Rooster rescuers bring in backup to capture elusive fowl

There was no way Shirley Gordon was going to be outsmarted by a chicken.

That's why one afternoon last week the volunteer with Hope for Wildlife returned to the woods near Hubbards, N.S., determined to capture a rooster that had eluded her for days. 

She and fellow rooster-rescuer Justin Rutledge had already spent hours stalking the fugitive fowl. They believe the bird, along with two other roosters, was abandoned by its owner and left to fend for itself on an old logging road. 

They managed to catch the first two roosters fairly easily — but the third bird was proving more difficult.

"I can't rest if I know something's out here and needs to be helped," said Gordon, who has volunteered with the Seaforth, N.S., wildlife refuge for six years. "It's just something that you feel inside and you got to do."

Hope for Wildlife has received hundreds of calls about abandoned chickens, and its founder, Hope Swinimer, estimates the organization has taken in 22 of them in the last couple of years.

Roosters are loud and fight among themselves, but chicken owners often don't realize they have a rooster on their hands until the chicks grow up.

"People would come back here thinking maybe they're setting them free, maybe they will be able to survive out here. But no, they're not meant for it at all," said Rutledge, who lives in Hammonds Plains, on the outskirts of Halifax, and has a flock of his own chickens.

His friend who goes hunting near Hubbards first alerted him to the abandoned birds, and he and Gordon have devoted many long hours to the rescue effort.

The duo's previous attempts at luring the rogue rooster failed, so when they went back last week they had a new plan.

This time they brought backup.

"This a real long shot, but Shirley had the idea that since they were all living together, and of an age where they wouldn't be fighting yet, that maybe if we took one of the roosters back and they could smell it and hear it, the one that's still out there, it might attract the other rooster," said Swinimer.

The captured rooster's cage was set near the edge of the woods. It didn't take long before the rogue rooster was spotted walking gingerly toward the cage. 

After that Rutledge and Gordon had to be patient. 

All was quiet as they watched the rooster approach. Then, when it was within reach, Rutledge very slowly raised his net, waited for the bird to look away, and pounced, capturing the crowing rooster in his arms.

"This is amazing. I'm so happy!" said Rutledge as he held on tightly to the rooster. "We worked so hard to get this. Shirley and I have been back here probably 10 times altogether trying to get this guy."

The bird was smaller than the last time Rutledge saw him and was missing feathers, but other than that appeared to be in good health.

Gordon said his chance of surviving much longer in the woods was slim to none. 

"I mean, they're sitting ducks for predators. Sitting chickens for predators," she said. 

Swinimer has some advice for people eager to own chicks. 

"Although it's not a bad idea, make sure you're prepared," she said. "Do you have proper habitat to put them in? Do you have someone on your medical team that can care for them? What are you going to do if you get more than one rooster?"

Swinimer encourages people who no longer want their roosters to find a new owner through social media or by taking them to a farm sanctuary. 

After their adventures in the wild, the three roosters were reunited at Hope for Wildlife and later found a new home thanks to the North Mountain Animal Sanctuary.

The rooster rescuers, meanwhile, can rest easy knowing their job is done.

"I thought it was a goner so this is just amazing," said Rutledge.