When Zoe becomes ZoHe

It was a typical morning at 5am. I’m having my coffee and checking the sanctuary’s email when something catches my attention. An email from a family right here in our Santa Ynez Valley, who had brought 5 chicks home, after being ‘guaranteed’ the chicks were all female. Well, needless to say, the little baby chicks were so cute and cuddly that the family fell completely in love with them, especially their two young children. They took care of the little fuzzy chicks every day, feeding them, tending to their needs, handling them, and bonding with them intensely. All was going well and they were all very happy until one day, after about 3 months of backyard chicken bliss, they heard a strange sound coming from their coop. Wait…Was that a crow?? Oh no.

They went to the coop and there it was…their beloved Zoe was crowing. Not a hen after all. A rooster! The parents knew that this was very bad news. Their town had an ordinance, like many other towns, banning roosters from residential areas. Zoe would sadly need to go. Where could they take their rooster and know he was safe? How would they break the news to their children? Imagine telling your child that the pet they have raised and lovingly cared for from a baby chick now has to go. It’s a very difficult situation for the family and likely equally traumatic for the bird being ripped away from his home and his flock. Luckily we were able to take Zoe, now 'ZoHe', and provide him with a forever home here at Martha’s Farm Animal Sanctuary. And the best news is that the family, being local, can come visit him. It’s a happy ending for ZoHe but unfortunately countless other roosters are not as lucky.

I realize it might seem like we’re writing a lot about roosters, but honestly they are constantly brought to our attention, with rooster owners reaching out to us daily in need of help. It’s a never ending stream of re-homing requests! We wish we could take them all but unfortunately we can’t. We are now at capacity with roosters and every time we turn down a request it breaks our heart. Therefore we feel it’s important to write about them and shine a spotlight on these poor underappreciated birds.

So next time you hear a rooster crowing, try and think of him as nature's wonderful alarm clock, just another variety of song bird. If more people thought this way then maybe the neighborhood laws would change, and roosters wouldn’t be dragged away from their families. Let’s create a more compassionate world by appreciating the beautiful rooster!