Nelly standing on cushioning. You can see his deformed feet.

We haven’t had a holiday tree in a few years… things have kinda been on overdrive! So I thought I would share these photos of the chicken who started it all - the one and only Nelly P. Rooster, with the last tree we managed to put up a few years ago.

Nelly was the first little bird I brought home in 2009, the first one who needed my help, the one who captured my heart and the one who quite literally changed my life.

Close-up of Nelly’s deformed feet (from birth defects.)

Nelly was a rooster born with severely deformed feet. He could walk, but only on soft surfaces. He was six years old already, when he was brought to the sanctuary where I worked at the time. The kind people who rescued him just felt like they could not care for him anymore.

My boss had okayed him being brought to the sanctuary, and his rescuers drove 11 hours to get him to the only safe haven that had agreed to take him. Very soon after his arrival, staff began to have issues with the care he needed. Nelly was extremely special-needs, as roosters with this kind of physical challenge can be hard to integrate with more able-bodied flocks. He had special requirements, such as he needed to be kept on cushioning if soft grass was not available, and he was extremely needy for attention: would cry and crow until you stopped what you were doing and went to give him affection. His rescuers had brought his “favorite pillow” with him. The pillow was put on the hard floor of a stall in the med building, and little Nelly had to stand on that pillow all day every day, like being alone on a desert island. To walk on the hard floor, I could see clearly, was of great stress and discomfort to him.

He was being ignored basically at the sanctuary - relegated to that pen in the med building, as it was winter, and he had no companions. I worked part of the time in a room adjacent to the room he was, so when I would hear him cry through the wall, I’d go and scoop him up and bring him to my office. I put him in a cat bed right on my desk so I could try to keep him company and comforted, while I got my work done. Slowly I got to know him, and the more I did, the more I felt like he was a shining example of true bravery. The more I felt like he needed more love and care.

My boss wanted him out. He was "taking up valuable space" in the building, and I am sad to say, the staff saw him as a nuisance too but everyone was extremely overworked there. I was somewhat mocked for giving him "special treatment" - but I only felt like he needed care that was specialized for him... for the challenges he was facing. Wasn't that what we were supposed to be doing at a rescue for these beings?

I was a bit scared as I had never cared for a chicken before, let alone one with disabitiies, but I felt in my heart I could do better for him than what he was experiencing at the “sanctuary” (a place I quit, disheartened and exhausted after a few years.) Even though I did not know what the heck I was doing, I jumped in and home with me he came. I always adored these birds but my training was all over the place: a little bit of this species, a little bit of that; enough basic knowledge to keep everyone surviving. I was not a specialist by any stretch of the imagination.

Well, this dear sweet soul ended up being the greatest teacher. He lived with me another 9 years, passing away from old age as he neared what would have been his 16th year! (I am still a bit fuzzy on the exact dates and length of his life but it really was about or nearing 16 years old. Chickens have been documented to live longer than that, but this is pretty darn stellar.)

To say I say I dearly loved this friend is an understatement. He changed my life and my way of seeing him and so many other beings. He was a true friend and teacher in every sense of the word. When he passed away, there was a hole left in my heart that will be there forever.

In our years with him, as I grew more confident, one by one and two by two, others started to find haven here: Tina, found in a road unable to stand and bloody... Larry, a chick left on a desk as a joke in NYC... Blanche, found wandering around an abandoned building in New Jersey… And since his passing, many many more have continued to find their way here for rehabilitation, hope and all the care we could provide: Buckles & Pancakes, kaporos survivors... Zoltan and his flock, Tony Orlando & Dawn (now TeenyTinyTony and Almondine...), Kumquat, Festus, Funyons and ToodleLou, Powder, Ping and Pong, Roody, Penguin and Chico, Honey, frostbite survivor ... and others. We keep going, because there is a never-ending stream of feather people needing rescue and haven.

One little bird can be a catalyst for change. One mighty little bird can be the teacher that paves the way for others. One little bird can open up hearts and literally help change the world. Nelly was that bird.

Wishing you all the best in this winter season. May you also be cared for and loved and appreciated. May the new year ahead bring joy, peace and love your way, and I hope we see a new dawn of compassion and justice in the world. Let’s make it happen.

XOXO
Rebecca

The One Who Started It All: Nelly.