BACK PAGE BACKYARD Saving Chickens

Rosemary Rittenhour has always had a strong passion for animals. At just eight years old, she became a vegetarian; nine years ago, she became vegan. She is always trying to find ways to help and save any animal that she can and spread awareness about animals and animal rights. Rittenhour lives in Vermont with her husband, Adam and their 3.5-year-old son, Tyler, two dogs, two outdoor cats and 29 chickens. Starting with just six chickens, Rittenhour found herself offering her coop up as a safe haven for chickens in need of a home, and her flock has grown significantly. What led you to rescuing chickens? One day I randomly brought up to Adam that I wanted to get chickens; we kind of talked about it a little bit, but not really seriously. In the summer of 2018, on the way out of the grocery store, we bumped into our friend who had chickens. I started asking questions about chickens, and he actually told me he was looking to sell his smaller coop because he had expanded his flock. And — against my husband's will — we wound up picking up that coop along with a few starter chickens. &emsp;&emsp;Shortly after that, my friend's mother then decided she had too many chickens, so she had to offload a few of her hens to me and then things just kind of escalated from there. &emsp;&emsp;In the spring of 2020, I met a sweet farmer, who was looking to get rid of her older hens, because once they turn two, they stop laying, and she was doing it all for profit. I think she gave me ... 10 chickens, and then she reached out to me again and said that she needed to get rid of more. That's when I realized that my coop wasn't big enough. I wanted to keep getting more chickens, so after my husband got some new tools for his birthday, I used that to my advantage and asked him to build me a bigger chicken coop for more chickens. He was so excited to use his new tools, so he built me what we call the "Chicken Coop 5000." Tell us about the 'Chicken Coop 5000.' The coop is 12 feet by 12 feet, and when you walk in, there is a tiny shed area used as my hospital pen and quarantine area. It has also been used as a bunny house and is currently a space for a kitty condo for two feral cats that I adopted from a New York City farm program. The chickens also have a run that they have 24/7 access to that is 12 feet by 12 feet, and it is predator-proof. Then, they have a back run that they have access to from sunrise to sunset with an automatic door. They also free-range often. How did you end up with so many rescue chickens? I was a part of a bunch of chicken groups on Facebook and I started showing pictures of my chicken coop and kind of sharing that I take in unwanted and older hens. I don't care if they lay eggs; it doesn't matter to me. Once the rumor was out that I would take unwanted hens, everyone contacted me. &emsp;&emsp;I rescued two local hens from a lady who wanted her shed back for her four-wheeler. One lady said she had a chicken that wasn't being accepted into her flock and was being picked on. One person drove four hours to give me her chickens because she wanted to take down her coop and build a pool. The most recent adoption was last winter when a guy was looking to rehome 11 of his hens because their coop was collapsing from the weight of the snow. I even just had someone reach out to me yesterday, but I think I am at capacity. What would you say are some challenges with raising so many chickens? It's a lot of work. You have to clean the coop and collect eggs often. In the wintertime, you have to stay on top of everything, like shoveling them out, and you have to winterize their coop. &emsp;&emsp;There is also quite an expense. Organic feed is now up to $31 for a 50-pound bag. &emsp;&emsp;Chickens get sick often, too, especially in my case because I have older hens. I feel like we have crossed their genetics so much to have them lay eggs every day and grow faster that they tend to have a lot of reproductive issues and things like water belly because they don't have the lymphatic system to drain their fluids. There are not a lot of vets around here who will see chickens, so you have to kind of play vet and do a lot of trial and error. Tell us about your rescue cats. So, those are new. I don't know how this happens, but I always find myself wanting to save every animal. I put out there that I wanted to rescue a couple of cats and have them live in the shed area in my coop. I linked up with a New York City rescue called Little Wanderers. They trap feral and stray cats off the streets of New York City, microchip them, give them shots, spay and neuter them and then usually release them. But, sometimes, they can't release them because they are in an unsafe area. The ones that can't be released they either find homes for them or are put into a barn cat program. I wound up getting two cats from them. The rescue was awesome, and found donors to help provide me with insulated huts to keep the cats warm in the winter; and they sent me a special cat door that only opens with the cat's microchip, so the cats can go in and out of the shed, but no other animals can. Any more plans for more rescued animals? I think 30 chickens is kind of my max right now. If my dream came true, I would start a 501(c)(3) [nonprofit)] and have a rooster rescue. Like, a cute little bachelor pad for all the roosters no one wants. Many people don't realize when purchasing chicks that some of those could be roosters, and unfortunately, roosters need at least 10 chickens each; even then, they may fight each other. Also, many cities have ordinances that don't even allow roosters. Roosters are just so beautiful and so protective, and they are so unwanted.