i worried that the hens would feel vulnerable to predators or miss their rooster following ira’s death but some sort of transformation was already underway in the chicken pen. To my surprise, the chickens actually had very friendly personalities. They had been non-existent under ira’s reign. The chickens were stand-offish and distant. With the rooster gone the chickens began greeting me when i brought food and water. They began coming up to me and rubbing their heads on my pants legs like little dogs. They enjoyed being petted and made little cooing noises when i petted them. They closed their eyes and leaned into my hand when i petted their combs. I had no idea they were that friendly! All of them liked to surround me and lean in for petting, using my legs to support them as they were petted. However, one chicken was more friendly than all the others. Little Daisy was a feisty chicken that sometimes gave my biggest chicken Rosie a run for her money when it came to being the dominant chicken in the flock. Rosie was bigger than her by quite a bit, so Daisy always lost their tussles in the end, but Daisy was just as loud and bossy a chicken as Rosie. Both of them became possessive of me and wanted me to pet them exclusively, shooing the others away if they were seen being petted. However, Daisy took a special corner of my heart when she began climbing onto my lap and sitting comfortably for up to 40 minutes if i would sit still. It was her favorite place to be. When i came home from work i would enter the chicken pen, Daisy would run to me, put her head on my knees, stretch her neck out, and climb onto my lap where she would flatten herself, draw her head in, and rest comfortably while i petted her. If i put food scraps out i had to save a couple for her because she would rather sit in my lap than eat. Petting Daisy became my stress relief after a long day working in healthcare. Daisy became my therapy chicken.