(La Porte County, IN) - A LaPorte area boy is turning heads with a chicken riding with him on his skateboard. 

 

Daniel Price, 10, said he began training “Froot Loop” not long after she hatched about a year ago because he wanted a chicken as a pet. 

 

Price didn’t know how to ride a skateboard at the time, but wanted to so he decided he and his chicken would learn together.

 

Now, they’re like a ship captain and first sea mate on a boat, except Froot Loop sits on the front of a skateboard while Price stands on the back.

 

“The bird trusts him and he trusts her. They just have that bond. I love it, ” affirms the boy’s mother, Erin Price.

 

The first-year 4H member and his chicken often skateboard together in their neighborhood outside LaPorte, where the family lives on a six-acre farm wjth nearly 20 other chickens along with a few roosters and goats.

 

Recently, Price and his feathery friend skateboarded together numerous times during the LaPorte County Fair, where he kept his bird on display with other chickens in the 4H Poultry Barn.

 

June Lenig, a longtime member of the 4H Poultry Committee, said it was the first time she had ever seen a chicken on a skateboard. She was also amazed at how the chicken doesn’t budge and even seems to enjoy riding.

 

“I couldn’t believe it.  Usually, they’re not that tame and that bird just sits there,” she remarked.

 

Initially, Price said training the bird wasn’t easy.  Her first reaction like any typical chicken was to jump. It took about a week of him repeatedly placing the chicken back on the skateboard for her to stay on it for any length of time.

 

Price elaborated further, saying that he also placed corn on the skateboard for the chicken to eat to add to her comfort level with the four-wheeled device.

Sometimes, he left the chicken alone on the skateboard for a few minutes with verbal instructions to stay on it until he returned.

 

“I’d come out and she’d be in the same spot,” he said.

 

A few weeks later, the chicken seemed glued to the skateboard even while it was moving.

 

The chicken also rides with Price now on the handlebars of his bicycle and inside a wagon he pulls behind him while peddling.  She also tags along on the ground while the boy tends to the family’s other farm animals.

 

“She likes me so much she just follows me around like a dog."

 

Mrs. Price said she was not surprised at the results because the animals, especially Froot Loop, seem to connect with her son.  She said he seems to have a knack for knowing when to exercise patience, while not giving up and understanding their needs.

 

“He knows when she’s tired and wants to be left alone,” she said.

 

Bigger things could lie ahead for the Kesling Middle School student, who recently posted a video of him and the chicken skateboarding together.

 

The video has drawn enough hits for him to receive $60 from YouTube.

 

Price said his next goal is to train Froot Loop or one of his other chickens to “use the bathroom in the toilet.”

 

He’s not sure how to go about it yet, but is confident of pulling it off.

 

“I have no clue.  I’ll figure it out,” he said.