Area farmer asks for return of six-foot rooster

Niwot area farmer Colter Hoyt took to social media to try to encourage the return of a valued farm gateway decoration – a six-foot tall decorative rooster whose previous home was the gateway of his farm at 7180 N. 49th Street, west of town.

"We bought him at a Tractor Supply in Buena Vista," Hoyt said. "He's not small, and it was really hard just to get him here. He just means a lot to us, and we'd like him returned."

Custom repairs that were done after windstorms and other accidents, which periodically knocked the oversized fowl off its post, sometimes broke it into pieces. These repairs make it distinguishable from similar sculptures sold at other Tractor Supply retail stores. Hoyt said the size of the bird also made it hard to move. "Whoever took him, it would require a pickup truck."

Hoyt also said that because there is so much activity on the farm during the day, he believes it would have happened during the night and likely on the Saturday to Sunday overnight.

Hoyt has made a report with the Boulder County Sheriff's office, but is also relying on the goodwill of others to help. So far, he's had two substantial leads.

One person saw a metal chicken in Longmont, but Hoyt could quickly confirm it wasn't his. The farmer's hopes were raised again with a sighting of a rooster sculpture in Frederick, but it turned out to likely be a duplicate of similar chickens also for sale at other Tractor Supply stores.

The search for the stolen chicken was also publicized on Facebook Groups including "Voice of Longmont" where users offered sympathy. User Mary Mudge McNulty said she always laughed when driving by, and Athena Barns asked, "Seriously though. Why? I get that it's cool, but it isn't any cooler stolen and hidden in a shed or something."

Some users made "fowl" jokes about the oversized fowl which a good natured farmer encouraged. Readers will have to go to the page to view them, But they're a fairly entertaining way to deal with a sad theft.

Hoyt asked that anyone with leads call the sheriff's department or contact him through his Facebook Page.