Story & Photos by
Jen Kocher/For NLJ
While many young boys pine for fire trucks, Tonka toys or tricycles, 5-year-old Wesley Ertman wanted chickens. It began at age 2 after a visit to a family friends’ farm.
After that, he wanted to go over to see them every day and began lobbying his parents for some chickens of his own. A year later, after Wesley’s passion showed no signs of slowing down, parents Adam and Heather finally gave in.
Today, the whole Ertman family has a hand in the operation, with the exception of older brother 8-year-old William, who’d much rather be playing video games. He helps his brother on occasion when he feels like it, he says, but Saturday was not one of those days. So, as Wesley put on his boots to go to work, William hung back idly swinging a golf club and thinking about his soccer game later that day.