Countless messages of support from strangers across Australia and generous offers of assistance have helped popular Dubbo egg seller Cassie O'Neill come to terms with the devastating loss of about 30 chooks.
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Ms O'Neill estimates she's between $600 and $700 out of pocket after thieves are believed to have stolen the chooks from her property 10 kilometres east of Dubbo in the early hours of June 25.
"I was so cranky that someone has come in stolen something I've spent years and years building up," Ms O'Neill said.
"I was surprised but sickened that somebody would actually do that."
Ms O'Neill, who usually sells her hens' eggs to community members every Saturday morning, initially thought a crow came in and took some eggs when she first noticed there were a lot less than normal inside the chook shed.
"I didn't realise that the chooks were missing," she said.
When Ms O'Neill went to check for more eggs on another day, she discovered her chooks were missing.
"I had a beautiful araucana rooster who's just been a pet for quite a while and I'm really upset that he's missing because he had the greatest personality," she said.
"I have the araucanas because they lay the blue eggs, they're just a novelty. People just really love having a blue egg."
Between eight and 10 araucanas were taken and the chooks that are left remain scared.
"One of them actually sleeps on top of my beer fridge now," she said.
After reporting the incident to police, Ms O'Neill used her Cassie's Fresh Eggs Facebook page to let her customers know why there would be no eggs available and the response was extraordinary.
"I was probably angry right through until I put that post on Facebook," she said.
"With all the support I've received from the community, from far and wide, from Western Australia to Sydney to Newcastle, I'm just blown away by the support of chook lovers and people everywhere.
"It's really restored my faith in humanity that there's so many caring people out there and there's so many more of them than the mongrels who stole my chooks."
Ms O'Neill said her Facebook post reached more than 26,000 people and she replied to every person who offered support.
"There's been so many messages from people I don't know... someone in Western Australia offered to send me eggs," she said.
"One guy in Sydney actually messaged me and wanted to start up a GoFundMe page and somebody actually did but I asked them to take it down.
"I don't want donations, I don't want people to give me money, I'm not Israel Folau."
Ms O'Neill said she planned to buy more chooks and urged people to let police know if property was missing from their properties.
"Since this has happened I've had probably 10 other people contact me to say the same thing has happened to them," she said.
