Bringing our chickens Ethel and Merman into the house didn't upset her. They'd jump on our laps because they simply adored human contact. Kay's feeling for chickens grew from her mother's bond with Tilla, a little red hen whose feet had frozen off in the cold Canadian winter of 1918. Dorothy's feet, comb, and wattles froze one January day and eventually dropped off. It was Dorothy crowing in our house - what a spirit.
Roosters also protect the flock.
Recently in Maryland, Pat Lloyd watched a rooster shelter a hen from a cat. With his eyes on the cat they moved sideways toward a spruce tree where, his wing still over the hen, he made sound at the cat, who finally walked away. People with companion chickens say such actions show their mixture of hereditary and spontaneous intelligence at work. When it is nurtured, the results are often surprising. He knew where I was.