THE question is, how much would you pay for a chicken? $100? $200? Maybe even $300.

New Norfolk cafe owner Jean Roper may be looking into a name change for her cafe – Cake Lady.

“She’s not the cake lady, she’s the chicken lady,” some might say.

Jean Roper, pictured, can finally see her pet chicken on the mend after a vet trip that has cost her almost $600.

Jean had been keeping tabs on her chicken for a few days when she noticed something wrong because of a blockage in its throat.

“I was trying to deal with it at home. There was like a hard lump right in her throat. She was obviously in some sort of distress. I just thought I can’t leave her like that.”

“it does seem like a ridiculous amount of money to spend on a chicken.”

She said it’s not the first time she’s paid that sort of money for poultry.

“I had a pet duck named Ferdinand. The same situation, he was mauled by a puppy and I found him with his feathers stuck out laying there so I took him to the vet and he had to get stitches. That cost me about $500 as well.”

It is apparent that Jean’s heart must be bigger than most. When people heard how much one chicken was costing her, they were surprised to know she would go through great lengths to save it.

“A lot of people asked why I didn’t just bop it over the head and be done with it.”

“I have many chickens in my backyard and she was one of, you know it’s a life. I know it’s a chicken but I couldn’t sit there and watch it choke”

The vets asked her what the chicken’s name was and having had no name for it they

suggested it should be named Money Penny. A James Bond exclusive which proves to be on theme.

“I’m going to have to take my holiday fund out but look at least she’s alive.”

Jean and her daughter have hand raised their chickens since they were chicks. Of course attachment would be a given in this situation.

“They don’t have hands. They just have wings. We’ve got hands at least.”

“They can’t do anything except suffer. We have to be their voice.”

Money Penny came out of her operation successfully with 20 days of medication which cost her $70 dollars.

“She has to have antibiotics twice a day, I have to hand feed her. So she’s going to have to come to work with me.” She said.