Spotlight Sunday – Learn About Our Special Animals
Meet Citrus, a Lemon Cuckoo Orpington. I wish all animals had loving families to care for them. I don’t know if Citrus previously had an abusive owner, but he was definitely abandoned.
In mid-June of 2021, we received a call from someone saying their neighbor, who had 1 rooster and 12 hens, had to suddenly leave town. It sounded like either cops or bad guys were looking for him. It was that sort of neighborhood. When the neighbor asked what about the chickens, the man said “Just let them loose, they’ll be fine.” No food and no water in a tiny backyard, but they’d be fine? No.
After a couple of days, the neighbor knew they were not ready to care for chickens. Plus, they had a large dog who had already killed one that jumped the fence and injured another. One call to us and we were on the way.
While we normally would have processed the rooster, he came with 12 young hens, so he didn’t upset the ratio of roosters to hens. And they counted on the rooster to keep them safe. So he got to stay.
We had never seen his breed of rooster before. Some online helpers told us he was a Lemon Cuckoo Orpington, which is the origin of his name. As with most Orpingtons, he is large, gentle, and good to his girls. Citrus is the only one of his kind on the farm, but as he makes his way around the farm, we are starting to see chicks that resemble his coloring.
Citrus is a wonderful rooster, and we are happy to have him living his best life on the farm. When the young chickens wander outside the front gate, Citrus is usually there encouraging them to head back to safety. Most who visit notice him right away, pointing out how large and beautiful he is. He often walks right up to you, especially if you are passing out snacks.
If you visit the farm, bring a snack, and you can tell Citrus he is a beautiful rooster. He’ll appreciate that.