Crossbeak

You know those days when you realise that the only one who understands you is a rooster?  Ok, well perhaps it is only me but Crossbeak was a dear friend.  When you had a day that left you wondering what the hell is wrong with the world and why don't people just do what you would expect them to do, Crossbeak was right there with you.  He'd stand next to you, right beside your feet with that funny little squawk that said 'oh yeah, life's crap sometimes but you just get on with it'.  And so you would.  Crossbeak started out in life with a serious disfigurement to his beak that meant that the top one was headed in the complete opposite direction to the bottom one and almost impossible for him to eat.  Me, in my great wisdom took him off to the vet for some minor surgery.  The vet was able to clip his beak a bit shorter so he could eat.  When I got him home in the box he was in shock and couldn't move.  I thought I'd almost killed him.   I should have just sent him off to one of those resorts in Asia that people go to and come back looking like a completely different person.  But Crossbeak didn't need a little freshening up, he needed to survive.  And that he did.  The other chickens didn't care about his peculiar looks, there was even the odd (short sighted) girlfriend but they never lasted long (we're talking minutes not months).  As he struggled to eat off the ground I always hand fed him what I could before getting into trouble from Lewis the head rooster, and always had a special treat for him at the back door.  He'd follow me around the property like a pet dog and inspect every weed I pulled.  He'd make a mess of himself with the leftover sponge cake and couldn't get the cream off his face before getting found out by the others.  Unfortunately he went downhill recently and his tail feathers were getting lower and lower.  He was struggling to swallow food and yesterday he quietly passed away.  Farewell Crossbeak.  I'll miss our little chats.  The world is a lesser place without you (wipe the tears off the keyboard now...).