Meet Stevie, the Malibu chicken who is convinced it is a dog

MALIBU, Calif. – A Malibu resident is sharing the unusual story of her pet chicken, Stevie, a bird that seems to have forgotten it isn't a dog.

Jessica Davis adopted Stevie, a Buff Orpington hen, from an animal rescue center in 2021. The chicken quickly developed a unique personality, bonding and integrating with the family’s six dogs.

According to Davis, Stevie regularly ran, played, and even slept alongside her canine companions.

The hen also developed a habit of laying eggs in unexpected locations around the home, including on bookshelves and inside dog crates. Davis described the experience as a daily "Easter egg hunt."

After 18 months, the family decided to relocate Stevie to a friend’s farm for her own comfort and safety. The farm is home to a much larger flock of more than 30 chickens.

Davis still visits the farm frequently and says that Stevie still recognizes her, often running out to greet her upon arrival.

The narrative surrounding Stevie transcends the typical human-interest feature, serving instead as a microcosm of a significant shift in American cultural and ethical paradigms. This development directly challenges the traditional classification of livestock as mere commodities or food sources, reframing these animals as sentient individuals possessing distinct personalities and emotional depth.

The integration of poultry into the domestic sphere—characterized by personalized naming and the observation of complex social behaviors—signals an expansion of anthropomorphism beyond the conventional boundaries of canine and feline companionship. This trend underscores an evolving public understanding of interspecies dynamics and the capacity for non-traditional animals to form sophisticated cognitive and emotional bonds with human caretakers.

In the current media landscape, the viral nature of such stories reflects a broader socioeconomic phenomenon: a public appetite for constructive narratives that offer a reprieve from a volatile political and economic climate. It also highlights the growing influence of the animal rescue movement, which has increasingly transitioned from a niche cause to a mainstream American value. Ultimately, Stevie’s story represents a grassroots re-engagement with the natural world, illustrating a desire to find environmental connectivity within the confines of the domestic backyard.

Stevie’s story highlights a fascinating cultural gap that many of us in the Vietnamese-American community can appreciate. Back in Vietnam, chickens are typically viewed through a pragmatic lens—as livestock and economic assets rather than companions. The idea of bringing a chicken indoors and treating it like a member of the family is a world away from that traditional mindset. For many in the diaspora—from the elders in Little Saigon to those working in the nail salon industry or local phở restaurants—this story might seem both endearing and utterly bizarre. Whether a family’s American journey began with an F2B visa or more recently through H-1B or EB-5 channels, these shifts in cultural norms underscore how much our perspectives evolve as we bridge the gap between our heritage and our lives here.