Loving family’s obit honors Big Mama the chicken, who has crossed to the other side

The pet chicken known as Big Mama earned her angel wings over the weekend.

She died peacefully in her sleep in her favorite part of the coop. She was 6.

Her paid obituary, which detailed her short but full life, ran Tuesday in The Eagle newspaper, based in Bryan, Texas.

It began thus: “It is with sadness that we report the passing of our all-time favorite chicken, Big Mama. Not many chickens deserve an obituary, but she does.”

The Rhode Island Red chicken, whose given name was Angie, leaves behind a grateful but grieving human family: Stephanie and Gregory Sword and their two sons in College Station.

Other nonhuman survivors include Bubbles, Runt, Ms. S., Funky, Lucky and Blondie.

The Swords adopted the chicken in September 2013 after the family that named her Angie and raised her inside a Houston apartment grew tired of her.

She would have been euthanized had not a kind veterinarian, a graduate of the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine, sent out an email to find the spayed chicken a new home.

The Swords saw the email, which was tendered with a picture of a skinny chicken looking at herself in a mirror.

“We were hooked instantly,” the Swords wrote in the obit. “Did we want to give Big Mama a second chance at life? Absolutely!”

The Swords swooped in, saving the chicken from that giant roaster in the sky.

“We drove to Houston and smuggled her into our hotel, where we were staying to watch a Houston Astros game with extended family,” the family wrote in the obit.

“Big Mama joined us in College Station shortly thereafter, and soon discovered how beautiful life could be walking in the grass, being a member of a flock, and having 24-7 love.”

They renamed her Big Mama because Gregory Sword once dated a woman named Angie, according to an unconfirmed report in the Eagle.

Big Mama, accustomed to cushy apartment living, moved in with the family’s other chickens outdoors. The free-range life came with a learning curve, and on occasion Big Mama would try to make her way back indoors.

The little dumpling was a beloved family pet, the star of a Christmas card one young Sword son drew for his own mama last Christmas.

The family did not release funeral information.

In lieu of flowers, social media offered tweets.

Commented one cheeky mourner: She had great legs.

This story was originally published January 25, 2018 at 11:00 AM with the headline "Loving family’s obit honors Big Mama the chicken, who has crossed to the other side."