People Are Returning Their Pandemic Chickens

Yahoooooooooo ^ | July 22, 2021 | Jelisa Castrodale

[Diana in Wisconsin]

At the start of the pandemic, when daring to go to the supermarket meant staring at empty shelves where the dairy products, canned goods, and yeast packets used to be, some people decided that they'd adopt chickens to give themselves a steady supply of fresh eggs, or just to take control of something in their lives.

But now that everything feels slightly different and many of us are inching our way back to normal, those chickens have become just another responsibility—or perhaps a reminder of what life was like twelve-plus months ago. As a result, some people are giving up their backyard birds, which is proving to be stressful for the chickens themselves, and for the organizations that rescue roosters and hens.

According to Block Club Chicago, the Chicago Roo Crew is one of those animal advocacy groups, and they're struggling to pay for veterinary care for the birds they already have. They've been inundated with so many requests to take in abandoned or unwanted chickens that they've had to start turning them down, and referring those people to other organizations. "Right now, currently, we're closed for intake," Julia Magnus, an animal rights attorney and Chicago Roo Crew volunteer, told the outlet. "Because we have too many [birds] and our vet bills are tremendous."

This isn't just happening in Chicago either: Tamerlaine Sanctuary & Preserve in Montague, New Jersey told the West Milford Messenger that they've had to stop taking in new birds after having to accept 20 hens in the past few months. The sanctuary houses around 150 birds, and it might spend as much as $20,000 every year on veterinary care for the chickens.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Who knew that FR would have so many chicken experts? ;)

[Yardstick]

My favorites being Buff Orrpington and any in the Wyandotte breed...
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I’ve never had chickens but my favorite breed is “Buff Orpington” just because the name has such a cool ring to it. I googled it once to see if anyone had used it for a band name and, sure enough, they had:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Musician-Band/Buff-Orpington-27636114718/

[FalloutShelterGirl]

a great example of the new Amerikan spirit of panic, make a bad decision, don’t think it through, and try to avoid the consequences.

[sheana]

We’ve been feeding our dove for years. There is a bunch of them daily. They line up on our pool fence and wait for me to refill the feeder every day. Since they’re too big for the feeder I always pour about half a solo cup on the ground to get them started lol