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Peepers to be quiet. A shaft of sunlight lit up the inside of the coop.
    As soon as the door opened, the henhouse exploded with noise. What a ruckus! All the hens squawked. They flapped their wings. Maybe they thought they were under attack.
Foxes! Coyotes! Wolves!
they seemed to say.
Cats! Run for your lives!
Peepers protected his hens bravely. He flew down from his roost and danced around, pecking Daniel’s bare toes.
    â€œOuch! Stop! It’s just me!” Daniel yelled. He retreated and slammed the door.
    â€œDaniel! What on earth?” Mom stood at the back door in her bathrobe. “What are you doing? Do you have any idea what time it is?”

    â€œSorry, Mom. I thought I heard something.” Daniel didn’t add that he’d heard his rooster crow.
    Attempt
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3: Stop Peepers from Crowing
.
    Next, Daniel tried putting a muzzle on Peepers. He’d read about that on the Internet. “It isn’t really a muzzle,” he told the members of the Secret Chicken Society (except for Tyler, who had baseball practice). “It’s more like a harness. A rooster can’t crow if he can’t stretch his neck. This cloth holds his head down a little bit.”
    â€œWill it hurt?” asked Emmy.
    Daniel shook his head. “I don’t think so. And he can breathe and drink and eat just like usual.”
    Emmy and Kelsey watched Daniel struggle to get the cloth on Peepers. The rooster flapped his wings. He squawked. He didn’t want to wear a muzzle. Finally Daniel gave up. “It didn’t work in the video, either,” he said sadly.
    Attempt
#
4: Put Peepers in the Dark
.
    The next day Daniel did some more research. “I’ve got it!” he told Kelsey and Emmy. “Roosters crow only in daylight. So if we can keep Peepers in the dark, he won’t crow.”
    Kelsey made a face. “We can’t keep him in the dark all the time,” she pointed out. “It would be cruel.”
    â€œI’ll let him out at eight o’clock every morning,” said Daniel. “There’ll be other noises by then. Cars. Lawn mowers. Stuff like that. No one will hear him.”
    He explained that they would put Peepers in a box every night. Daniel would hide the box in the storage cupboard in the garage.
    â€œThere’s plenty of air in there, but it’s dark. So he won’t crow.”
    At dusk Peepers and the hens headed to the coop to roost, just as they did every evening.
    The Secret Chicken Society hid in the bushes to watch. Daniel parted the bushes. Kelsey leaned against him. She peered over his shoulder. Emmy lay flat on the ground. She looked out between Daniel’s feet. (Tyler was at the skate park with friends.)
    The hens went up the ramp to the henhouse. First came Primrose, the white silkie. Her topknot bobbed up and down. Violet waddled behind her. Next was Twinkie, the tall leghorn. She clucked softly as she went inside, as if to say good night. Last in line was T-Rex. She was a Plymouth Rock hen. Her black-and-white feathers reminded Daniel of the chickens on Dad’s kitchen towels.
    Peepers stood guard. He was a bantam rooster, smaller than all his hens. It was clear that he was theboss. He waited until every hen was safe inside. Then he started up the ramp.
    Daniel pounced. He grabbed Peepers. Kelsey opened the box. But Peepers had other ideas. He must have sensed something was wrong. Usually he let Daniel pick him up. But tonight he squawked and flapped and pecked.
    â€œOw!” yelled Daniel, dropping the rooster.
    â€œGrab him!” yelled Emmy. Kelsey reached for Peepers, but he raced away.
    â€œGosh,” said Emmy. “He runs fast—for a chicken.”
    Daniel and Kelsey raced after him, but the rooster was too quick. Finally, with a pleased squawk, he flew into the tree. He perched on a high branch.
    â€œGreat,” said Daniel. “What do we do now?”
    â€œClimb the tree,” said Kelsey.
    Daniel