"Robert Short held a white pail as his mother, Laurie, drove the
family truck home Tuesday from the chicken house on their farm in
Laurel. Inside the pail was a yellow chick with four legs.
The bird appears to be healthy, chirping like any other chick. The
Shorts even let the chicken walk around their kitchen - on two
legs, although the second pair were visible.
Laurie Short said they found the chick last week among the 16,000
birds they are raising.
"It had climbed up into the bird feeder, and when my husband went
to pull it out, the extra legs got caught," she said.
Laurie said her husband, Buddy, claims to have seen some
three-legged chickens and a few dead four-legged ones. But 13 years
of raising chickens never prepared her for a baby chick walking
around with an extra pair of feet.
"It's not unusual to see them off-color," she said. "But this was
really unusual."
The Shorts have debated for the past week what to do with the
chick. Laurie Short said they keep the chick isolated for fear the
other chickens would peck it for being different.
Short said she called the Delaware State Fair for a possible
exhibition, but she was turned down because of the short notice.
However, "The Chicken," as the Shorts call it, will be transported
to live with Laurel resident Lee Butler, a friend of 10-year-old
Robert.
"I'm the type of person who picks the chickens up on the side of
the road," said Julie Butler, Lee's mother. "I call them 'Perdue
Refugees.' "
Along with two black chickens and a gray one also exiled from the
Shorts' farm, the four-legged chick will join the Butler's animal
menagerie, which includes geese and goats. The chick will stay
unnamed until they can think of the appropriate moniker, Butler
said.
Laurie Short said they are glad the bird will be close by.
"We tried not to give it a name because we were afraid we'd get to
attached to it," she said. "It's too late."
