Are Arroyo Grande’s famous roosters going missing? Fans worry flock is shrinking

Jun. 1—The roosters and hens of Arroyo Grande are famous — but they might be disappearing.

Visitors to the historic Village of Arroyo Grande usually encounter a large flock of chickens who roam the sidewalks, block traffic, roost in the trees and cluck and preen as people pause to take their pictures.

The fowl have been featured in travel blogs across California, and appeared on news broadcasts as far away as Russia. A Facebook group dedicated to the popular poultry had more than 2,100 followers as of Tuesday.

“They are our mascots,” Arroyo Grande resident Vivian Krug Cotton told The Tribune. “Some places have yellow slugs. We have roosters.”

But residents and visitors alike began noticing something strange recently. It seems like there are fewer roosters and hens roaming the Village — and no one knows what is going on.

“We feed the roosters at least four days a week and know them very well, who comes — who goes,” city resident Connie Reeder wrote Saturday in a post on the Arroyo Grande Village Roosters and Chickens Facebook page. “There are less than half of past numbers of them. The ones behind Jaffa (Cafe) are most stable group. The ‘disco’ chickens as we called them are gone. One of my favorites hanging behind the bike shop is gone.”

Others chimed in — saying they noticed a decline in local roosters, or asking for information on the whereabouts of their favorite fowl.

Because no one owns or maintains the roosters and hens that live in the Village, it’s difficult to keep track of their numbers specifically, and much of the information about fluctuations in flock size is anecdotal.

On Friday, the number of feathered friends seen wandering the area near the Arroyo Grande Creek could be counted on two hands. Only five roosters and one hen were visible throughout Centennial Park, though a rooster’s signature cock-a-doodle-doo could be heard sporadically from the more heavily wooded areas alongside the creek.

Krug Cotton, who acts as something of a public relations person for the feral fowl, said it’s difficult to estimate the size of the flock, though she said her own inspection of the Village area on Friday revealed a total of 10 chickens.

That’s easily about half the size of the normal flock, she said, adding that another Arroyo Grande resident shared a photo with her indicicating that two more roosters were present Friday.

So what, if anything, is going on?

There’s a lot of speculation online. In the Arroyo Grande Roosters and Chickens Facebook group, some posters pointed to coyotes as the culprits, while others suggested humans are taking the birds. Some speculated that disease and illness could be reducing the chickens’ ranks.

A number of commenters are worried the city might have moved the flock due to complaints.

The city has in the past removed one or two of the more aggressive fowl because they presented a danger to visitors and residents, but has not in recent times interfered with the larger flock as a whole.

On Thursday, Arroyo Grande city manager Whitney McDonald said the city has not “taken any action to remove roosters in the Village or elsewhere in the city.”

“We have heard concerns from at least one member of the public about disappearing roosters as well,” McDonald wrote in an email to The Tribune. “We are not currently aware of what may be happening with them. That said, I am sitting at City Hall and can literally hear a rooster crowing outside right now, so they definitely have not disappeared in total.”

San Luis Obispo County Animal Services and the local branch of California Fish and Wildlife had similar answers when asked about the potentially disappearing flock: “We don’t know.”

When reached for comment Friday, Animal Services director Eric Anderson said he was not aware of any issues with the flock, and had not heard of any local eradication or relocation efforts by local officials.

Anderson noted that a number of predators could be responsible for a decline in the flock, though he added that he hasn’t investigated the issue and doesn’t have specific information on what might be happening.

“Dogs, coyotes, vehicles, cars … Even a cat has been known to grab one from time to time,” he said. “Those could certainly be involved.”

Lt. Matt Gil with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife said the agency’s biologists were not aware of anything unusual happening with the flock or in the area.

Krug Cotton has her own answer for what she thinks may be happening. Maybe they chickens are, pardon the joke, just crossing the road.

“I go and wander the Village at least every couple of weeks,” she said. “And there was a whole lot less roosters when they started putting the (Bridge Street) bridge. I don’t know if they moved them for their safety, or they got scared and they left. I think they started thinning out about then.”

Krug Cotton said she’s recently seen chickens wandering in unusual areas of the city, far away from their normal stomping grounds along the creek, and wonders if they could potentially be spreading out to new areas.

No matter what is happening, Krug Cotton said she hopes the chickens stick around Arroyo Grande for some time.

“I love them just because it’s something different, it’s something unusual,” she said. “To go shopping and wander around along with roosters that are enjoying the sunshine with you, it’s just a cool feeling. It’s something small-town, homey. It’s a warm and fuzzy.”