A week or so ago we received a notice from the council ranger saying that Lucky has to go because roosters are not allowed and a neighbour complained about the noise. For the past two weeks, Lucky had started crowing from around 4-5am in the morning and continued to crow at random times throughout the day. The noise didn't really bother me, but my brother found it really annoying.

Finding A New Home For Lucky

So yesterday I called around to find a new home for Lucky. First call was to the RSPCA's Perth office but I was told that they are unable to take roosters and that my best option would be to take Lucky to a vet to be euthanised. I was quite upset that Lucky might have to be killed, so I immediately grabbed the car keys and drove off to City Farmers in Balcatta.

When I went to City Farmers in Balcatta a month or so ago to buy birdseed and lorikeet food, they had ISA Brown chicks for sale. ISA Brown chickens are raised for egg production, so I guessed that whoever supplied these chicks raises chickens for non-food purposes, and that they might be able to provide Lucky with a home where it can spend the rest of it's life socialising with other chickens without ending up as someone's chicken burger. The staff at City Farmers gave me the phone number of the person who supplies them with the chicks.

Back at home, I called the number but there was no reply. I searched the Internet to see if there was another animal shelter that might be able to provide Lucky with a home. I came across an organisation called SAFE (Saving Animals From Euthanasia). I called their Perth office and asked if they could take in a chicken. Initially they misheard me and thought I said "kitten". Unfortunately they could not take a rooster either, but they said that they knew someone who was moving to the country that might be able to take the rooster with them. Until they got in contact with that person, they said that I would have to try and call the Wanneroo pound to get them to take Lucky in the meantime.

When I called the Wanneroo pound, they also told me that they couldn't take roosters. Things were looking bad by then, at that rate I would have to take Lucky to a vet and… but I really didn't want that. I made another attempt at calling the number that I got from City Farmers but still not answer. But shortly later, I got a call from that number. I asked them if they could give Lucky a home, they said yes. I was really happy that Lucky now has a place to live.

Journey To Lucky's New Home

So all that's left is to take Lucky to it's new home, which is in Baldivis, around one hour's drive from here. I have never driven that far before, nor have I been to that area before. This morning, I took a cardboard box, taped up the bottom, and put in some shredded paper. Lucky was uncooperative, because the past few days, in order to keep Lucky as quiet as possible in the mornings, my mum had been catching Lucky and keeping it in a box to make Lucky think it's night time to prevent it from crowing.

Eventually I did catch Lucky and put it into the box, then placed the box in the back seat of the car. My brother came along too, he closed the box in a way to make it hard from Lucky to escape from it, but I was worried that Lucky might not have enough air, or it might get dehydrated or hungry on the way to it's new home.

The place I was headed for is Baldivis Road in Baldivis, which is somewhere near Warnbro and Rockingham. I had been driving down the freeway for almost 3 hours when I found myself in Bunbury. I had missed the exit and traveled a long, long, long way away @.@ I stopped at a plant nursery to check the map, but the only map in the car was from 2004 and the place we were in wasn't included in the map. I checked how Lucky was going and it wasn't good. Due to lack of ventilation, the inside of the box was very hot and humid and Lucky was panting and clearly stressed out. I opened the top of the box to get more air flowing in but Lucky kept trying to jump out of the box, flapping around and getting more stressed.

I asked the plant nursery staff for directions, apparently we were over half an hour's drive away from out destination. I was worried about Lucky's condition so I wanted to get there as quickly as possible. We finally arrived there after an hour of driving from the plant nursery. In total, we had been driving for around 4 hours.

The place we arrived is run by a couple who breeds and sells chickens and ducks. Although they do sell free range eggs, that isn't their primary business. They are the ones that supply the chicks and ducklings to places like City Farmers. They don't breed chickens for meat, and they told me that they just can't bear killing a chicken for food. That reassured me that Lucky would be safe there.

They gave Lucky some water but Lucky didn't look to well, it kept panting and wouldn't drink. They put Lucky in a large cage to allow it to cool down. Eventually Lucky started to eat and drink. Looks like Lucky will be just fine. The couple told us that Lucky is probably a Leghorn which is just the breed they were looking for, so it looks like Lucky will be spending the rest of it's life in the company of several cute little hens.

The couple also kindly gave us some chicken and duck eggs to take home with us. My brother and I spent some time talking to the couple. They seem to be really nice people. While we were there, my dad called my brother to ask how things were going and said that he might be interested in getting some hens for the garden. So I might be heading back there, and hopefully I can see Lucky again. I'm sure that Lucky will be very happy with it's new home.