A College's 'Chicken Co-op' Lost 10 Chickens and 2 Geese — the Internet Calls It an Absurdity and a Heartbreak

Students at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing run a "Happy Little Chicken Cooperative" as a hobby. When construction workers on campus reportedly stole and ate 10 of their chickens and both of their geese, the story ballooned into one of the most unlikely trending topics of the week on the Chinese internet — equal parts absurd, infuriating, and heartbreaking.

What happened

The co-op is a student group that keeps poultry around campus for a little slice of pastoral life. In late August, several workers involved in campus construction were identified as the people who took the birds for food. The case drew immediate public sympathy. According to coverage, seven people involved received 12 days of administrative detention, and the construction company paid out 7,000 yuan — covering the value of the birds, the materials for the co-op enclosure, feed costs, and some "emotional damages" for the students.

Why it went viral

Three things pushed the story wide. First, the absurd contrast: a fine-arts campus poultry club versus workers eating the mascots. Second, genuine empathy — the students' statement that no compensation could undo the loss of animal companions struck a real nerve with a Chinese internet audience that loves animal stories. Third, a familiar argument about value: 7,000 yuan for beloved living creatures invites the eternal question of how anyone prices what mattered.

The bigger conversation

Beyond the cuteness, commenters turned to softer but real issues: campus food culture, the treatment of construction workers, and what it means that a student hobby must be defended from people who work on the same campus. The students themselves responded with a mix of grief and recovery — rebuilding the co-op, and keeping the chickens' names in mind.

Related vocab: 破防.