A West Lothian visitor centre that keeps farm animals has pleaded with people "please don't do this" after eight cockerels were dumped on their doorstep.
In a post Almond Valley Heritage Centre said that earlier this week they discovered a small cardboard box outside the gates to the centre in Livingston.
In a statement the centre said: "We can’t offer these a home, as we’ve quite sufficient cockerels of our own.
"When you have lots of these male chickens together, they fight and often seriously injure each other. They also gang up and bully hens in a horrible way."
Adding: "It’s great to hatch out eggs and watch the chicks develop, but this shouldn’t be done without first having a plan of what do with the chickens (particularly the male ones) once they grow up.
"Dumping them at the roadside isn’t a responsible course of action."
The cockerels have now been handed over to the SSPCA who will look to find them a suitable home in the future.
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