In The Trouble With Chickens, Cronin develops the theme of Friendship and Betrayal. By showing which characters are willing to act out of friendship and forgiveness and which are quick to betray their friends, Cronin adds moral nuance to her hero protagonist, J.J., and villain, Vince.

One of the most significant betrayals in the book is when Sugar colludes with Vince to trick J.J. into coming into the house. While she is not yet friends with J.J., she is his neighbor, and she knows that he is trying to help her mother in good faith. This turn of events saddens J.J., as he thinks, “I knew there wasn’t a single chicken in that room I could trust” (79). Moosh also feels betrayed by Sugar’s manipulative actions and expresses her disappointment in her daughter’s choices: “Finally Moosh understood that Sugar had been coming and going to this house for a long time. ‘You faked a kidnapping? With Vince the Funnel?’ Moosh raised her voice so high, I thought she might cough up a vocal cord” (92).

In a suspenseful plot twist, scheming dachshund Vince also betrays Sugar. As her burgeoning friendship with the vicious dog quickly goes wrong, Sugar realizes that she had misjudged Vince’s real feelings and intentions and that her trust in him was misplaced.