A tribute to my best friend

by Jake
(England)

Lopi was a rescue chicken and first became a part of my family in the middle of winter 2018. This was one of the coldest winters in several years and even brought us some snow. She had barely any feathers when she came to us and so nearly froze to death several times during this cold snap. Luckily my family and I were able to bring her back to life on more than one occasion and she managed to survive the winter.

We called her Lopi because during this ordeal she fell and broke one of her wings causing her to become lopsided. Overtime and with our love and care her wing healed and she was no longer lopsided. However, the name stuck.

After this ordeal, with plenty of love, food and warm weather she managed to grow into a wonderful chicken. She always had a special place in our hearts because of the hard start to her life and was definitely the tamest out of all our chickens.

Lopi was always the first to greet me whenever I went outside and was always squawking the loudest to try and get my attention. She loved hugs and would often sit at my feet waiting for me to pick her up and hold her in my arms. After picking her up she would often fall asleep as she was so relaxed. I spent many hours outside enjoying her company while she bathed in the sun and played in the dust.

Lopi was special to me as it felt like we had a connection between us. She would always be the first to come over to me and would always be begging for my attention. She would follow me wherever I went in the garden and would often try and follow me inside if i didn't shut the door properly.

I first found out she died when I went outside in the evening to check if all my girls were in bed. I could see only half the chickens in the coop and so started looking for the others and it was then that I saw her body strewn across the floor after a fox attack.

The moment that I saw her dead was like everything stopped and I still can't really believe she's gone. I know fox attacks happen and that you can't do anything about them but still I feel guilty and wonder what I could have done to protect her.

I hope it was quick and as painless as possible and I hope that she had a good life with my family. I miss her very much and I am still struggling with the fact that she is gone.