More sad news from the sanctuary. 💔

Last night, our dear friend Mr. Pink passed away sometime after 10 pm.

He was found in the morning with no visible signs of trauma, and his little buddy, Professor Peapod, was standing watch over him. Professor moved aside for us and watched over our shoulders as we took great care not to upset him or make the tragedy of losing his friend any worse.

The other Misters and Boys watched on, eerily silent, as we gathered around Mr Pink to understand what may have happened, and make arrangements for Mr Pink’s final resting place.

Mr Pink came to us in June 2023 after being dumped in the woods along with several other live roosters and a large pile of roos who had already been killed. The live roosters were left to fend for themselves, despite being domesticated birds who rely on humans for their care.

Mr Pink was by far the worst off of the group as far as injuries, parasites, and infections. Mr Pink also had the most severe feather loss of the bunch. He had been pulling out his own feathers as a response to the pain and discomfort of biting parasites crawling all over his skin.

While he arrived with "The Misters" (the roos dumped in the woods), he had a hard time fitting in with them after the move to “The Misters Manor."

He preferred the company of the little guys, and eventually he moved in with "The Boys," a flock of small, skittish roosters led by Professor Peapod, who wasn’t too sure about Mr Pink at first.

Then Mr. Pink met Mr. T.

Mr. T arrived in 2024 and had a hard time finding his place. The other roosters already knew each other, and Mr T spent a lot of time isolating and looking on at the other roosters from afar. Mr. Pink eventually earned Mr T’s trust, befriended him, and then became inseparable from him. The two roos perched together, ate together, and crowed in unison.

During this time, Mr. Pink was able to coax Mr. T out of the rooster house and into the grass and sunshine, something Mr. T hadn’t wanted to do for a very long time.
Recently, Mr T crossed the rainbow bridge, leaving Mr Pink without a companion or close friend, despite living with the other roosters.

Professor Peapod stepped in a few weeks ago. The rooster who had once been unsure about letting Mr. Pink into his flock became the one who sat with him through the recent loss of Mr Pink’s friend, Mr T.

As Mr Pink moved through his grief, he and the Professor started perching together, sharing sunflower seeds, and even taking walks together.

Now the Professor, after helping Mr Pink through a hard time, finds himself being the one who’s lost his bestie. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the Professor to make sure he’s eating and being taken care of by his feathered friends as he mourns.

We laid Mr. Pink to rest beside Quinn, in a quiet spot near a trail where berry bushes and apple trees grow. Sophia tucked a few blueberries in with him (his favourite) before we said our goodbyes and filled in his grave.

Mr. Pink, you arrived here in desperate need of help, and you spent the rest of your life making other roosters feel less alone. Thank you for showing the people who took the time to get to know you how delightful your personality was. Your bashful vulnerability, your “doting on you” dance, and your selfless sharing of pretty flowers dropped at my feet. You may have seemed aloof to most, but you truly were a gentleman, through and through.

Rest easy, sweet, gentle guy. I hope you and Mr T are sharing the highest of heavenly roosts tonight.

(I’d like to thank Kim, who’s been Mr Pink’s sponsor since October 2023. You showed up for Mr Pink month after month to ensure we could give him the very best sanctuary life. Thank you also goes out to Karen, who stepped up this spring to ensure that Mr Pink’s Care Crew had 100% coverage.)