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Quarterly Update: January to March 2025
- Liz Wheeler
- Apr 3
- 6 min read
Compassion for chickens is at the root of everything we do. It's the guiding value in all of our decisions. How can we ensure we're acting compassionately? If you've been staying updated via our newsletters or social media, you'll know we've had to consider this question very carefully as we've navigated medical emergencies and end-of-life care for some of our rescued flock. We always come back to the simple belief that chickens deserve to be treated like family. While there are endless obstacles to fighting for chickens to be seen as companions vs. commodities, we remain steadfast in our belief that each of them is an individual and each one deserves individual care, love, and consideration.
But our mission extends beyond the 34 chickens we've rescued over the past two and a half years:
Our mission is to inspire compassion for chickens through rescue, advocacy, and education.
This quarter, we began planning how to expand our impact beyond rescue. We've started working on creating outreach lists for collaboration, secured a grant to develop an education program and materials, drafted a project plan to make implants more accessible for ALL chicken owners across Canada, and more. I've never been prouder of our sanctuary and the direction we're headed. I know it will be a lifelong journey, but I'm excited for every step of the way.
Thank you for your support and being by our side,
Liz & Craig Wheeler
Co-Founders of Secondhand Stories
Chicken Care
It's not been an easy start to the year. We've had to say goodbye to three of our dearest companions, Henry, Ellie & Penny. They say it’s better to have loved and lost than never loved. And I know we love our chickens with all of our hearts. Together, with your compassion, we can provide chickens with every opportunity to live happy and healthy lives. No matter how long or short those lives are, we’re dedicated to showing them a world where they are treated with respect, dignity, and, above all else, love.
First, we had to say farewell to our dearest, oldest man, Henry. His heart couldn’t keep up with the little casanova. Henry's pint-sized powerhouse personality captured the hearts of everyone who met him. He loved peanuts, doing his fancy dance for the ladies, and digging in the garden for dust baths. You can see our memorial card for Henry here. Our hearts broke even further when Ellie got sick. What started as weight loss turned into lethargy and not eating. Over a week, despite all the tests and treatments, our little boy was greater than this world. He gave us one more brilliant weekend with him, enjoying the sweet spring sunshine. We didn't know what caused Ellie's rapid deterioration until his post-mortem revealed an aggressive bone infection. We did everything we could, and he was loved every moment of his life, no matter how short. You can read Ellie's life story and the legacy he’s imprinted into all of us. Then, tragedy struck the sanctuary when Penny, at only nine months old, tore her oviduct when she laid her first egg. Penny was born with leg deformities and never had a chance to live a full life as her internal organs were too mixed up to allow for the passing of eggs. Penny loved Ellie more than anything, and we're comforted, hoping they have found each other again.
A sweet respite from the pain came in the form of a nine-month-old little black-and-white spotted Wyandotte, Ari.
A fellow sanctuary connected us with a lovely family near North Bay who was providing her with a loving temporary home. Before this family intervened, Ari was thin and had a nasty lice infestation. The kind and good family realized Ari needed friends and a home that could care for her long-term. That's where we come in! Ari has been living a life of luxury in the spare bedroom as she completes her intake quarantine and final lice treatments and recovers from her implant-induced molt. When Ari arrived, she was also laying soft-shelled eggs, so we needed to have her implanted, and now we have an abundance of the cutest feathers ever! Once her feathers are regrown, we'll introduce her to her forever family, Ezra & Gunta!
Ari is a complete hoot and has shared the most adorable chirps and chatter. She loves blueberries, digging through her food and making a mess, the blowdryer, and having conversations.
The center illustration is beautifully done by PetsbyBrit.
Most recently, we've been focused on nursing Mocha back to health. In late March, Mocha had a stuck egg. Thanks to your support, we acted quickly and immediately brought her to the vet. We started a treatment of pain medication to keep her comfortable, warm baths to help her relax her muscles, calcium injections, and melatonin. Luckily, Mocha passed that first egg, but she already has another one stuck! Hens like Mocha were bred to produce eggs at an unnatural rate - which is why so many of them experience reproductive illnesses. This week, we were able to get her implanted - a life-saving treatment. While she still needs to pass this last egg, the implant helps block the hormone that tells her body to produce an egg daily. Her veterinary care has cost nearly $1,500! Want to help Mocha? You can donate directly to her care here or purchase a Mocha Card!
Bonus Updates:
Hershey's bumble foot resolved!
Ezra & Gunta received a generously donated playhouse they've been enjoying!
Annie, Etta, Oats & Olive don't have sponsors yet!
Did you know that when you sponsor a chicken 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 monthly donor exclusive updates. PLUS: As a token of our gratitude for our incredible Kind Friends Club monthly donors, we're opening our gates for an exclusive open-house-style event on May 4th. Don't miss your chance to be invited - start a monthly donation today!
Progress on 2025 Goals
This year, we are so excited to be guided by a fantastic board of directors to help us with our big plans & goals to achieve our mission. We're delighted to share the following progress:
Published two advocacy blogs:
Began exploring collaboration opportunities with animal protection organizations in Ottawa & surrounding areas
Drafted a Project Plan for making implants more accessible for chickens in Canada
While not planned in our goals, we also:
Updated our Operations Manual
Gave away free Vegan cookbooks for Veguary!
Implemented a new database for our chicken records to help streamline veterinary care.
Finances
In 2025, we budgeted $45,000 for expenses. Having a few years to reflect on the sanctuary's needs, we've been able to calculate more accurate estimates of our needs. However, the biggest unknown is the health of the chickens. With unexpected deaths and overall higher medical & animal care expenses, we've outspent our costs anticipated in the first quarter. In Q1, we’ve had $11,145 in costs (compared to $7,160.47 this time last year), broken down into the following categories:
Medical:
The majority of our medical expenses thus far have, sadly, been end-of-life care for Henry, Ellie & Penny. From vet exams to bloodwork to medications and cremation - the costs added up quickly. We also got implants for Ari, Alma & Mocha.
Animal Care
This includes the chickens' basic food needs, bedding, and supplements. It also includes maintenance costs such as shop vac bags (for cleaning the coops), paving blocks to elevate the food & water, an air filter for Ellie & Penny's room, and litter boxes for indoor dust bathing in the winter. This quarter has exceeded our annual budget because we were amazed to receive two large donations to sponsor playhouses for Ezra, Gunta, Oscar, Mocha, Ruthie, Oats, Daisy, Emma & Olive!
Operations
This includes fees for our donation software, form and processing fees, banking fees, domain renewal, photos for sponsor packets, and mailing costs. *This year, we combined our operations and fulfillment categories.
Note: $210 was also sent to the winner of the 50/50 lucky squares fundraiser.
How You Can Help!
So, how can we afford all of this? Aside from two generous grants from the Microsanctuary Resource Center, the answer is YOU. Our supporters have made this possible. Your donations and commitment to joining our monthly donor program, The Kind Friends Club, help us tremendously.
Not able to donate? No problem! Here are some incredible ways you can uplift our work:
Get your taxes done by Rachel Therrien, who'll donate 5% to the sanctuary!
Volunteer! We need help with the following:
Animal Caretakers
Chicken Veggie Garden
Outreach Projects
Fundraising
Review us on Google to help expand our reach and listing.
Donate items to our Spring Online Auction. We're looking for new or like-new items to include in our next fundraiser.
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