The infamous rooftop chickens recently suffered a loss. Green Tech Assistant Facilitator Matthew Milholm discovered the remains of one of the rooftop chickens on the morning of Oct. 10, along with two other chickens missing, causing admin to get involved in the incident to help check camera footage.
No one was spotted entering the rooftop overnight, so it is assumed that the passing of the chickens was caused by an attack from a bird of prey.
“Birds of prey, when they grab an animal [they] will stick their talons into the back of the wings, which normally releases feathers,” Milholm said. “There were no feathers, which is very confusing.”
Due to this incident, Milholm decided to start implementing hawk drills into the daily routine to ensure the safety of the chickens.
“Every once in a while, I will step outside and scream hawk and wave my arms around and they [chickens] have to hide,” Milholm said.
Students, including juniors Max Palmer and Brynn Parry, in Milholm’s Plant and Animal Science class were upset due to the sudden passing of the chickens.
“It’s really sad especially because they’re little chicks,” Palmer said. “Like that never happened when they were grown chickens.”
Due to all of the time spent with the animals, some of the students have formed bonds with the chickens.
“I’m attached to them, and just seeing her dead was very, very difficult for me,” Parry said.
Many of the students view the chicks as if they were pets, and even named all of them on Friday, Oct. 6.
The chickens who were identified as passing or missing were Regina, Winny and Tonya.
Milholm dreaded telling some of the students due to their attachments.
“This is not how I wanted to teach the life cycle of a chicken,” Milholm said.
