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Quarterly Update: July to September 2025
- Liz Wheeler
- Oct 1
- 7 min read
This July marked three years since moving to our property and inheriting the 7 hens left behind on the property: Betsie, Cora, Georgie, Margaret, Maggie, Peggy, and Sophie. The special date passed without any celebration. We were too busy preparing for our 2nd Annual Open House and updating our 6th coop. Now that the leaves are falling, we've been looking back on summers that have passed, and it's a reminder of how much we've grown since that first summer.
Our mission is to inspire compassion for chickens through rescue, advocacy, and education.
We've welcomed many more chickens to the family, but more than that, we've collaborated with other sanctuaries and organizations, spoken up for chickens with policymakers and carved a path where we can make a real difference for all chickens. One thing is certain: over these past three years, and especially over the last quarter, we couldn't have done any of it without you. Thank you for your support and for being by our side.
Liz & Craig Wheeler
Co-Founders of Secondhand Stories
Chicken Care
When we last left off, Rolo was about to have surgery. The clinic successfully removed a lot of infection from his foot (some of which they described as splinter-like... gross!), all mixed in with his tendon. He had a routine of medications, weekly re-checks, and bandage changes at the vet clinic, and we're thrilled to report that Rolo has received the all-clear. His foot healed up nicely, and while he has a permanent limp from the tendon damage, he gets around just fine and still runs at top speeds. We are grateful for the opportunity to do everything possible to help him feel better - thanks to you! Of course, Hershey tried to follow in his brother's bumble-footsteps. Luckily, Hershey's infection is much more controlled and minor than Rolo's, and we can treat it at home. We've been doing bandage changes, foot soaks, laser therapy with medication to help reduce the inflamation & infection. We can see slow progress.
One exciting thing is that Rolo & Hershey have been enjoying their summer days with the ladies (Sophie, Alma, Suzie, Annie, Etta & Lottie), creating one big happy family. We were worried that the two boys would challenge each other when introduced to hens, or be too rough, but they've been on their best behaviour. Plus, when they get a bit rowdy, Sophie will come flying in and give them a good tap of her wing to remind them who the real boss is. It's been amazing seeing the relationship between the hens and roosters grow and how Hershey and Rolo continue to get along like the best of brothers. We couldn't be happier about this new development.
In mid-July, we got a call that every rescue dreads: there was an abandoned chicken outside with nowhere else to go. Within a few hours, we were on our way to Osgoode to pick her up. The first thing we noticed was how thin she was. Followed by the smell. She had a wound crawling with maggots. Lice were crawling all over her body. She was wheezing and gurgling. We brought her to the vet for urgent after-hours assessment, and the best thing we could do was to humanely euthanize her so that she wouldn’t suffer. We named her Marigold, hoping her name would symbolize an afterlife painted with a yellow-orange sun haze, and stood with her until her last breath. She deserved a death with dignity.
That very same night, we welcomed Eggie to the Secondhand Stories family. She came to us through a thoughtful surrender by her previous caregiver, who clearly loved her very much for the first 4 & 1/2 years of her life. Sadly, a coyote got Eggie's family, and it was no longer safe for her to reside at her former home. Coyotes are incredibly intelligent and stalk their prey; Eggie would have been their primary target. Eggie immediately captured our hearts, and we love her deeply. She's made a home with Ezra, Gunta, Ari & Bubba. And although she gets into sibling rivalry arguments with Bubba, she adores spending time with Ezra & Gunta and will often follow them around all day.
While we hoped that Oscar and Mocha could live happily with Ruthie, Olive, Daisy, Emma & Oats, unfortunately, the gals had feather plucking in mind. Oscar, being such a sweet rooster, was their primary target, and they began munching on his neck feathers. Unfortunately, they developed this habit in their previous home. Since Hershey & Rolo are now happily integrated with the girls, Oscar & Mocha have moved out and into the boys' former coop. Mocha loves it! She thinks the long grass is the bees' knees and spends her days making new divots and sunbathing spots. Oscar isn't too upset either, since his neck feathers have all grown back. Heartbreak reached out doors again when a few weeks back, Olive became more withdrawn than usual and had been sitting hunched up. This is a classic sign of discomfort in chickens, so we quickly scheduled her for a vet visit. As we hadn't seen her lay an egg in a few days, this was our biggest concern. The vet did X-rays, and sadly, they revealed a huge mass in Olive's reproductive area. Olive has entered palliative care, and we continue to provide her love and compassionate care for as long as her quality of life will permit.
Over the past few months, we've also been working on the coop refresh. We've finally taken out all of the mice-soiled insulation of the roof of Ezra's coop and are in the stage of adding hardware cloth *before* new insulation to ensure no mice can get through and make a nest in the ceiling. Chickpea & Tofu will also get to move into their new coop in the next few weeks, finally allowing us to have the medical isolation coop we've dreamed about!
Did you know? Sophie is the only chicken without a sponsor!
When you sponsor a chicken (like Sophie, hint hint) by making a monthly donation, you get to join The Kind Friends Club! This includes a custom sponsorship packet mailed to you, a private tour, and our quarterly updates exclusive for Monthly Donors.
Advocacy & Education
Liz spoke at VegOttawa Fest about animal advocacy and how folks can be part of the movement to end animal suffering in Ottawa and beyond.
We hosted our 2nd Annual Open House, welcoming 211 folks, 15 vendors, and a team of amazing volunteers to celebrate compassion for chickens.
A new blog was published - going behind the scenes to talk more about the importance of chicken health checks.
Plus! Behind the scenes, we've been working on increasing access and affordability of implants for sanctuaries across Canada.
Finances (2025 so far)
In 2025, we budgeted $45,000 for expenses. As a toddler non-profit organization, we're still hitting our stride, trying to understand where our growth will lead us. We’ve had $33,754.21 in expenses, broken down into the following categories:
Medical
Our medical expenses in 2025 have included end-of-life care for several chickens, implant costs, as well as exams, treatments and medications. Some of the most notable costs include Rolo's surgery, Mocha's treatment for her stuck eggs, Hershey's bumblefoot care, and the various needs of Bubba, Daisy, Olive, Oscar and others.
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Animal Care
This includes the chickens' basic food needs, bedding, and supplements. It also accounts for a new air filter for chickens who need to stay in our spare bedroom (in the winter, the window couldn't be kept open, and with bedding for Penny & Ellie it got very dusty), playhouses for the chickens (sponsored purchases), enrichment treats & toys, nesting pads and more. Some miscellaneous costs that added up included cables for our video monitors, paving blocks to elevate food and water, new water bowls, a garden hose & sprinkler for the chicken veggie garden, a refresh of soil for the coop runs and cleaning supplies such as shop vac bags and filters and a chicken poop scooper.
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Operations
Earlier this year, we combined our operations, marketing, events, and fulfillment categories, but have since divided them again. Operations costs for this year include: insurance, donor database fees, merchandise for resale (i.e. t-shirts), website & marketing plans, domain costs, postage & printing, integrity commissioner fee, annual corporation filing fee, DonorBox & banking fees. Note: $210 was also sent to the winner of the 50/50 lucky squares fundraiser.
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Infrastructure
The majority of our sheltering costs have been for materials for the medical isolation coop & run. We've also purchased magnets for finding metal around runs (to pick up any lost screws, staples), rented a rototiller for our chickens' veggie garden refresh and a disposal bin rental and dumping fees for Ezra's coop ceiling demolition.
Events
Many of our event costs were covered by grants, but expenses still need to be tracked. We purchased food for volunteer days, a new banner for events, and paid fees for the 32Auctions platform, as well as insurance & tabling. We also had supplies, signage, event rentals and workshop fees from the Open House.
Programs
One new category we've added is a program line. In 2025, with an extended focus on advocacy & education, we also had some expenses (again, covered mainly by grants). Included in this were survey gift cards, printing and design costs for our egg replacement art, chicken promise postcards, sanctuary signage, and our new "Compassion for Chickens" pamphlets.
How You Can Help!
Here are some incredible ways you can uplift our work:Â