My Little Red Hen

MY LITTLE RED HEN by Doug Bartlett MY LITTLE RED HEN? Has anyone scan my little red hen? She has come up missing. Missing again. We crop her wings so she can't fly over the fence to say, "Goodbye." The old fox lives in the woods. He would catch her for sure, if he could. The possum is out there in the brush. He waits until it is just a hush. To get into the chicken pen. So he could get the little red hen. She was in the hen house just last night. She was on the roost at the end of daylight. Rooster crowed at crack of dawn. Hens checked bitties, claimed their own. Setters checked if eggs had hatched. Farmer opened the corn crib latch. He threw some corn on the ground. The chickens all scuttled around; clucking and pecking for their fare. Alas, the little red hen's not there. She laid an egg most every day. Now it seems she has gone away. I hear a noise behind the barn. The little red hen, our nerves all worn. She found a place to make a nest and lay her eggs, now we can rest. Teachers Aids Things relating to the story: CROPPING WINGS: Sometimes chickens would fly further than normal. Ordinarily they could not fly very far. They are not really birds and cannot fly like birds. But sometime one would be able to fly. One would fly up on top of the hen house and then fly out of the chicken yard. The chicken yard was the area where the chickens and their bitties stayed. It had a fence around it to keep the chickens in and the foxes and possums out. The hen house was in there also. If a chicken ever got to flying out of the chicken yard her wings would have to be cropped. Scissors would be used to cut the feathers back a little ways on her wings. It would not hurt her but she would not be able to fly. THE FOX: An enemy of the chickens. They could do a lot of damage to a chicken population and the eggs. THE POSSUM: Possums (opossums) would find ways to get into the chicken yard. Then they would get into the chicken house and get the chickens and their eggs, too. Possums do not run fast so when they were caught in the chicken house they would play dead and act lifeless. That is called "playing possum." If they tried to get away they would growl, hiss and show their teeth. CHECKING THE BITTIES: Mother hens could not do much to protect their bitties (little chicks). They did all they could. If a bitty got too far away from the brood the mother hen would cluck loudly until the little chick got back in place. If it was a big danger the mother hen would gather all the bitties and spread her wings over them. She would pull them as close as possible and hide them under her wings. ROOSTERS: Roosters are usually bigger, more colorful, have bigger combs and they crow. We call them the barnyard alarm clock. They have spurs on their legs to protect themselves. The spurs can really hurt. HEN HOUSE: The hen house contains a roost, and nests for chickens to lay their eggs in. The roost looks like a ladder. The chickens balance themselves and grip the rungs of the roost all night long to sleep. CORN CRIB: Could be part of the barn or near the barn where corn was stored. The farmer would feed the chickens and while they were eating he would go into the hen house and gather the eggs. He did not bother the setting hens. LITTLE RED HEN FOUND: She had been lost before. She was not just a hen in the yard but a pet loved and adored by her owner. He always feared for her safety when she went missing. It was a relief when little red hen came from behind the barn. She was not lost. We only thought she was...

About the Author :
Doug Bartlett; father, grandfather and great-grandfather, writer of books, stories and songs submits this children's story, "My Little Red Hen." Many stories have been told about children and their pet chickens. I sincerely hope you like this one. Notes for teachers helps are included. The Village Carpenter Publishing House PO Box 133 Lakeview, Ohio 43331 USA See TheVillageCarpenter.info