Pompom The Runaway Chicken Is Missing In Brooklyn

PROSPECT LEFFERTS GARDENS, BROOKLYN — The neighborhood is all aflutter over Pompom, a chicken who literally flew the coop and has yet to be reunited with her heartbroken owner.

Pompom, a one-year-old Polish bantam, escaped from her rooftop coop near Flatbush and Caton avenues Sunday night after a storm damaged her cage, said her owners, Tom Wilson and Anastasia Page.

"For Ana, the sky is falling," said Wilson, a Brooklyn student who owns three chickens with his roommate. "We've raised them from a day old and they are much-beloved."

The newly free-range chicken didn't get far. Pompom appeared one block away on Lenox Road near Flatbush Avenue Monday morning, according to Erika Bruchhausen.

"There is a chicken with a fabulous mop of blond feathers that has been hanging out," Bruchhausen wrote on Facebook Monday. "Is anyone missing a chicken? ... He looks so sad!"

Bruchhausen's photographs show the winsome chicken strolling down the sidewalk, examining a cigarette butt, and having a rest on an Amazon Fresh delivery box.

While several residents were quick to make fowl jokes — Jeff Arancherry wrote, "Looks like somebody cast a spell on the president," and Davi Cohen added, "I LOVE THIS FANCY CHICKEN" — others took action.

Resident Katie King contacted a local animal sanctuary who picked up the free bird from the Brooklyn street corner Monday afternoon, according to a moderator of the Facebook group "Lost And Found Pets in Brooklyn, New York."

"The chicken was being well cared for," Elisa Flash told Patch, "and being taken to a farm animal sanctuary."

But Page and Wilson have yet to connect with King, find the sanctuary and reclaim their feathery friend.

"She's still not back in my possession and I'm a mess," Page, said. "I just need to find who has her."

Wilson explained he and his roommate share a special connection to Pompom.

"The way we got the chickens was, Ana got excited about chickens," Wilson wrote in a message to Patch. "I said, "You're nuts," she said, "Please," I said, "Fine, but I get to eat them.

"Then I met day old chicks, and instantly my heart melted."

(Photo courtesy of Tom Wilson)

"Not sure if that makes them pets whose eggs we eat, working animals we happen to love, or both."

Update: Pompom has been located and the sanctuary workers have promised to help Page and Wilson build a more secure coop, Elisa Flash told Patch.

Tom Wilson is a former colleague of this reporter.

Photos by Erika Bruchhausen, and used with permission