60+ Chickens Reported Stolen From North Fork Farm

SOUTHOLD, NY — The owners of a North Fork farm got a shock Sunday morning when they woke up to find more than 60 of their young chickens missing.

"We were robbed of the majority of our youngest Rhode Island Red pullets last night," Abra Morawiec, co-owner of Feisty Acres Farm, located on Rt. 48 in Southold, said in a Facebook appeal for help. "Normally, we don’t post videos like this, but it is the only way we can convey the severity and sadness of the situation."

Morawiec and Chris Pinto, co-owner and farm manager of Feisty Acres Farm, were blindsided to find the pullets gone, she said.

Sometime between 8:30 p.m. Saturday night and 6:30 a.m. Sunday morning, someone stole the pullets from the eastern pasture, Morawiec said.

Southold Town Police Chief Martin Flatley said the owners of the business filed a police report; an investigation is underway.

There was evidence of a vehicle entering the pasture and of birds outside the coop and outside the fence, "possibly being put into crates or piled up," Morawiec said.

Currently, Morawiec and Pinto only have about 32 pullets out of the original 96; the birds were about five-and-a-half months old, ready to start laying eggs in the next couple of weeks, she said.

"We purchased these chickens as day-old chicks in January," Morawiec said. "We spent a lot of money buying them, we spent a lot of money feeding them, raising them, building a house for them, caring for them — and they're gone now."

As it stands, Morawiec said, there will only be about 30 or so extra eggs instead of the 80 to 90 extra eggs per day they were planning on, to fill orders for the CSA, as well as customers on the North Fork and in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Morawiec said she and Pinto will have to set up surveillance cameras at the multiple entry points to the farm, an expensive endeavor that could prohibit the planned purchase of a market van.

"It's just really upsetting because we work really, really hard to raise our birds the right way. It's really disheartening," she said.

The coronavirus crisis, Morawiec said, may have played a part in the theft. "I understand people are getting desperate," she said. "I'm sure other farmers have experienced people stealing livestock, crops and poultry during this pandemic."

The birds taken were all Rhode Island Reds, a deep mahogany color, and still growing, with their wattles and combs still coming in; there are black accents on the birds' tails and wing tips, Morawiec said. "So if anyone sees 60 chickens in someone's backyard, they could be ours," she said. "We're just putting this out there in case anyone has seen our chickens."

The loss, she said, is devastating. "You work really, really hard just to have it taken away for no reason."

Next, Morawiec said, she and Pinto plan to see if they can find some pullets from elsewhere to "make up for this loss." They also need to fortify their other houses so no more birds are taken, she said.

"It's very upsetting," Morawiec said, adding that she is angry and "crying. There is so much hard work that goes into what it is that we do and I wish people understood, without taking things from other people."

Morawiec thanked her customers for understanding and patience, if there are not as many eggs as anticipated this year.

Despite the setback, she and Pinto carried on as normal Sunday. "We, of course, will still be going about our day doing chores, finishing projects, and running errands in town because farming doesn’t stop — not even in a time like this," Morawiec said.

This article originally appeared on the North Fork Patch