“We were meant to find him” ❤️
Jeniffer and John Little were rollerblading their favorite trail when something unusual caught John’s attention under a nearby bridge.
“John slowed down and said, ‘Wait … is that a rooster?’” Jeniffer recalled. Sure enough, a lone bird stood beside an old Nike shoe box.
The couple had been down that path countless times but had never seen a rooster there before. When they asked a fisherman nearby if the animal belonged to him, his response confirmed their suspicions.
“He laughed and said, ‘Nah, someone just dropped it off in that box and walked away,’” Jeniffer said.
Her heart sank. “I felt this rush of anger and sadness. How could someone abandon such a fragile little animal? Out there alone, he never would’ve survived the night.”
Without even discussing it, the couple knew what they had to do. Jeniffer slipped off her rollerblades, carefully approached the rooster, and — drawing on experience from caring for John’s mother’s chickens — gently scooped him up. They named him Nike, after the box he was left beside, and carried him home.
It felt like fate. “John’s mom had been encouraging us to get chickens for months, and we kept saying, ‘Maybe someday,’” Jeniffer said. “But the moment we found Nike, we knew it wasn’t an accident. We were meant to take him in.”
At their home, Nike quickly went from abandoned to adored. The Littles built him a spacious coop, adopted six hens to keep him company, and watched him flourish.
“You can just see that he knows he’s safe now,” Jeniffer said. “He’s settled in with our cat and dogs like he’s always belonged here.”
Nike has blossomed into a lively, quirky rooster, showered with love every day. For the Littles, his presence has brought a new joy into their home.
“Since Nike joined our family, life feels warmer, cozier,” Jeniffer said. “Of course, there’s the mess and the cleaning — but those little things are nothing compared to the happiness he’s given us. It’s absolutely worth it.”