Rusty’s Rooster Rescue

12/21/2024

The runs were supposed to be moved with the coops. The truck was rented, the kennel panels from the original run loaded. Then, so sadly, everything had to be demolished. Volunteers worked into the darkness in wind and way below freezing temps, sawing the big, beautiful run away from the coops. There was no time left to even break down the 16ft panels to fit them into the 15ft truck. I lost my chance to move their warm, protected spaces with them. My heart broke. The new coop isn't set up to be exposed to the elements, with tiny spaces for each boy and four pop doors. It's a five hour round trip to Ahimsa, and I get there once a week, staying overnight to put two days of work in trying to get them closer to ready for winter. Cari at Ahimsa Safe Haven has been out in the cold day after day supervising the boys so they can have some outdoor time, and working hard herself to get predator protection up. The cattle panel the boys are standing under here is waiting for a tarp which will hopefully lessen the amount of cold wind and snow that blows in the pop doors. It's hard to be patient. I want them to have their lives back yesterday. In reality though, I know how beyond blessed they are that Ahimsa so generously offered to take them in. Every sanctuary is beyond full and to take everyone on, to keep them together, has been such a gift. Spring will come. New runs will be built. They will get through this. For now, we embrace the little wins. Like Harry deciding he wants to be an honorary Pineapple! Look at this! If this integration (that the boys chose, not the humans) sticks, it means the Pineapples will have access to their loft again and so much more space in the coop! So, 🤞🏻❤️ for this!

12/21/2024

BB is living his very best life with Angie at A&A Misfits - He's the King of Christmas, even enjoying a night drive to see the lights!

11/30/2024

An unexplainably large part of my heart left Wednesday. Bb and I drove two and a half hours, ending on beautiful, winding country roads, to meet his new family at
A&A Misfit cats and friends.
Not only were they excited to meet Bb- On setting Bb down in the yard he immediately ran up to the teeniest little rooster and started quite a spicy conversation! As I walked away to tour the rest of the sanctuary, I called Bb to come join me.
"Too many chickens too meet! I got it from here mom!"
I was worried about Bb's sleeping crate being in the middle of where many of the cats congregate. Bb cannot stand cats. Sure enough on bringing him inside to the room with his crate, countless gorgeous, curious cats swarmed us! Bb buried his head as deep as he could into my chest, grumbling in protest. The time had come to get back to Rusty's and put everyone to bed before dark. Though I couldn't be more grateful for Bb spending the rest of his days in such loving care, I could feel my heart breaking pulling out of the drive.
Then Angie started sending me pictures of Bb just loving it up and getting all kinds of special love, and.... chilling in a cat pile!
I'm disappointed that I can't seem to tag &A misfit cats and friends. Angie Woodard Bade and Astrid are two truly amazing people pouring so much love and technical skill into everyone in their care.
Please copy and paste, and follow Bb's journey there ❤️

11/25/2024

In a heartbreaking turn of events, Rusty's must shut down, this Monday, Dec 2nd. The coops and runs must go with the boys to their new home. I am asking for help with the 1100.00 coop moving fee plus trailer rental for all the run materials. They will be landing at Ahimsa Safe Haven, and we are so grateful to them. Any help means so much, as this turn of events has devastated us financially as well. I cannot thank enough all who have made it possible to save and care for the boys. Everything you have donated and any excess funds are going with the boys to Ahimsa. Donations to paypal and venmo reach us immediately if you would like to donate there:
Paypal [email protected]
Venmo -Croteau
Cash App $RustysRoosterRescue

Send a message to learn more

11/22/2024

As foraging opportunities lessen, besties Larson and Luci enjoyed a walk a bout yesterday❤️

11/15/2024

Greetings from Wh**ey, Flo, and Sybil, respectively! It's a misty, chilly day, but the wind is at bay from inside our little bubble! Thank you again for the nursery plastic from our amazon wishlist- the boys are enjoying the shelter ❤️

11/13/2024

Our dear friend Ariel came to help winterize the Pineapple's run, and Sven thanked her by repeatedly attacking her as she tried to hang the plastic! Being a flock mom herself, Ariel just scooped him up❤️ I swear Sven and Sid attack as a way of getting attention. They are happy as clams when held, and will often resume their aggression as soon as you put them back down! Today should be the last day of plastic hanging, just in time as our highs are now mostly in the forties, and the pineapples are already spending a lot of the day in their coop as Sven doesn't have feathers for warmth. Wishing you a warm and cozy day!

11/07/2024

Flo had his first vet visit, and Sybil had his follow up appointment yesterday. It's an all day affair with a lot of carrier time, and Flo did such a good job being patient ❤️ both the boys will be on another seven day run of antibiotics and anti fungal drugs, but Sybil is definitely stronger, and other than this nasty respiratory infection, Flo is in perfect health! Sybil is fighting Wh**ey to take his position back, but I think he may be done insisting on leadership. Flo and I are working together on how to be a kind leader, and I believe he's going to do a great job once he gets a cold season behind him!

11/04/2024

Flo is working those brows! Flo and I had been working together on building trust. Right in the middle of it I have to force pills on him twice a day. He's confused by my behavior, but has been as good as a young, feisty, super slippery young lad can be! He's really the sweetest boy. Very skeptical and very protective of the flock. Growing into quite the roo❤️

11/02/2024

Sybil is feeling better every day, and this morning I let him into his flock run unrestricted. Flo is ill now and taking the same antibiotics and antifungal as Sybil- and both boys will have a follow up appointment Wednesday. Being young and only having a minor molt, Flo is definitely fairing better, and still keeping his top dog position. Though I can see in Sybil's eyes he's not quite as frightened of Flo now that he's feeling better! Thank you so much for your donations and well wishes for Sybil❤️ I can't wait until he's 100% again. Maybe he will decide he doesn't want the pressure of leading anymore. We'll see!

10/31/2024

Barney, top dog in the Pineapple crew, sporting his autumn mohawk!

10/30/2024

I started off in cat rescue. Cats are known for hiding pain until they can't. They've got nothing on chickens! As a prey, and a flock animal, ANY sign of illness to the flock can get you at minimum demoted, at maximum beaten up and ostracized. Experience has taught me that when a bird, especially top bird, is suddenly challenged and succumbs to a demotion, more often than not, (every time for me) something is wrong with their health. Their flock mates see this long before the human eye. Once illness shows to a human, they have already been suffering for some time. When Sybil was demoted by Flo about a month ago, even though I didn't see any symptoms of illness, and the vet makes for a six hour trip, I made him the soonest vet appointment available, for Oct. 14th. Unfortunately the vet had to cancel, and we were given an appointment for yesterday. Three days ago, I noticed Sybil mouth breathing. The same day, Sybil's best friend and subordinate of five years, sensed Sybil was weak enough to kick down in the pecking order again. He was 😞 Sybil's lungs look awful on his xray. His heart is racing even when he is relaxed. His breathing is labored. His digestive system has slowed. He has a terrible upper respiratory infection. The doctor believes his heart and digestive issues are from pain. He's now on five meds to try and knock this out. During the day I've put him in his run but separated from the flock, to recover without the stress of being challenged and pushed around all day. He will sleep in the human house until he's feeling better. If his heart is still racing in a few days he will go on heart meds and his pain meds will double. Birds crash so fast once they are ill enough to really show it, and I'm hopeful 🤞🏻 we caught this in time. Sybil's vet visit with meds was 530.00. I put the receipt in the comments for those curious.
And now I hear Flo wheezing....
It's going to be some winter!
Rusty's is an accredited 501(c)3 charity.
Donations can also be sent via
Paypal [email protected]
Venmo -Croteau (that's me)
CashApp $RustysRoosterRescue
Inquire for mailing address
We can help these boys due to your social media support and generosity -
Cock-a-doodle-thank-youuuuuuuu❣️

10/28/2024

I've been quiet here on our page because there are some big situations going on at the moment that have been all consuming!
🐓🐓🐓 The Big Three, Harry, Wally, and Gally arrived here as very young brothers. They were discarded into a farm field in the cold, to await being eaten, or frozen, or starved. Some very kind people noticed them and reached out to me. Harry (Houdini) earned his name because he escaped capture many times- it took a week, with the help of those kind folks, to capture him! He left a fist full of tail feathers in a very tall, kind man's hand who came one night to grab him from his tree roost. He had me tromping through calf deep freezing swamp water into thickets (shout out to muck™️ boots), only to hear him take off and splash into the waters in pitch dark (I was sure he would be frost bitten after that night, when we had to finally leave without him) His brothers are named respectively after the couple who saved them by reaching out. The boys were in that farm field for several weeks total, and learned to survive together. When they arrived they literally moved as one unit, and stayed that way for some time. Then one day, rooberty hormones kicked in full force and all three decided they were up for the alpha position. Sadly, Harry literally scalped Wally, and blinded him in one eye. Wally went into hospital care and had to be separated for several months. In the meantime Harry and Gally continually chose violence until all three were kept apart. A year went by. Time and time again, I tried to reunite them. When that wouldn't work I tried to mix them into other flocks. Nope! I have a wealth of experience integrating boys, and these three are just insistent about being on their own. I had to come to terms with the fact that I purchased one coop for two flocks (the pineapples live here too), and now there are four flocks. So off I've gone to build them three permanent coops, with separate doors, and runs large enough for them to feel a bit of freedom. I'm no builder. There has been a lot of trial and error, it's been a large project. But today, I've finished the interior and have plans to adjust all the run spaces. Who would imagine, when seeing the rotisserie chickens near the checkout line, that there is so much intelligence and emotion in these birds. Each boy is amazingly unique, and we honor that here. The Big Three will each live their lives being loved and recognized as someone, not something, as all beings deserve. Welcome to your new homes boys❤️

10/18/2024

To the generous soul who sent the white tarp from our Amazon wishlist -Sybil, Wh**ey, and Flo say Cock-doodle-thank-yoUUUUUU for keeping our run nice and dry!

10/17/2024

Handsome Harry ❤️

10/10/2024

Look at how actively Flo listens. If only people knew how intelligent and emotional chickens are.

10/09/2024

Today we received winter bedding and nursery plastic, and we've also received probiotics and for soaking medicine, along with groats- all from our Amazon wishlist! The items unfortunately don't come with a way of knowing who sent them (do better amazon!)- We all thank you ❤️ It really means so much.
*Sven is acting very anxious lately. I suspect its due to his pretty new feathers are impeding his vision (he is getting picked on a bit more also), so here's one last pic before he gets them trimmed back again.

10/08/2024

This might not look like much, but it's the first time in awhile that Flo has let Sybil enjoy a treat without being chased away. Good boy Flo! Keep it up buddy.