A new roommate is nothing new at an animal sanctuary.

Big Bird is beautiful.

Even without a beak.

He isn’t a pet, he’s a resident at Herd and Flock Animal Sanctuary in California. He has special needs so, rather than living in a chicken coop, he lives in the main house at the sanctuary.

Big Bird is a rooster who arrived at the sanctuary in 2022. He and his 29 flock mates were at a feed store where they weren’t getting enough space. A feed store employee “debeaked” them. There is no correct debeaking, and most in animal welfare consider it inhumane.

I’m unsure whether the employee did this to harm the birds purposely.

Unfortunately, I have seen a lot of this in the animal industry.

Instead of just barely clipping the hook of the beak, they cut too far back.

Seven chicks died from starvation before a concerned citizen raised the alarm. Herd and Flock took in four: Big Bird and three hens: Bert, Ernie, and Oscar. They are so lovely, happy and chill. They live with a flock of 20 and self-feed themselves on a mash.

Because he doesn’t like wearing a chicken diaper (sometimes called a flyper), he stays in a wire crate while in the house. Outside, he gets to wander around the yard all day and always heads back to the house around 5:30pm to come back in. A “tap tap tap” is heard at the door most evenings.

Big Bird has to be weighed every day to make sure he’s getting enough food while he puts back on weight. If he hasn’t gained, he has to be gavage fed.

Because he’s such a messy eater, he gets a lot of baths.

Big Bird developed an upper respiratory infection because he has no nostrils, a result of the debeaking. All chickens are prone to URIs, so those at the sanctuary are on the lookout. His eye swelled up, and he was taken to the vet and put on antibiotics. The URI resolved, but the antibiotics caused severe digestive distress, and he was not able to ingest enough food even though he was trying to eat with gusto.

His big beautiful feathers hid the issue, but when his caretakers realized what was happening, they got him back to the vet and on a re-feeding plan. He has gone from four tube feedings to one or none each day.

Big Bird is friendly with other chicken — he likes to go around and visit the different flocks. He is very patient, he sits calmly without trying to get away when he is fed by hand.

People are charmed by him and quickly forget that he is missing his upper beak so he makes a good ambassador. He’s also beautiful — orange and a lovely gray color with big flowing tail feathers.

Big Bird has a routine: He gets a fruit puree, his favorite thing in the whole world right now, which is put on top of his wetted chicken feed. He goes nuts for it. When the sun is out, and it’s warm enough, he gets to go out in his pen. His food is refreshed with more puree and mash several times a day while he enjoys the outdoors. Around 5:30 pm is the “tap tap tap” on the doors/windows and he is ready to come in. He walks with his caretakers to the kitchen for one more bowl, then heads to his crate for one last eating and then bedtime.

Big Bird is set for life. He will always be safe, cared for, fed, and will live life without pain and fear.

Herd and Flock is a nonprofit, able to care for so many animals because of generous donors, like me and Mike. If you’d like to help out with Big Bird or others at the sanctuary, you can donate here: https://herdandflockanimalsanctuary.org/

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