Lost my favorite chicken. Rest in Peace, Noot Noot.

Her name is silly, but I bonded with this little chicken over winter when I had to bring her in due to health issues. She was having seizures and needed to be somewhere where she wouldn't keep hitting her head and breaking feathers. She stopped having them finally, but yesterday I came home on my lunch break to find her walking around with a prolapsed vent. She had an egg too big for her body, and it was stuck. Nothing was getting it out. All the remedies failed us, and she started seizing again from the stress. I had to make the call yesterday and have a family member put her out of her misery, and I feel so low today.

I know to many people, chickens are just farm animals. I've already been told by my parents to toughen up because that's farm life. I'm not phased by losing other chickens that are mean or that I'm neutral towards, but I really loved this little bird. She got comfy inside over winter and started following my poodles around. She purrs and loves scritches. She would beg to sit on the couch with me and then sleep while I gamed. Even after rejoining her flock, she ran to me every time I stepped outside.

To anyone else who has lost chickens or other small pets they bonded with and really cared for, they weren't just a chicken. Weren't just a pet. That was our little friend, and their absence is heartbreaking.