Woman rescues chicken wandering Toronto streets and is looking for its family

Are any Toronto residents missing one of their backyard chickens?

If so, a local family recently rescued a lone chicken wandering the city streets and is looking to reunite it with its flock.

A black and white chicken was spotted on a Toronto laneway, just by Wallace Emerson Park - clearly missing from its home and narrowly missing a couple close calls with dogs and cars.

Local resident Vera Belazelkoska was walking her dog when she noticed the distressed feathered friend and contained it, bringing it back home with her. 

"It seemed so stressful, so I just picked it up and then realized I have to take her/him," she said.

The chicken, which Belazelkoska lovingly nicknamed Claudia, quickly accepted her new environment while her new family worked to find her old family.

After posting a photo of Claudia to a local Facebook group connecting lost pets with their owners, Belazelkoska said she got some information that Claudia might actually be a rooster.

"If it's a rooster, no one should really have him. The backyard chicken program is only for chickens," she told blogTO.

Belazelkoska and her family created some posters looking for Claudia's family and plastered them all over the neighbourhood, with nobody claiming the chicken (or rooster) yet.

The family plans to keep Claudia until Friday and, if nobody claims the bird, will drop it off at a sanctuary in Uxbridge, though they desperately want to find her owners.

It was a no-brainer decision to bring Claudia back home for Belazelkoska and her family, where she happily roamed Belazelkoska's backyard and sat on one of her shoe racks. 

"Tending to chickens is a lot. They are also social creatures from what I read, so she'd get lonely alone, so she'd be happy either back with her family or at this farm, we are considering," said Belazelkoska.

She is also working with the Toronto Chicken Save, who can help rehome the bird. 

If anybody is missing their chicken or rooster, please reach out; your bird misses you!