Greetings friends, we’re behind on updates! It’s been a really “fun-filled” few weeks dealing with so many critical cases. In February, it was five at once, and we slammed our veterinarians. We’re still catching up with figuring all this out - keeping up the medical foster of those who still need it, and the permanent placement of those who still need it.
We’re incredibly grateful for the ongoing support financially, for the kind words, for all our community does for us and for our bird friends. During the next week we’ll give you the updates on what we are now calling the February Five, which include Pop Tart, Laken, Icarus, Patch, and Baby Grace. Baby Grace is a collaborative project between Little Bluestem Sanctuary and the Crew, and so please check them out and donate to them to support her. All birds were in critical need, found dying after being discarded or abused, with significant medical needs.
Let’s start with an easier (but a really weird-looking) case for our first update. Meet Icarus. He was spotted by a few community members wandering loose with his wings super messed up. His wings were super twisted and weird, and we had no idea what was going on. He was delivered to temporary med foster Natalie pending transfer to our veterinarian, Niles Animal Hospital and Bird Medical Center She saw his wings were fully twisted and entangled in each other. She gave him pain meds, and shortly thereafter his wings detangled.
He then went to Niles and they ran rads, bloodwork…strangely, he had no fractures at all, just bruising from his one wing being dislocated. He had hematomas but was otherwise in good shape. Niles cleared him to go home, and we need to thank Chicago Chicken Rescue for providing Icarus with a forever home. We can’t believe how easily this one went, but Icarus’ care still required a village to rescue, a village to hold, a village to transfer to medical rescue, and a village to move him from the vet, to another temp foster,
We have another very special story to share with you. Our rescue stories have been few and far between lately, and we have been sad because as a grassroots organization that is funded by volunteers and our community supporters, we have had to close to intake for the most part.
However, when a bird is in dire need and has no other options, we cannot turn our backs on them. This was the case with Hyway. Hyway is a hen of the type who is typically raised for eggs in farms in the areas surrounding Chicago, and who are generally sent to slaughter at around 2 years old. They are generally sent in large trucks. Sometimes birds escape these trucks. We have rescued a few in the past. They generally have fairly significant injuries, are ill, and have been through a lot. We cannot know for sure, but we strongly believe based on the fact she was found on the side of a highway, and based on her injuries and condition, that Hyway was a truck jumper from a slaughter truck.
She was found by Good Samaritans who spotted her and stopped for her. They caught her and picked her up, at dire risk to themselves, and put her in their car. They brought her home, made her a bed and a safe space, and contacted us. They sent us pictures. Initially, Hyway was tail down, sad-looking, and very pale. Later she began to stand. Not only did they take Hyway into their home, they also agreed to bring her to our vet, Niles Animal Hospital and Bird Medical Center, as soon as possible, and our vets graciously agreed to see this bird on an emergency basis. Niles did bloodwork, ran fecal tests, and ran radiographs to get a full picture of how to help Hyway.
Hyway has a fracture of her coracoid bone. This is equivalent to a human collarbone, or clavicle. She is anemic and thin and has abrasions and bruises all over her body. But we have hope for her. We have dealt with some serious losses lately, and we will post one such sad story in tribute soon. But for today, at this moment, we are grateful for our G
Greetings friends and supporters! We wanted to share with you a funny video update of our new friend Bruce getting his laser treatment at Niles Animal Hospital and Bird Medical Center!
Because of the fairly significant pressure sores on his hocks, Bruce is on a number of medications to stave off pain and infection, and his doctors and caregivers also decided that laser treatment would help. Niles has used laser on a number of our rescues, and it does seem to significantly help in the healing process! They’re also going to redo his hock wraps!
Vet care is critical for all birds. Trained veterinarians and their staff can offer treatments that we cannot (and should not) do at home, and can help you ensure the very best outcomes for your bird companions. In this case, sweet Moira literally got pooped on by Bruce as a thank you for her care, but she wasn’t put off at all! All part of a day in the life in veterinary medicine, and we can’t be more grateful that people like Moira, and all the doctors and staff at Niles exist!
Bruce is making good progress, walking more and more, and even running at times! He is on a limited diet tailored to large breed birds to decrease his weight and to maximize his chances of a long and healthy life! We are feeling optimistic for him! Thank you for all your incredible support thus far! It helps us get the very best care available for our bird friends, and helps make sure our vets are paid for their incredible efforts on their behalves! We’ll include our fundraiser link in the comments, as well as a link to our merchandise store, and you can also call Niles during business hours at 847-647-9325 to make a direct contribution to our veterinary bills, if you’d like to help support! All love and gratitude to all of you, as always!
#WeAreWithThem #FriendsNotFood #CompanionsNotObjects #LoversNotFighters #Bruce #NilesAnimalHospital #AllBirdsDeserveCare
Yesterday, thanks to the help of Rescueber, a wonderful organization that helps with the transport of rescued animals, we were able to empty the shelter as well as place some other birds that were in the care of our friends at Chicago Chicken Rescue, and our most recent dumped rooster rescue, Indy. Rescueber’s video of the pull is below. Each of these birds who were transported yesterday were dumped. We have many more, many of which were part of the rash of dumping after impulse chicken pandemic purchases.
Buying chickens is not a solution to rising egg prices. Using egg substitutes (of which there are plenty) is a solution. Rethinking the “use” of any sentient being is a solution.
Whenever chickens (or animals generally) are commodified, they lose. Roosters are dumped because they are victims of stigma, and considered “useless” at best. Hens suffer from reproductive disease and die early deaths. When people buy chickens without understanding their care requirements, the birds are often thrown away like trash, left to die from exposure or predation, unless we can catch them and bring them to safety. If you are one of those people, you lose a bit of your humanity as well.
We have roosters in our care sometimes for years until we find the forever safe, no-kill home for them that gives them the compassionate care they deserve. For every backyard laying hen, there is, or was a rooster. Consider them. Don’t forget them.
Instead of buying birds, consider a donation to Rescueber, to us, or to Chicago Chicken Rescue to support our work providing these beings with safe homes. Links are in the comments, as well as a picture of Indy.
#stopharminganimals #adoptdontshop #adoptaroo #friendsnotfood #CompanionsNotObjects #RoostersRock
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Ayer, gracias a la ayuda de Rescueber, una maravillosa organización que ayuda con el transporte de los animales rescatados, pudimos vaciar el refugio y colocar algunas otras aves que estaban al cuidado de nuestros amigos de Chic
Rescued baby peafowl!
WHELP. Here's a fun update, Crew friends. As soon as we said NO MORE INTAKES we were alerted to two baby peafowl by organizer Claudia, who saw a report of them being loose and stray. Literally this happened as we posted about our limitations on intake, and the question of capacity, and still some of the team jumped to action, because we had to.
Any dumped birds are in critical danger, vulnerable to predators, unkind humans, traffic, all kinds of dangers. Baby white birds are especially easy prey for any predators, so organizer Christine set out immediately to catch them, and with the help of a kind community member, managed to net them and bring them back to her home.
We were really lucky because team member Laura (a licensed and skilled rehabber) had an ideal placement for these peafowl with a veterinarian who has a flock of them and is skilled in their care.
Today, organizer Lucy transferred all three of the birds we posted about yesterday (Penelope, Blizzard and Bobby McGee) to Laura's skilled care so they can complete their medical treatment, and Blizzard and Penelope can complete their thirty day quarantine in her care before transfer to their permanent placements. Lucy also transported the peafowl babies, so they could get to their safe forever home with their new veterinarian caregiver.
While we cannot at the moment continue to take and hold more birds, we are always happy to help with dumped birds who find themselves with no options. We are deeply grateful for the community that supports us, as well as people like Natalie, Audrey, who find birds, fall in love, foster and then adopt the birds they rescued.
We are 100% here to urge retention of birds, to urge and support adoption and adopters, and we will totally support anyone who wants to provide forever no kill homes, with compassionate care for birds. Message us (as a few people have recently!) to ask us for help and support if this interests you. We will come to you and figure out the best fits
Kolin, a dumped rooster right after rescue.
Hey friends of the Roo Crew! We're one month into 2022 and already having a hard time keeping track of the sheer number of calls for help we've received for dumped roos and all of their stories. Just this morning for example, organizer Claudia immediately responded to a community call for help for a beautiful young gentleman dumped in the cold by railway tracks. She quickly found him, scooped him up and brought him to safety. His name is Kolin, after the street on which he was found.
She took this video of this sweet boy as soon as she got him in her car. Look at his face, and look into his eyes. Kolin deserved more than being dumped in the cold, to fend for himself. He's so tired, so heartbroken as he was likely separated from his family when he was dumped.
Dumping is unethical, illegal, and harmful. If you dump or treat roosters as disposable beings, you need to do some work. Roosters are wonderful beings who are entitled to the same standards of care as dogs and cats under the Humane Care for Animals Act.
For some reason, we've seen so many dumpings so far this year. Our awesome followers have met a few but not nearly all. You've met Navi, Archie, and there are others we haven't shared yet. These birds are all receiving treatment and care, and we will never allow them to be at risk again.
Roosters do not deserve the unfair stigma they bear. Backyard chicken people need to do way way better, and recognize these beautiful boys for the special beings that they are, and give them the care (including predator protection, vet care, and heat in the winter) that they deserve. It's heartbreaking to see how tired and sad Kolin is after his ordeal in the cold.
It's DISGUSTING that half of an entire species is treated in this heartless way. Anyone who knows a roo, knows that they do not deserve it. Here's a pro tip. Don't buy or breed birds unless you have a compassionate plan to keep roosters. Reach out if you want help with a compassionate rooster retention plan.
Happy Friday, Crew supporters!
We want to show you again, what your financial support helps us do. Archie, the rumpless roo rescued last week, is seen here in the wonderful care of Niles Animal Hospital and Bird Medical Center and the wonderful Maria. Here he gets his treatments, and you can see his happy beak smacks and the love he gets. Both Navi (the FR roo) and Archie are going to make it...thanks for your help supporting them!
WE HAVE ANOTHER PROBLEM. We need more foster homes. We need more permanent homes. We cannot responsibly take more roosters unless we can get more permanent and foster homes. We need great homes, with predator protection, loving care (including medical care), and we need fosters. Even better, indoor homes! A companion rooster indoors? YES! They're awesome! And less loud than a dog. We'll include a resource on keeping indoor birds in the comments.
If you don't know about roos but want to try to live with one, or just give one a safe haven for a little bit...please message us. WE NEED YOUR HELP AND WE ARE HERE TO SUPPORT YOU AND THE ROOS! We will help set you up, we can help assess your situation, and hook you up with the best buddy for you and your situation!
If you live in Chicago, GOOD NEWS! It is totally legal to have a rooster. There are so many misconceptions about them that we can help you understand. Hit us up via messenger, we will help you.
Thank you to everyone who has supported, financially, emotionally, with shares, with love, and those who take these boys in and fall in love, we love you even more. A rooster could be your next best friend! And you supporters are ours!
#LoveRoosters #RoostersRock #NilesAnimalHospital #Archie #Navi #RoosterCompanion #SupportRescue #fostersaveslives #adoptaroo
Hey friends. Multiple frostbitten dumped birds have been picked up in the last week. One of them is Navicular, who was picked up by Chicago Animal Care and Control on Sunday. Roo Crew director Andrea pulled him as well as another rooster with frostbite on his comb on Sunday evening.
Navicular was walking with significant discomfort, and his feet were quite swollen, which are telltale signs of frostbite. When it manifests in feet like this, birds need prompt veterinary care. Andrea named him "Navicular" for the part of his body that seemed to be hurting him, and he was rushed to Niles Animal Hospital and Bird Medical Center by organizer Christine on Monday.
Niles did bloodwork, ran a fecal, and did rads on him. IT IS CRITICAL to get dumped birds to a qualified veterinarian AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Why? Because these tests ruled out internal parasites, showed issues with his white blood cell counts, and confirmed Navi has some serious frostbite in his feet, as well as a gram negative GI infection. He is currently in the hospital.
Because frostbite like this is very serious, very painful, and can result in the loss of limbs, you MUST take your bird to the vet if they are showing these signs. They deserve to get pain medicine (both internal and external), antibiotics to stave off infection, and any other treatments your vet has to help mitigate damage.
In this case, Navi is getting all of the above as well as laser therapy to speed healing and a therapy that is new to us, regional limb perfusion. In this video, kindly sent to us by bird nurse extraordinaire, Maria Io, Navi is getting his first treatment. We have hope that this will help him in his healing journey.
We thank everyone involved in Navi's journey to safety, and ask for everyone to send love to all the dumped roos recently rescued on their road to recovery. Thanks especially to Andrea, Christine, CACC staff, Niles staff, and especially Dr. Epstein, and Maria!
On the other hand, we send a massive FU to anyo
Long time no update, Roo Crew fans! Needless to say, we're busy as always, but we have a special story for you today, and another one yet to come.
Today, we have to give a huge shout out to the wonderful residents of the West Ridge neighborhood, whose diligence and care saved four lives.
These four little young ladies were roaming the neighborhood for much of the summer, after being abandoned by their owner. Sadly, this is too common a story after the Covid boom in backyard chicken keeping.
In this case, kindly neighbors had their eyes out on behalf of these birds. The wonderful Ms. Mohammad took them into her yard and provided them with feed. Neighbors, including the loving Ms. Lisa checked in on their welfare.
They were given food and love, but with winter coming, the neighbors knew that these birds were going to need good housing, predator protection, and forever care.
Ms. Lisa contacted us, and today we were able to round up these beautiful little ladies. They're in a foster home at the moment, but about to make their way to their forever home, where they will live out their lives free from fear, in safe security, and with lots of love.
All birds deserve this kind of concern and compassion, and we really thank the community who came together behind these birds and who support the premise that all animals deserve love and safekeeping. Thank you, West Ridge neighbors! You're wonderful!
#RescuedChickens #companionchickens #CompanionsNotObjects #friendsnotfood #loversnotfighters #LoveChickens #ChickensRock #ThankYouWestRidge #RescuersRock #Community #StrongerTogether #WeAreWithThem
Courtesy of Kate at Kanda Farm Sanctuary comes this simple advice. Chickens deserve appropriate care! Which means getting them veterinary care from an avian vet when they need it. When a chicken is showing signs of illness, it means they are already very unwell as they hide sickness. Get your feathered friends to the vet!
We refer to Niles Animal Hospital and Bird Medical Center who have probably treated over a hundred of our own rescues at this point.
There is no substitute for the care of a licensed, qualified veterinarian!
Hey all! We want to thank all contributors, whether they are donors to our fundraiser, volunteers, or adopters from the bottom of our hearts!
We also have BIG NEWS! We are excited to announce that you can hear some more about our roo friends from Roo Crew organizers tonight on WGN Radio! We'll be talking to Steve Bertrand around 6:30, and John Landecker around 9pm! We're so grateful and excited to be able to tell these stories! So tune in if you want to hear more!
It's amazing what we can do together, and so meanwhile, as an example of this we need to share a special update about a VERY special bird.
In late May, our newest Roo Crew organizer Natalie was alerted to a dumped rooster in Humboldt Park. She ran to the rescue with love, and retrieved a special boy, Loki. Meanwhile, other rescuers found his brother, Thor, who is still currently at Chicago Animal Care and Control.
Thor has been stable and well cared for at CACC. Loki on the other hand was a whole giant ball of mess. He had a necrotic toe and a gnarly upper respiratory infection. We brought him to Niles Animal Hospital and Bird Medical Center, who started him on antibiotics to resolve the URI.
But Loki got worse.
As it turns out, he had a really nasty antibiotic resistant infection. We had to hospitalize him for a month at Niles. During that time he was in strict isolation from other birds, though he was lovingly tended to by the techs and docs of Niles. We owe a special thank you to Maria!
We did a lot of cultures...so many cultures to monitor the state of his infection, and to see what drugs could deal with it. Finally, the last option we had, thankfully worked.
Loki's final culture showed he had FINALLY beat his infection, with the help of all the diagnostics, all the best medical care, and absolutely all the love from Niles.
Loki has finally made his way into foster! He is still segregated from other birds at the moment, but he is experiencing the world outside of a
Yesterday when we were talking about the bird dumping crisis and some of the recent birds we have been trying to help, we mentioned a critically ill little silkie rooster, named Neptune by our director, Andrea Custode.
Neptune was one of four birds dumped in boxes at a recycling center, and brought to our friends at Chicago Animal Care and Control. Andrea pulled Neptune and brought him to our beloved veterinarians at Niles Animal Hospital and Bird Medical Center, who got him in on an emergency basis.
We are very lucky that one of our organizers, Lucy, is a member of Niles' extremely talented staff. Lucy took a video of Neptune in the hospital so you can get an idea of his condition, and the care and work that goes into helping a bird in this kind of awful shape.
It is an absolute travesty that anyone could allow someone to get into this kind of condition in the first place, let alone discard them in this way. It is also at the very least a violation of "Owner's Duties" under the Humane Care for Animals Act, which DOES apply to "farmed animals" like Neptune. ROOSTER DUMPING IS ILLEGAL.
Further, under that statute like any other more "traditional companion animal," Neptune deserves and is entitled to veterinary care when he needs it. We're very grateful to work with Niles, where we can get him the kind of care he really needs right now.
More often than not, dumped birds require medical intervention and quickly to mitigate the effects of dumping and their past neglect. We are grateful for every single being that has been helped by our veterinarians, and it's worth every penny, but these costs do add up. Please consider giving a donation to our vet bill by calling Niles at 847-647-9325, or sending a donation via PayPal to [email protected]. We will post receipts for all donations sent via PayPal. We will also post the initial estimate for Neptune's care.
Please, please...never dump an animal. If you do, you are harming and endangering the an
Rescued Rocky meets his new family!
Yesterday was really cool! Remember that dumped roo that organizer Christine rescued last week? We were calling him Monty. He was doing really well after rescue...and what was the nicest thing was that a wonderful family in the area reached out to us about him.
They had also been on the run to try and save him as they are also chicken caretakers and live in the area where he was spotted loose. They wanted to introduce him to their little hen flock and adopt him!
We met with them yesterday and they were lovely. Roos are new to them so we spent some fun time chatting, checking out their feathered family, and telling stories and sharing info. Their kids were so excited about this new guy, and it was so nice to see how enthusiastic they were about him, and how open and willing to listen and learn they were.
This little roo, now named Rocky, was adopted on the spot and we thank this lovely family for their compassion, great care and concern for their birds and this little guy.
This is a cute snippet of their boys getting to pet him for the first time.
Bit by bit, with kind people like this we will dismantle rooster stigma, which is based fundamental misunderstandings of these good boys. Roosters are amazing companions, great protectors of family (feathered and human) and it's wonderful that more and more people are starting to appreciate them for all their special qualities.
#EndRoosterStigma #LoveRoosters #companionsnotobjects #friendsnotfood #loversnotfighters #adoptroosters #adoptdontshop #roosterheroes #WeAreWithThem
Themis enjoys a buffet!
Greetings to all!
Let's talk about one of our more recent intakes who happens to be especially cute. This is a little different because we normally post about our roo friends, and we don't share as much about our hen friends. The reason for this is that most people are less fearful and more accepting of hens, and we feel our rooster friends deserve extra attention, love and advocacy to make up for the unfair rooster stigma that they face.
However we DO also really love and work with hens all the time, and especially ones who might have some special needs that can make it harder to find them great forever homes. This story is about one of those hens.
Themis is a sweet little baby hen who was left at The Feed Store. When they found her, they quickly saw she was needing some help and called on Roo Crew organizer Claudia Verónica Hyzny, who came and got her and immediately started giving her vitamin supplementation and support.
It was quickly apparent to all that Themis is blind.
The rest of the Roo Crew team worked together with Claudia to get her to Niles Animal Hospital and Bird Medical Center, who generously and kindly as always gave her a spot to be seen, thoroughly checked and treated.
Dr. Abete confirmed her visual impairment, and did bloodwork on Themis which revealed that she was both anemic and had a high white blood cell count, indicating she was fighting off an infection. Niles staff treated her with iron and vitamin shots, and sent her home with medications to fight her infection.
It takes so many loving people to do this work. We offer huge thanks to the Feed Store staff who recognized this sweet girl needed support and called Claudia! We thank Claudia as always for her amazing work, Dr. Abete, Lucy, Eileen and the rest of the Niles Animal Hospital staff who got her in so quickly and gave her so much careful diagnosis and treatment are AMAZING!!! We now have Themis in foster care as she goes through her treatment and we are realizing how
OMG YOU ALL. Look at this tiny little bub that Roo Crew organizer Claudia rescued today! His name is Muppet. He's a very cute and special little Satin Showgirl silkie mix! He's very sweet and little, and has had a lot of human contact including with small kids who must have cuddled him a lot. Thanks to Claudia for rescuing him, as she does so many others!
He's looking for a great home, and we'll post him in our adoptable birds album shortly when we update on all of the birds in there now...luckily many have found homes now but we ALWAYS have more!
Little Muppet would do well as a house chicken with his feathering patterns and size. He reminds us of one of the Fiery muppet characters in Labyrinth!
Give us a shout via DM if you want this little muppet to join your household! He's absolutely precious!
