Chicago Roo Crew

03/29/2025

Our lovely friend Diane Mejia who is the genius behind Mindful Baking got a lovely feature on her work. Diane has uplifted the Roo Crew so many times...having us table her wonderful events, donating to our veterinary bills, and sharing the message of love for roosters. Not to mention her delicious food had nourished us so many times, and she had made special care boxes for our veterinarians. We could not be more happy for her! Consider a visit or an order to Mindful Baking so you too can experience the love!

We especially love how she is highlighting egg alternatives in this feature! Well done Diane!

A pastry chef on a quest to make sweets everyone can enjoy. Mindful Baking Cafe is a gluten-free, vegan bakery constantly evolving to keep up to date with ne...

03/26/2025

As of this moment, we are not doing bird intake due to the the risks of avian influenza, but we are still doing outreach, education, and support and caring for our resident and foster birds. We also believe in uplifting other organizations, especially those who have uplifted us and other organizations!

The Open Sanctuary Project is a really great organization that provides meticulously researched compassionate care information for farmed animals, and even more! Everything they make is free for all to access, including comprehensive courses on chicken care! They're celebrating their 8th anniversary and could use support, so consider a donation here!

https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/fundraising/support-8-years-of-empathy-at-the-open-sanctuary-project

01/29/2025

ALERT!!!! Due to capacity limitations and the risk of HPAI, we have been closed to new bird intake, and will remain closed to intake until the risk abates and we have gotten our vet bills paid down. However, part of our mission is to assist our local shelters with placement whenever possible when it comes to birds or other farmed animals.

Today a shelter contacted us with regard to the seizure of twelve birds who may have come from a cruelty situation. Tomorrow we will assess these birds, but this shelter is very much at capacity and the situation is URGENT.

If you can foster or adopt a rooster under the following conditions, please send us a direct message! If you're not sure, but would like to learn more about this, you can also send us a message!

1. The bird must be quarantined and receive vet care if needed.

2. The bird should be kept indoors or if outdoors, with access to heated space, and with sufficient protection to protect him from the threat of highly pathogenic avian influenza and predators.

3. It should go without saying, but we will only adopt to forever no kill homes, where birds are treated as companions.

Please DM us if you can help, and we will get more details as they become available.

12/31/2024

We hope so much that all our supporters and followers are enjoying a good end of year. Today we have a bit of a stressful message to share....tomorrow we will have a happy rescue story for end of year.

In addition to rescuing birds who have no other options, we also try to do educational outreach for those who care for birds compassionately.

We have raised the alarm about Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) multiple times over the years. Our rescuers and network all are cognizant of the risks. At this point, we must halt all bird intake for the protection of the existing birds in our care, and for the protection of our many caregivers and our veterinarians and their staff.

When it comes to advice on HPAI, we refer you to The Open Sanctuary Project, which is an objective organization that created eight separate resources on HPAI. We urge you to consider their main resource on HPAI as well as their biosecurity resource.

HPAI has impacted countless birds, wild-living mammals, and domesticated mammals and now humans. Please refer to the careful research done by OSP to protect your flocks and yourselves. Stay well, our dear friends and supporters, and care for every bird in your care.

A look at the viruses that cause avian influenza, how the disease is spread and manifests, and how to protect farmed bird residents.

12/06/2024

This album contains photos and descriptions of birds who need to find forever homes. Descriptions on the photos will let you know a little bit about each bird, and where each bird currently is. Because of our time constraints as an all volunteer organization, we don't always update this album constantly. So we always also have many other birds who may not yet be featured, but are wonderful, and may fit in with your forever loving home perfectly. If you are looking for a roo friend, contact us. We probably have a great companion for you! Thank you for considering opening your heart and home to a sweet rooster buddy!

12/04/2024

Greetings friends. Today you are likely bombarded by posts asking for help. While we are bad at regular social updates, that is because we are a tiny group of overworked humans, trying to help as best we can, and we prioritize the lives of the animals in our care, and those who most desperately need us over socials

However, in the last few weeks we got four birds to safety, thanks to our lovely community. Today we're going to tell you their stories briefly, share rescue pics, and ask for your help. We need it badly.

Our first bird was a beautiful black rooster who had been wandering a vacant lot for months. With limited space we made a call to community, got an adopter, and this gorgeous roo found a safe landing in days. Thank you Barbara, Christine, and the adopting family.

Then we got a message about a hen who wandered up to a home in an area where hens are illegal. She was contained by a community member, and thanks to Sue, who retrieved her and is providing her with quarantine and care.

Then...a call about two game hens who had been stray in an area full of stray cats and dogs and danger for weeks. Thanks to Christine who patiently and carefully captured them. Thanks to our little friend Annabelle, who has named these birds Sunflower and Moon.

All these birds were facing dire and imminent risk of death from predators, exposure, and even more risks.

We are beyond our limits, and can only continue to provide lifesaving care with community support. Can you consider a donation today? A link to our GoFundMe is in the comments. Every dollar goes to our vet bills.

Speaking of that, as always, we're grateful to Niles Animal Hospital and Bird Medical Center who sees our birds and who we owe a lot of money to. You can contribute to vet bills and save any transaction fees to us by calling them directly and asking to make a donation.

We thank our entire community for your support, and with continued support we will do our best to make sure that every bird without any other options, has us. We are with them. We will tell you more stories soon, we promise!

11/18/2024

UPDATE: The rooster was rescued by our wonderful organizer Christine, alongside Barbara who alerted us to him and has been caring for and keeping an eye on him. He is in remarkably good shape and has a placement. We want to thank our entire community who helped respond to this situation. For those who offered to adopt, we will reach out to you as we will have more need of homes going forward, and we love your compassion and would love more help with placements! Thank you! It takes a village! And we are so grateful for ours. We will include this update in the comments and also a link to our GoFundMe as we currently owe our vets a huge amount and could use some help there as well. Again, thanks to all! This roo friend is safe thanks to you!.......................................................
Urgent!!! This sweet rooster is currently living in a locked parking lot for several months now where a local has been feeding him daily. We’d love to get him to safety before the cold front comes in, but we have nowhere for him to go. Can you give him a safe home?? Please message us if so. If not please share this so that we can hopefully find him a home. We are willing to transport in the Midwest area. Thank you very much!

11/17/2024

This album contains photos and descriptions of birds who need to find forever homes. Descriptions on the photos will let you know a little bit about each bird, and where each bird currently is. Because of our time constraints as an all volunteer organization, we don't always update this album constantly. So we always also have many other birds who may not yet be featured, but are wonderful, and may fit in with your forever loving home perfectly. If you are looking for a roo friend, contact us. We probably have a great companion for you! Thank you for considering opening your heart and home to a sweet rooster buddy!

Patch was dumped on the streets with a gnarly eye infection! We took him to a vet and got him cleared up. He is now with his foster and seeking a safe home. He's a medium sized rooster and not aggressive. Can you give him a home today?

PENDING ADOPTION

11/02/2024

Tomorrow, Sunday! Come by for the free vegan market and then stay for wrestling after! Get tickets here https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lucha-vegan-3-tickets-1003667615857?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery

10/06/2024

Our friends at All Species Kinship (A.S.K.) need your assistance, our dear and very beloved rooster lovers. We always do, and will have urgent need for roo adopters soon too.

Meet Alfredo. Alfredo wanna some vegan pizza! He is a beautiful survivor who deserves a very good home.

Let's talk real. In Chicago roosters are legal. And there are a lot of vegans in Chicago. Can you adopt or foster a rooster? They are less loud than dogs are. They transcend all the stigma and stereotypes assigned to them. They dance and sing beautifully. And they could be your next best friend. Can you help dismantle rooster stigma by adopting your very own beautiful roo friend?

Vegans, it is time for you to step up. We promise it will change your life for the better to share your life with someone like Alfredo.

The requirements are the same for any companion non-human animal. Have a vet and use them. Keep him safe from predators and extreme temperatures. Give him love. Luckily there are great avian vets in Chicago. We use and love Niles Animal Hospital and Bird Medical Center.

Aside from that, Alfredo can live in your house (AND HE WOULD VERY MUCH LOVE THAT) and be a delightful friend. Yes, we will help you figure that out. (YES diapers are a thing except when you have a committed nudist, and that is also ok). Look in the comments for a guide on living with indoor chicken friends.

Meet Alfredo. He's a friend, not a fighter.

They get their combs and wattles sliced off without anesthesia or any pain medications. The purpose here is to minimize bleeding during the fight. Imagine that happening to a dog or cat? Literally being cut into while wide awake and without any remedy for pain? Birds feel pain and experience the same emotions as other companion animals.

Rooster stigma is so real. And in the case of birds used for fighting, they are mentally deteriorated and deprived of all that is natural to them.

It takes time to trust humans again. They are really not much different than unsocialized, abused dogs.

If people only could care like they do for dogs and cats. But few donate, and even fewer adopt. It's sad because being witness to these transformations is a beautiful thing.

Alfredo is seeking an all-hen flock. He is a gentle fella and great with hens. Ability to provide vet care is a must for any bird adoptions here.

09/22/2024

Greetings friends! We have a new update on Annie, who is such a wonderful superstar. She made an appearance at the LoVe Fest and charmed many, prior to a recheck at Niles Animal Hospital and Bird Medical Center. Thank you for having us, LoVe Fest! We love the chance to change hearts and minds about chickens!

Given the severity of Annie’s injury on rescue and the intensity of the surgery she underwent, it makes sense that her recovery is taking time. Rebecca, her caregiver, had concerns about how her crop was working, so on recheck today our vets ran a crop smear and rechecked her p**p. She is going to take some meds to eradicate some yeast that was detected in the crop smear. She’s off her antibiotics now though!

Annie had an almost full leg cast, and we were concerned about her ongoing mobility going forward with that. Today, she used her casted leg to forage, and also to leap! She does have mobility, but we all feel it’s time for her to work that leg more, so our wonderful Dr. Davis changed her bandage for one that will allow it to rest in a more anatomic position, allowing her to use her leg more easily. Once her leg heals, the goal is for her to get some chicken physical therapy so she can regain full use of that leg!

Rebecca, her medical foster, will continue to closely monitor her, and give her the meds she needs as well as the love and care that Annie adores, as she recovers! Thanks for following her journey to date, and consider a donation to the fundraiser in the comments! Thanks for all those who have donated to date. Annie appreciates it, and so do we! We cannot do this without you, and we are all so grateful for all the people who are on Team Annie!

09/12/2024

We need to express gratitude today to an incredible organization, Rescueber. Rachel and her team do an amazing job of filling the gaps when it comes to a much needed job in the rescue world...which is transport.

Thoughtful and compassionate transport for animals in need is hard to do! This organization does a great job. Monday, Rescueber helped Loki, Calico Jack, Bobbie and Nunzie find their way to their forever home!

For those who follow us you may know some of those birds have been in our care for a long time and waiting for homes. Thank you to Shelby for adopting.

Our team is small and mighty, but also limited. Without thoughtful collaboration from other like minded organizations of all types, and the help of organizations like Rescueber, things would be so endlessly challenging. Thank you Rachel and Rescueber. Consider throwing this very worthy organization a donation in thanks for all they do!

08/10/2024

ANOTHER HAPPY FRIDAY UPDATE! ANNIE IS HOME. She is out of the hospital with her medical foster and Roo Crew organizer Rebecca! This is good news, but her recovery has been rockier than we’ve hoped. Right now, Annie is home for a trial run hoping that she will recover better in a calmer environment where she can be close to Rebecca and hear other chickens in the background.

Niles Animal Hospital and Bird Medical Center is such an amazing place, but it can be very stressful for birds who, due to the need for strict biosecurity, have to be in isolation. We're so grateful for the incredible surgery they did, and the care they gave her!

Along with a longer recovery comes a much higher vet bill than we all anticipated. Just from her longer hospitalization, we’ve blown past our original goal and paid $2536.40. If we can keep her home safely, Annie will also need, at minimum, weekly follow-up appointments until her leg is fully healed (the doctors are anticipating around 6 more weeks. I’ve increased our goal to try to cover as much of these expenses as we can. Please donate if you can and share either way. Send all your good recovery vibes our way!

Thank you for following along on Annie’s journey to what we hope will be a smoother recovery ❤️

The link for Annie's fundraiser is below, and in the comments!

https://gofund.me/fafa24ae

08/02/2024

A HAPPY FRIDAY UPDATE! We did it! We've surpassed our goal for Annie's surgery and The Roo Crew and Annie cannot thank you enough.

Annie is still in hospital and recovering. You can see before and after surgery rads below! She's staying a bit longer than we anticipated, but the vets are doing everything possible to get her comfortable and ready to come home. They are adding some extra pain management because she is showing signs of distress (open mouth breathing) and laser treatments from some extra swelling that was noted during a bandage change.

She is eating veggies happily but is less thrilled with pellets food, but organizer Rebecca brought her some options to try!

Annie is still fighting and we're fighting with her. We can't wait to bring her home to foster until she's ready to join a new flock and live her best life.

Thank you all for your support, and if you would like to give more you can continue to donate to Annie's fundraiser or to our general GoFundMe. Every dollar goes to our substantial vet bills! Well worth it to help little buddies like Annie!

07/25/2024

As an update for all who are asking "Annie are you ok, Annie are you ok, are you ok Annie?"

Annie is ok.

Annie is currently hospitalized with some concerns about anemia but our wonderful vets at Niles Animal Hospital and Bird Medical Center are monitoring closely and will check in with us before starting her surgery tomorrow. We are choosing to do surgery sooner than later. Annie needs to be ok and our Doctor Abete is stellar

Please knock on wood and keep your claws crossed. Thank you, friends and supporters, for all you have done to support Annie as she goes on her road to lifelong sanctuary.

All love to all. Links to Annie's fundraiser are in comments. In this picture you can see Annie with beloved Niles caregiver Bianca, one of the many caregivers at Niles who can do this work. Who help us endlessly. Thank you Niles and Bianca.

All love, all gratitude.