Rehoming Safely

A Few Things Worth Doing Before You Say Yes

Most people who reach out about a rooster are exactly who they say they are, but it only takes a few minutes to feel more confident about who’s picking up your boy. Here’s what I’d suggest.

Ask questions before you agree to anything.

What kind of setup do they have? Coop, run, other birds? Do they have roosters already, or is this their first? Why do they want a rooster? Would they mind sending a photo of their coop?

None of these are accusations. They’re the same types of questions any reasonable person who needs to rehome a dog or cat would ask. Just because a rooster is a farm animal, doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to care what happens to him.

If a predator just got their last rooster, ask what’s changed.

“Looking for a new rooster, something killed mine last night” is a post I see all the time. It happens to good keepers too, and it’s not automatically a red flag, BUT it’s worth asking a few follow up questions before you send your boy into the same setup. Was their previous rooster locked in a secure coop overnight, or was he free ranging when it happened? Has anything been done to fix whatever let the predator in?

Your rooster deserves a coop that’s predator proof and safe, not a repeat of the situation that cost the last one his life. You’re not accusing anyone of neglect – we all know that predators are patient and coops can have gaps even good keepers miss, sometimes bad stuff just happens. You’re just making sure the next guy, yours, has a fair shot.

Trust the vague answers less than the specific ones.

Someone who’s actually going to keep a rooster usually has details: how many hens they have, what breed they’re hoping for, whether he’ll free-range or stay penned. If every answer is short and non-committal, that’s worth noticing.

Make sure they’re looking for a pet or flock member, not a dinner.

I’ve made it clear everywhere I can that the Registry isn’t a place to source meat birds. So far everyone has respected that but, if you ever get a request that feels like someone’s shopping for dinner, trust that instinct. There’s nothing wrong with raising birds for meat, it’s just not what the Registry is for and there are plenty of other places for people to look for birds for that purpose. If you wanted your boy to feed someone, you wouldn’t have listed him in the first place.

If this ever happens to you, you don’t owe anyone a rooster – you’re always allowed to say no. If it does, please let me know so I can keep an eye on it. If I hear of someone repeatedly abusing the Registry in this way, I will take steps to block them from having access to it at all.

On that note, if the same name keeps showing up, ask a few more questions.

Some people take in a lot of animals because they run a mixed small farm, are starting a bachelor flock, or just like to take in strays regularly. However, if you notice someone messaging about all of your roosters when you’ve listed multiple or if you remember seeing the same person who is messaging you posting in Facebook groups or on Kijiji again and again looking for roosters (or rabbits, or goats, or whatever else is free that week), it’s worth asking their intentions for your boy, and paying a little more attention to how they answer.

Someone who’s collecting from a lot of different sources isn’t necessarily up to anything, but it pays to be careful and ask a few more questions when you see it.

Meet in daylight and choose some where you feel safe.

Pickup at your place (or a public spot you choose) is reasonable to ask for. If someone pushes back hard on that, it’s fair to say no. If you’re traveling to meet someone, take a friend or family member along with you. If things don’t feel right when you get there, it’s perfectly ok to turn around and take your boy home with you – even if you drove an hour to get there. Safety is more important than travel time wasted.

This goes both ways. If you don’t feel safe when you arrive to pick up a boy, it’s also perfectly ok to turn around.

Ask for a name and a way to reach them.

A phone number and a first and last name isn’t much to ask of someone who is genuinely interested in your bachelor, but it filters out a surprising number of people who aren’t serious.

Follow your gut at all times.

If something feels off, you don’t owe anyone an explanation. “I’ve decided to go with someone else” is a complete sentence, so is “no”.

If you run into a bad experience while rehoming or receiving a rooster through the Registry (someone lying about their setup, their intended purpose for the bird, or anything that felt off) please let me know. I can’t police every interaction, but I do want to know when something goes wrong so I can keep the Registry a safe place to use.

You can reach me directly at krystal@theroosterregistry.com.