some corn on the ground, the hawk hopped down and shapeshifted into a Rhode Island Red rooster. Ms. Griegson coaxed the chicken into a kennel from her truck, captured it, and drove off. Sophie worries about a hawk-chicken terrorizing Henrietta.

Illustrations depict Sophie watching Ms. Griegson from behind the barn and the red-tailed hawk morphing into a chicken.

Sophie writes to Agnes to ask about the hawk-chicken. Sophie worries that Ms. Griegson brought the hawk-chicken over to stalk Henrietta.

Sophie has also found another one of Jim’s chickens. At first it was a transparent blur, but then it slowly became fully visible. When Sophie took a step toward it, it disappeared again. She lured the invisible chicken into a kennel and brought it to Henrietta. They seemed to know each other. Sophie wants to verify that this was another of Great-Uncle Jim’s chickens.

Sophie hopes that the hawk-chicken isn’t her responsibility and wonders if Ms. Griegson stole the hawk-chicken from Redwood Farm.

An illustration depicts a Barred Plymouth Rock chicken, speckled black and white, and describes the breed.

An illustration shows Sophie with a shopping cart in the feed store.

Sophie writes to Great-Uncle Jim about finding an egg from the new chicken this morning. She knows that it wasn’t from Henrietta because it was a brown egg. She hopes to have enough eggs soon to make breakfast for her parents so that they’ll see the benefits of keeping chickens.

Sophie biked into town for the first time to return library books. Although it was a long ride with lots of hills, she made it all by herself. Sophie returned the chicken books and checked out several more books. She spotted a girl around her age reading a book about llamas, and they exchanged smiles. Sophie wanted to talk to her but didn’t know what to say.

Sophie then went to the feed store and admired the hardware. She fantasizes about painting her room baby chick yellow once they’ve cleared enough junk to see the walls. Sophie hasn’t told Mom and Dad about the invisible chicken and the yet-to-be-caught black chicken. She wants to have a plan for when she does because she hasn’t calculated chicken food costs for three chickens. Sophie hopes to have enough money someday for the fancy feeders and waterers at the feed store.

Sophie overheard a woman asking for advice about her sick chicken. Sophie listened in, just in case she ever has to deal with the same. The woman giving advice was friendly and helpful. She sounded like someone to trust with chickens. Sophie was shocked to realize that it was Ms. Griegson giving advice. She ends the letter saying that she hopes that Great-Uncle Jim doesn’t wish that his chickens were with Ms. Griegson instead. Sophie’s learning as much as she can to be the best owner that she can be.

An error-filled letter from Agnes tells Sophie that she is doing great. Agnes explains that the barred rock chicken has color-changing feathers, like a chameleon. She also gives tips for catching the black chicken. Both will lay delicious eggs. Agnes apologizes for the hawk—she did give it to Ms. Griegson. Agnes says that she can send someone to collect Sophie’s chickens if they’re too much work. She also sends the second lesson of her chicken course.

The second lesson details proper chicken housing, including nest boxes, bedding requirements, and coop materials. The second worksheet has Sophie calculating the space needed for two chickens until she realizes that she needs space for three.

Sophie writes to Agnes telling her not to send anyone to take the chickens. Sophie knows that they’re harder than normal chickens and knows that she still has much to learn, but she is unwilling to give up the chickens–especially after Agnes told her not to give them to anyone.

Sophie has named the invisible chicken Chameleon and calculated that Great-Uncle Jim’s henhouse is already suitable for the space needs of the chickens. She’s ready for the third chicken course lesson.

An illustration shows Sophie reading to a fluffy black chicken.

Sophie writes to Abuelita, wishing that she had asked Abuelita about her chickens while Abuelita was still alive. Sophie asks Abuelita to keep an eye on her and her chickens.

This morning, Sophie scrambled Chameleon’s first egg for the family to try, and everyone agreed that it was the best egg they’d ever had. They talked about egg recipes. Sophie wishes that she could have Abuelita’s migas, but she can’t read the recipe. She plans to go to the library to find a recipe with which to surprise her parents.

Sophie went back to the chickens after breakfast. She wanted to catch the black one, who supposedly likes tomatoes, but their family can’t afford to waste tomatoes. Dad won’t know how to grow them for a while. Sophie tried to help by getting him library books on farming.

Sophie describes her process of cleaning and seeding the area to lure out the black chicken. She eventually sprinkled sunflower seeds and walked away to read under a tree for a while. The next time she looked up, she saw a fluffy black chicken pecking at the seeds with Henrietta and Chameleon. It ran off when it saw Sophie looking, but Sophie was confident that it would return. She’s not worried about the hawk-chicken or Ms. Griegson because the black chicken is too fast to catch anyway. Sophie saw it return later for more seeds. She plans to check on it again after dinner. She’s happy that she got to see it.

An illustration depicts the Bantam Black Frizzle Cochin and describes its temperament.

An illustration shows Sophie on the phone with Gregory the mailman.

Sophie writes to Great-Uncle Jim. She loves his unusual chickens but wishes that she could ask him questions. She wants to call the black chicken Roadrunner.

Earlier, Sophie received a call from Gregory, who informed Sophie about another one of Jim’s chickens that must be retrieved immediately. Sophie lied to Dad that there are several more of Jim’s chickens that need to be picked up from another farm so that she can make Chameleon and Roadrunner known. Sophie said that if they cannot afford them, Gregory can find someone else. Sophie knew that mentioning finances would stir something in her dad, who has never dealt with people assuming that he’s poor before. He and Mom agreed that Dad will take Sophie to get the chickens after his errand.

Gregory was concerned about Sophie dealing with these kinds of chickens, so Sophie thinks that he knows that Great-Uncle Jim’s chickens are special. She assured him that she could handle it, and he warned her to be careful.

To avoid the risk of Dad noticing that there’s only one chicken to retrieve, Sophie decides that she’s going to sneak out and walk a mile down the road to get the chicken herself. She’ll leave a note so that her parents won’t worry.

Illustrations show Sophie peeking in on a distracted Mom, wheeling a chicken kennel up to a sad boy, looking into a coop at a raccoon with a chicken leg, and wheeling the chicken kennel back home.

Sophie writes to Abuelita. She’s never been afraid of a chicken before meeting this one. She’s going to need time to figure things out before telling Mom and Dad about this chicken’s powers.

When Sophie got to the farm, she met a boy named Chris, who warned her that the chicken is weird. He showed her the bloody remains of his rooster, Rocky, whom Chris raised from a chick. Sophie understands the circle of life, but it was still hard for her to see. Chris then showed Sophie a stone statue of a raccoon chewing a chicken leg. He said that his mom caught the raccoon like that, surrounded by Buffy’s chicks—Buffy is what they’ve been calling her. Chris’s mom culled the chicks and locked up Buffy to wait for help. Sophie was distraught. She and Chris gave Buffy water before she wheeled Buffy in the crate back home.

Before leaving, Sophie dragged the stone raccoon to the pond to get rid of the horrible sight for Chris. Sophie isn’t sure what to do next with the new chicken. She worries that the chicken will turn her flock to stone. She wonders why Gregory knew that the chicken was one of Great-Uncle Jim’s. She wishes that she had told Chris sorry about his rooster and chicks. 

Sophie writes to Agnes to ask about Great-Uncle Jim’s Buff Orpington hen. She’s worried about the stone raccoon. Chris’s mom killed Buffy’s chicks, and Sophie hopes that she doesn’t have to kill Buffy, too. She wonders why they would sell a dangerous hen.

Agnes’s letter assures Sophie that only the chicks have the petrifying power, not the Buff Orpington hen herself. Buffy’s kind is very rare. Agnes trusted Jim not to breed her or sell her because it’s dangerous. Agnes says that there are three more Speckled Sussex hens of Jim’s left to gather.

An illustration features the Buff Orpington chicken and describes its care and temperament.