This time of year, we receive requests to take in multiple roosters every few days. Many come from people who once cared for them as chicks, now threatening to have them “processed” if we can’t help.

This pattern is a result of the backyard chicken industry. Each spring, chicks are sold to people hoping for eggs from their own hens. But since most chicks are sold as unsexed, many buyers unknowingly bring home roosters, with no intention of caring for them.

Once grown, these roosters, who don’t lay eggs and may crow, are suddenly unwanted. With farm animal sanctuaries at capacity, many are killed or abandoned in the woods. Sadly, domestic roosters can’t survive in the wild, and the dumped birds are quickly killed by predators, starve, or freeze to death.

This is a major animal welfare crisis happening in communities everywhere, and it’s entirely preventable.

Roosters are not “problem animals”; they are individuals with strong instincts, social structures, and needs that are often misunderstood. The issue isn’t roosters, but the human-created circumstances that force them into unnatural environments.

Many sanctuaries find that roosters thrive best in rooster-only flocks, where they live with other roosters once properly introduced.

How You Can Help

• Don’t buy chicks or chickens.
• Try egg-free alternatives (tofu scrambles in place of cooked eggs, soaked flaxseed / banana / applesauce in place of eggs in baking).
• Learn about rooster stigmas
• Support sanctuaries that rescue roosters.
• Read up on whether rescuing a roo is a commitment you can make.
• Share this message to raise awareness for the hidden victims of the backyard egg industry.

The rooster featured in this post is Mr Blue! A roo who was rescued in 2023 and still lives happily at Lily’s Place. If this is your first time meeting him, you’ll find his rescue story here.