CIRCUS tricks? Nah. Anne isn't about to make Kenny jump through a flaming hoop or anything. For her, her pet chicken is amazing but not because he can do those fancy circus tricks.

Twelve-year-old Anne Mallari, a fifth-grader at Immaculate Conception School in Malabon, knew there was something special about her future pet when she singled him out from among his fluffy yellow siblings. For one thing, he had a reddish-brown tinge and, for another, Anne says he had "a smiling face."

Being an only child and not having much to do last summer, Anne spent her vacation playing with Kenny (named after American country singer Kenny Rogers because, Anne giggles, "I thought Kenny Rogers was the name of a chicken."). She would wrap him in a blanket and lie him on his side like a baby. They would play what Anne called "jumping and hopping." She would jump or hop up the stairs outside her house and Kenny would follow her lead (well, not exactly, Kenny couldn't really hop on one leg.) But most of all, Anne would spend the whole day talking to Kenny.

"I would always talk to him," says Anne, "I would tell him about this lady on TV who also had a pet chicken named Mahal or I would tell him about Ugie, my other pet chicken (before him.)" Sometimes Anne would cluck and go bok-bok-bok chicken-like so Kenny could understand her better.

Then one day, she noticed that Kenny squawked each time she spoke. It went something like: "Kawk!" Anne would say. "Ka-kawk!" Kenny would answer back. Anyone watching them would have thought they were having a conversation.

Anne is sure Kenny is trying to tell her something when they talk. Once, she remembers, a taho vendor passed by and she said, "Taho!" to Kenny.

Kenny immediately responded, "Tak-taho!" When she bought her taho, Kenny dipped his beak into her glass. "Gusto pala niya ng taho (He actually wanted to have taho)!" laughs Anne.

Lately, Anne's family claims that Kenny is speaking his mind a lot more often. If the phone is ringing and no one hears it, he squawks and crows until someone comes to answer it. Another time, he kept bothering Anne's mom while she was sweeping. It turned out that he was trying to call her attention to their water tank which was overflowing.

Kenny is also turning out to be the family's guard-chicken. He squawks wildly at strangers and doesn't let anyone touch him. He only calms down when Anne is around. In fact, Anne is the only person who can cuddle him and he still lets her make him lie down on his side on her lap.