A little girl named Majen lives on a farm called the Shadows. There are many animals on the farm, but Majen's favorite is Mama Duck. For a few weeks every spring, Mama Duck sits on her eggs in her secret nest in the barn.

One year, one of the eggs hatches early, and Majen is surprised to see not a yellow duckling but a small, black baby chicken The baby chick does not understand that it isn't the same kind of bird as Mama Duck, and Mama Duck cares for her strange baby just as carefully as she cares for her five baby ducklings. Even if the chick can't swim like the others, she still loves it. But what will happen when it grows up to be a hen?

This children's story tells the tale of a baby chicken who is hatched from an egg by Mama Duck and who grows up within a little duck family.