Naughty Chicken
I was in an elementary school the other day and the kids were all very eager to talk about the baby chicks who had hatched and were now living in a coop by the principal's office. As I looked at the three adorable puffs of cute with a little girl, she informed me, very solemnly, that there had been four chicks.
Mutha (fully expecting to shift into the chick-dying-is-sad-but-life-is-just-one-big-circle conversation): "What happened to the other one?"
Girl: "He was too naughty and they had to take him back to the farm."
Naughty. Out because of naughtiness. It begged the question: How naughty could a baby chick be?
Apparently, plenty.
I asked several kids to explain and they all had the same story:
"He was mean."
"It wouldn't leave the other chicks alone."
"I saw him pecking on the other one."
"They tried to put him in a little box to be separate, but he jumped out."
Wow, who knew? Is this data towards the "bad seed" notion of social competence? Did this baby chick come into the world just looking for a fight? And what about intervention? Sure, the mentioned box was one tactic, but did they really try to rehabilitate the little fellow before banishing him?
I decided to ask the kids.
Mutha: "Was it right for the naughty chick to go back to the farm?"
Kids (in chorus): "YES"
Mutha: "Why?"
Boy: "Because bullies aren't allowed."
No bullies indeed, even if they are cute.
posted by Mutha @ 6:55 AM
5 Comments:
Smart kids.
Take Care
Michael
the whole idea of naughty chickens cracks me up!
there should be a naughty chickens t shirt. jhonen vasquez could do the picture.
we once had a naughty rooster who would viciously charge only males who came into the chicken pen. not my mother. apparently he could sense the male genitalia of my father and brother, pants or no pants. once he came after me fast with those razor sharp talons aimed right at me and i booted him across the yard. it was a gut reflex. he started limping around squacking like he was going to die and i felt terrible. i ran in the house with the intention of letting my mom find the soon-to-be-dead rooster while i waited to react with innocence. but when she finally went out there that mo-fo was 100% fine! he was naughty, and a worthy actor too. damn bird!
-david
chickens are nasty, cranky beasts. I watched a young hen peck another one to death. We tried to break them up, but it didn't work.
I had a miniature rooster that attacked me every time I walked into the coop I had to wear rubber boots. I ended up drop kicking him almost out of the coop. he ended up in "summer stock".
Alright, I'm officially frightened of chickens and roosters now. A city kid and a vegetarian, I don't have the chance to run into chickens often and I can say honestly now -- I'm happy that's been the case.
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