November 2010
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Intro
When Ethan Edwards holds a chicken’s egg to his cheek, his whole face beams as only a 4-year-old’s can. Then he kisses the egg gently, announcing, “I love chickens.”
Those aren’t any ordinary eggs, just as Ethan is no ordinary child. They’re the dark reddish-brown, light green, tan and cream-colored eggs laid by the heritage-breed chickens on his family’s Chickens for Change Farm outside Thomasville.
Ethan feeds nearly 40 chickens every day, plus a few ducks and turkeys. He also gathers the eggs every day. That’s impressive for a 4-year-old. But it’s even more impressive when you consider that Ethan has a skin condition that makes it difficult for him to go outside.
Ethan is unable to sweat, and his body, which can’t regulate its temperature, is extremely vulnerable to heat and cold. If he’s going to be outside more than a few minutes in summer, he suits up like an explorer heading for the Sahara, in a safari hat and a vest cooled by ice packs. They’ll keep him comfortable for the time it takes to get his chores done, his mother says.
His genetically-caused condition is called ichthyosis. The proceeds he earns from selling the eggs goes to the research foundation trying to find a cure for ichthyosis.