One day during the summer, just a few months ago, we were at Walmart in the town over looking for some random stuff to buy. I had been sick for over a week and just started to feel better. I wanted to get out of the house, grab what supplies we had run out of, and just go for a short drive. We pull up into the parking lot and my boyfriend tells me there’s a chicken there. I do a double take, wait what? A chicken!? I love chickens! And sure enough there she was in fact a chicken.

I instantly said we should go grab her! But we said okay lets go into Walmart first. Lets see if anyone claims her while were in there? Maybe someone let her out for a walk? She’s a homeless person’s pet? Well no, none of that makes sense. But why is there a chicken? In the middle of a random parking lot. So anyway we went into the store, looked around, didn’t find anything interesting and we left. I honestly couldn’t think about anything else but the chicken so if I had ideas of what to buy beforehand they were too soon forgotten. That little feathered lady was still running around in the grass on the outskirts of the parking lot when we left and I said that’s it! We’re taking her home. No matter how long it takes to grab her.

It was HOT out that day. At least 94 degrees. Which is bloody hot around here at least. I’m not a fan of anything much above 75 degrees so 94. Yikes. I felt like I was cooking just from walking to and from the store and who knows how long this poor thing was outside in the elements. Someone had placed a small dish full of water in the grass which I was so happy to see. At least someone seemed to care. But this girl looked rough. I thought she was a naked neck from a distance because she had no feathers on either side of her neck.

We ended up having to chase her around for a solid 15 – 20 minutes. A few people saw us and joined in to help us catch her. Eventually we had about 8 people teaming together to get this poor girl. They had all been in the parking lot before we showed up but I guess she wasn’t important enough to help before we started trying to catch her? Or they were just too oblivious to notice her earlier? I don’t know but it was heartbreaking to see the conditions she was living in. At one point she hid in a bush that seemed like she spent a lot of time there. It was worn as if she had slept there and had an entrance/exit that was clearly used often. There was a dead pigeon next to the small worn patch that looked the most laid on. There was tons of trash near her. Bags of eaten chips, bottles, torn blankets, and random other objects scattered about. No water to be seen except the small container nearby and some old gross water pooled in the gutter.

When we finally caught her she was exhausted, smelled awful, and was very, very thirsty. I wrapped her in my sweatshirt to keep her comfortable and blasted the air conditioner in the car. She was quiet, calm, and just stared up at me in confusion. I kept her eyes covered to keep her calm since I highly doubt shes ever ridden in a car before. When we got her home I finally got a good look at her. Her neck was plucked from just below her ears all the way down to the base of her neck and down her shoulder blades. I’ve never seen a chicken lose feathers like that before and it almost looked like they had been purposefully plucked. Her beak was ground down as well. Not like an over time aging thing but more like another purposeful act. Someone cut her beak. Way shorter than any other chicken I’ve seen. And again, she smelled awful, sickly, foul. Something clearly wasn’t right.

We gave her a bath and did the best we could to get rid of that awful smell. It lingered for a few days but eventually went away. We kept her isolated from my other flocks to make sure she wasn’t sick. She pooped some solid black tar poops for a couple days and then her body seemed to even out and return to normal. She was so friendly, so kind, and warmed up to us quickly. She escaped the temporary enclosure we made for her so she could run over and stand at the fence and visit with my other girls. She slept in a dog crate in the house for the time she was isolated and didn’t seem to mind.

Eventually, I moved her enclosure closer to the other chickens so she could start getting to know them. After a solid week or so we introduced her to my younger chickens. They were around 4 months old at the time and it was a long shot they’d get a long but she was so sweet. She did not attempt to hurt them like most older chickens do. She started protecting them, cuddling with them, and now she has her own band of girls. She also fancies one of our handsome roosters, Leo. Her feathers are growing back slowly but I’m not sure if they ever will fully. Maybe? Only time will truly tell.

We named our little Walmart chicken Soleil which means sun in French. She is the most gentle hen ever. She has opened up to us and comes running when called. She has been such a great addition to our flock and she continues to thrive. I’m so grateful we were able to save her. Who knows how long she was out there and what she endured in that time. All I know is she is safe now and she will never know pain ever again.

Welcome home Soleil. Our little ray of sunshine.