PEABODY — Wood Family Farm, located at 278 Forest St., is asking the public to stop abandoning unwanted roosters at the property.

The plea comes after the farm reached capacity for abandoned roosters, a problem Madison Wood said has escalated in recent years as more unwanted birds are left at the property instead of being responsibly rehomed. The farm currently has 15 roosters, 10 of which were abandoned there.

“It’s not fair to the birds. It really isn’t. I know people look at roosters, and they probably think, ‘It’s a rooster.’ … But they are living beings as well,” she said.

Abandoning a bird at a farm is not the same as giving it a home, Wood said. She recalled arriving one morning to discover three turkeys abandoned at the farm had been killed by coyotes.

“Another situation that’s sad is people will dump these animals not even in the fence sometimes,” Wood shared. “So these turkeys, I came in the next day and the coyotes had gotten them. That’s traumatic for [the turkeys] because they lost their lives because people are careless, and also for me because then I show up to the farm, and there’s three mangled turkey bodies.”

Roosters have faced similar fates. During one stretch of frigid winter weather, three roosters were abandoned in the snow in a wooded section of the property that Wood could not immediately access. By the time she reached them, only one had survived.

“It’s just not fair to them,” Wood emphasized. “To just be dumped and then not tended to properly, or even me catching them in time, and then they lose their lives because people are neglectful, that is really sad.”

To Wood, these birds deserve more compassion than they often receive.

“They’re very smart birds, and they do trust pretty easily. … That’s why it’s such a shame to see people just disregard them like that,” she said.

Wood said the problem “really ramps up” in the spring and summer. While she cannot know where every abandoned rooster comes from, she believes many owners buy chicks without first deciding what they’ll do if one grows into a rooster.

She encouraged owners to research rehoming options before bringing birds home. She pointed to the MSPCA at Nevins Farm in Methuen as one possible resource, while noting that owners should contact the organization directly about its intake process. She also recommended local Facebook groups dedicated to rehoming farm animals.

Wood hopes her message is clear: “Just because I love and care for animals, and people know they’re safe here with me, is not a fair excuse to dump them on me.”