6 chickens stolen from Land O' Lakes farm, deputies investigating
Six chickens were stolen from a Pasco County farm on Sunday.
Whoever stole the chickens cut into the wiring of the coop to get to them.
The farm says they will add security to try to prevent this from happening again.
LAND O' LAKES, Fla. - The Pasco Sheriff's Office is investigating a hen heist at a Land O' Lakes farm.
Six chickens from The Farm at Angeline were stolen between Sunday night, around 7:30 p.m. and Monday morning at around 9 a.m.
"They are about four months old now, so they were just about to start laying eggs," said Bobby Dileo, one of the farm educators.
The backstory
The thief is believed to have stolen the chickens straight from their coop at the farm.
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"They cut a door, basically, into the coop and were able to just open it and get in," said Ashley Wilson, one of the other farm educators.
Staff at the farm say they showed up on Monday morning to see that a hole had been cut in the chicken wire of the coop, and six of the 20 chickens were missing.
"There were multiple chickens outside of the coop," Wilson said. "The coop itself was cut into."
Dig deeper
The missing chickens account for about a third of the coop.
"It's definitely frustrating," Dileo said. "It feels a little invasive."
Staff at the farm say they have security cameras on other parts of the farm, but now they're looking to add more security cameras throughout the property.
"We have the chicken wire up for predators," Wilson said. "We really didn't expect people to be another type of predator in the mix."
Big picture view
The chickens are used for educational programs at the farm, and their eggs are sold at a farmer's market.
"We are losing a half dozen every day," Wilson said.
It's not clear why the chickens were stolen, but farmers know how precious chickens and their eggs are currently because of the nationwide egg shortage.
RELATED: Egg customers crying fowl over empty shelves, high prices can now rent their own chickens
"Egg prices are at an all-time high right now, and basically, they have free eggs now, whoever took the chickens," Wilson said.
What's next
Staff at the farm are hopeful that the thief will hand over the hens.
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"Ideal situation would be that the chickens are back," Wilson said. "Somebody would return them, whoever took them, and the flock can all be together again."
If you have any information about the incident, you can contact the Pasco County Sheriff's Office by calling the non-emergency line at 727-847-8102 or reporting tips online.
The Source
FOX 13's Kylie Jones collected the information in this story.
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