Ritchie the 8th Ward Rooster Now Living in Yorkville

Ritchie the Rooster will leave the Evanston animal shelter on Saturday and move to a permanent home on a farm in Yorkville, Illinois.

Ritchie will live on the 10-acre farm with other rescue chickens and ducks, according to an e-mail sent to Ritchie's Evanston foster family by the city animal warden David Rose.

Nobody knows where Ritchie came from, but 8th Ward residents .

Greg and Susan Allen let the rooster stay in a nest in their backyard while they searched for ways to help the lost bird. Both the Evanston police department and animal control told the family they do not handle rooster cases.

With the help of 8th Ward alderman Ann Rainey, the family connected with Rose, and promised the bird would not become anyone's dinner or be harmed in any way.

Susan Allen described Ritchie as "really cute and really friendly." She said even though he only lived with them for a few days, the family grew attached to him.

In addition to promising safety for Ritchie, Rainey and the Evanston police department told the family they would not get in any legal trouble for keeping the rooster, which is illegal under a city ordinance.