Ethiopian boy rushes sick chicken to hospital, video goes viral

Markos Abaye was worried enough about his chicken to do what many adults in his rural Ethiopian community might not have imagined: he hurried the bird to Denbecha Primary Hospital in the Amhara region and asked for help. The 12-year-old clutched the hen tightly as nurse Umer Chane filmed the encounter, and the clip later spread across TikTok, drawing about 770,000 views.

In the video, Markos tells the nurse, “She is wheezing,” a line that captured both his fear and his belief that the hospital was the nearest place where a sick animal might be saved. Chane told him the hospital was for humans and that veterinarians treat animals, then the chicken was taken to a vet and treated. The scene resonated well beyond the hospital walls because it showed a child turning to the only professional setting he knew when home remedies had failed.

For Markos, the hen was not an ordinary farm bird. His uncle and guardian, Kelemework Amogne, said the boy had grown up with a deep affection for animals and had become so attached to the chicken that he stopped studying and eating when it fell ill. He had watched its footprints and even built small bridges over holes in the ground so it would not fall. Kelemework said the bird had been given to Markos as a parting gift when he went to live with his uncle in August 2023, after conflict erupted in Amhara and his grandparents feared for his safety.

The episode also exposed how thin veterinary access can be in everyday rural life. Kelemework said Markos did not know there were vets in Denbecha, and the family learned what had happened only days later when they saw the video on social media. Some onlookers had mocked him while he sought help for the hen, but the reaction online was largely moved by the child’s concern. Markos later said the chicken was better and that he planned to give her the 12 eggs he had saved so she could hatch them, a small promise that underscored how much hope he had invested in the bird and in its recovery.