Three hens and one lucky rooster named Fat Boy live by the parking lot behind the Annapolis state police barracks.
The police have housed fowl since the early ?80s, when two roosters journeyed from neighboring property owned by the U.S. Naval Academy and never left.
“The story is they got through the fence somehow. Once they got over here, between us and the Fire Department, [officers] started feeding them and they stayed,” said Communications Supervisor Amy White, who has been working at the barracks for 35 years.
A long line of chickens have evolved into a mascot for the barracks, which are located at the corner of Taylor Avenue and Rowe Boulevard.
The officers? desks are adorned with ceramic rooster statues, and chicken jokes are rampant, White said.
Residents also enjoy seeing the chickens when they stop by the barracks to pay a speeding ticket.
“You should see people walk through the parking lot. They stop and throw bread out,” said Sgt. Linda Lozier, who feeds the chickens with White.
Fat Boy steals most of the attention with his crow and bold stance.
“In the middle of the day, you will hear the rooster, and you can?t help but smile,” Lozier said.
The three hens, Henny Penny and “the girls,” were welcomed to the department when they arrived two months ago. But even the best detective can?t solve the mystery of who brought them there in the middle of the night.
“I personally have no idea how they got here. People might have felt sorry for the rooster; he was here all alone for a really long time,” Lozier said.
The birds survived a recent rainstorm by roosting in a Magnolia tree on the property, and officers have built them an entrance to a nearby garden shed.
Officers stuffed three roosting bins in the shed with piles of hay, in case any of the chickens lay eggs.
White said baby chicks have softened the hearts of many police officers in previous years.
“It was so wild when we had the babies,” White said.
“The men turned into the biggest sissies. They would be out there saying, ?Look at the babies!? ”
