Lost Rooster Shows Up At Popeyes After Hurricane And Refuses To Leave
He has his own coop now 💞
In early March, Latoya Giles was waiting in the drive-thru of a Popeyes in South Louisiana when someone unusual cut in line. A rooster crossed in front of her car and continued walking to the front of the restaurant.
Giles had heard rumors of the rooster from colleagues at the hospital across the street, where she works as a traveling nurse. But she didn’t believe that a live rooster had taken up residence in the Slidell Popeyes parking lot until she saw him with her own eyes.
“As I was coming to the drive-thru [window], the rooster walks in front of my car, so I stepped on my break,” Giles told The Dodo. “Then he went to the door, and he just stood there like he was looking in.”
Giles knew that nobody would believe her without proof, so she started snapping photos of the rooster as he stood at the restaurant entrance, waiting for someone to open the door.
As Giles drove out of the Popeyes parking lot, she noticed something else strange — a chicken coop.
According to Popeyes employees, the mysterious rooster turned up at the restaurant in September, shortly after Hurricane Ida, and refused to leave. They tried to find the rooster's home, but when nobody in the neighborhood claimed him, the staff lovingly adopted him and named him Rocco.
Rocco has become a mascot for the branch, where employees regularly feed and care for him and even built him his own coop. Rocco may have chosen an unlikely family, but he seems to be quite content.
“He’s beautiful and healthy,” Giles said. “They’re definitely taking good care of him.”
Now, every morning on her way to work, Giles is greeted by the sight of Rocco strutting around the parking lot, surveying his domain. And Rocco’s popularity is only growing.
“Business has definitely improved," Giles said. "Everyone wants to see the chicken.”
