Sorry neighbours

I was awoken around 4 o'clock this morning by the lilting sound of a roster crowing......welcoming the dawn. Ahh how nice......then a reality bolt hit me, a roster crowing, oh no, it could only be 'Renee' the rescue chicken we collected on Sunday afternoon. Yikes, we're not allowed to have rosters in suburbia.

I must admit it was getting late in the afternoon when we collected her. Tony and I were more concerned about getting her home and settled than looking at tell tail signs that she was in fact a he!

Rene at the front, in need of a good bath

Poor Renee or should I say Rene was found wandering around a yard in the flood ravaged suburb of Rosalie on Saturday. Apparently there was another chicken and two cats found dead in the same yard. From what I understand the house where Rene was found belonged to a friend of a friends grandfather. He had his six hens or 'the chicks' as he liked to call them, there in a coup. Really we will never know where she/he came from. The main issue was finding her a home and we were happy to oblige.

On closer inspection this morning it was obvious that we had a rooster on our hands. I think the dead giveaway was the crowing that went on for most of the morning. Just letting the neighbourhood know that he had arrived. I think Rene must have come from a school hatching program as he was very friendly and happy to let you pick him up and stroke him.

Then came the problem of what to do with Rene. I knew that a few rooster re-homing or rescue services existed. However with the flood everything was up in the air. After a few phone calls and a trip to the local pound we were finally able to take him out to our local RSPCA shelter. They have wonderful people who take on unwanted poultry, a kind of poultry retirement village. Well that's what they tell us and I'm hoping it's true. I would be very upset to learn that Rene ended up as Chicken Soup!

Why the name Renee you ask? Our friends who initially took the chook in decided to name her after the person who found her :)

This is just one story of the tragedy that the floods have caused. Lets not forget all the animals that have suffered terribly in this catastrophic event. Please visit the RSPCA Qld 2011 Flood Appeal and consider making a donation.

Cheers Lisa