DETROIT – The show chickens stolen from a Detroit 4-H club coop over the holiday weekend have been found, thanks to an anonymous tip.
The tip came in Wednesday evening and led the Ribbon Farms 4-H Club to a vacant lot more than a dozen blocks from the coop. It is not yet clear who took the birds or how they ended up there.
Two break-ins over the holiday weekend
The coop sits inside Full Circle Foundation’s edible garden on Detroit’s east side. The Grosse Pointe Park-based nonprofit built the garden about 10 years ago to serve young adults with special needs and later partnered with Ribbon Farms 4-H Club to add the chicken coop.
On July 3, thieves broke in and stole 10 chickens — including a hen sitting on eggs that were just beginning to hatch. The club managed to rescue two newly hatched chicks.
Then on July 5, the thieves came back. They broke into the locked coop again and took the remaining chickens along with two geese.
“By the notice of the feathers in there, that normally wouldn’t look like that. So, there was some kind of struggle to get these 20-something chickens,” said Alexis Johnson, whose sons are part of the 4-H club. “It’s a very odd theft.”
The club confirmed the thefts were not the result of an animal attack. At the time, the coop had no cameras, power, or Wi-Fi — something the organization had been working to address.
‘They were our family’
These weren’t ordinary backyard chickens.
They were show birds raised through the 4-H program, some of which had already won ribbons at last year’s fair.
Brothers Apollo Johnson, 13, and Xavier Johnson, 12, are members of the club and helped raise two of the stolen chickens.
“We raised them until they were like six weeks old, and we gave them back to the coop here,” Apollo said.
Xavier had been counting on this year’s fair to compete for the top prize.
“This now means I can’t get master showman,” he said.
Apollo’s message for whoever took the birds was simple: “Just give them back.”
Mary Fodell, founder of Full Circle Foundation, called the theft senseless.
“We were trying to do good and give back, and the fact that someone would just take them from us, we are stunned,” Fodell said.
How to help
Detroit police are investigating. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detroit police or Full Circle Foundation directly.
The organization is also accepting donations to help repair and reinforce the fence, install security cameras, and, hopefully, bring more chickens to the coop.