My love of my 'Kids'

Hello everyone!
I just finished reading an article about how our 4 legged friends (Dogs/Cats) have such healing powers to those who are sick, mental ill, lonely or just needing the feel of being loved. Now, I have heard or read this sort of thing many times over my life & have found that yes, sometimes a dog/cat can help us. Well now I am here to tell you so can a chicken. Laugh all you want, but my Chatty, as you well know by now is not just any rooster. He is also my pet who comes & goes as he pleases in the house. He takes rides in the car with me to get my Co-op stuff, has his own kitchen chair & loves to follow me around the yard. When I decided to build the Fort Knox of coops to replace the one the fishercat had gotten into, I made sure there was a place for chatty in there. The reason being he is a big boy now & needs his own girls, not just his momma. The last day of my building he was out in the yard & started to crow from what sounded like far away. This worried me, so I took off & had forgotten I had just sat down a board that had an inch long nail in it. Running through the shop, I stepped down hard on the nail & it went through the shoe into the foot. Oh it hurt like the dickens, but I pulled it out & went & found Chatty. He hadn't been far, but had his back turned from the shop & his crow echoed through the wooded area. I got half way back to the shop when I couldn't stand it anymore & sat down, took off the shoe & started to cry. Now, I am a very tough woman who hardly if ever cries but after days of banging my fingers with hammers, hitting my face on 2x4 beams I forgot were there & just being tired. I let loose & cried. Chatty came up to me & climbed in my lap & just sat there while tears poured over his back. I held him while I cried & he did not move until I quit. Call me silly, but I honestly think he knew from the sounds coming from me that something was wrong & he needed to be there for me. In the 18 months I have had him, he has never heard me cry so this was something new for him. Because he was there I was able to calm down quicker because I didn't feel so alone. Bowzer, who if you remember, is my little hen who had awful seizures when she was young. For some reason she still wants to be with me even thought she is 14 months old now. When I am tired or just down, she will sit on my feet til I will pick her up & pet her. She likes it when I do the baby pats on her back & will fall asleep within seconds. Her feathers feel like rabbit fur & just touching her has a very positive effect on my mood. I find that, like with my cats or dogs just the petting, holding or talking to them can change how I feel. I spend a lot a time alone because my husband works a swing shift & is also in the Army Reserves, so he is not always there when I need a shoulder to lean on. I think in a weeks time, I have more conversations with my chickens than I do with him.....lol...Now you know why this is called 'The Old Batz Farm'! I know not all chicken farmers have this sort of bonding with their chickens but I love the fact that I do. To have a rooster sit in your lap while you cry is unbelievably wonderful, or to pat a hen so she feels safe enough to sleep. Now Chatty has 5 girls on his side of the coop who are 2 years old & big enough to handle him. When I let him out today into the yard he ran over to the run wanting to check on his girls. It was sweet & I had to put him back into the coop so he could go out & be with them. I may be his momma, but he now has a new job & life with the girls which I find wonderful & sad as well. I have a feeling he won't be running through the house much anymore or want to be free in the backyard if he can't be near his girls. But I accept that cause I know I can still pick him up & love on him if I need to. I just have to make sure he knows I am not taking him away from his new family. Ahhh when our 'kids' grow up.....sigh...Well until next time have a wonderful chicken day. M'