In May of 2025 I took the plunge and bought an incubator and a dozen fertilized chicken eggs. Excitedly, me and my grandchildren placed each egg in the incubator and over the next 21 days we watched and waited. We candled eggs looking for signs of life, sadly discarding those that did not show any. Out of that original dozen we had eight baby chickens hatch of those eight only seven survived. As we watched the chicks grow and develop, we began to notice some were different than others and eventually we realized that five of the seven chicks were roosters. This meant we had to find new homes for several of these beautiful birds that we had become so attached to but knew we could not keep them all. I quickly found out that I was not alone in my search to rehome my extra roosters. Not only did I have to find new homes, but I had to decide which ones I would be willing to part with. I was eventually able to find a place that took three of my roosters.

 

Fast forward six months later: People on social media, at church and in random places are begging me to tell them where I was able to take my roosters. Those who are not able to rehome them have found a place to dump them. There is now a large flock of roosters behind our local Lowe's. They are also dumped on the side of the road in wooded areas which leaves them vulnerable to predators.

 

On Labor Day of 2025 my granddaughters class hatched baby chicks and when they were old enough the students took them home. She brought home four cute little babies that went straight into our brooder. As they grew older, they were moved into a small pen inside the larger run with our older chickens so they could socialize before integration. As they began to grow, we realized that we had another rooster and decided to build another pen and make a new flock with the four.  Once it became obvious that the chicks were roosters students began to contact their teacher. They can't have roosters where they live and don't know what to do with them. I was asked if I could take them in and unfortunately, I was not able to at the time.  Immediately after this I realized that something had to be done. There needed to be a place for these beautiful birds to go where they would be safe, well fed, receive healthcare and be protected from predators. A place where people can surrender roosters for whatever reason, a place where abused and neglected roosters can be rehabilitated, a place where they can live until new homes can be found for them, a place where people can come and learn about them, a place of peace for roosters, Pax Gallus.

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