Giant metal roosters spread autism acceptance in Maine after town zoning
spat
[July 24, 2026]
By HOLLY RAMER and ROBERT F. BUKATY
OGUNQUIT, Maine (AP) — Giant metal roosters are popping up on lawns in
and around a community in southern Maine and as far away as New Zealand
in support of a 6-year-old autistic girl and her love of the colorful
creations.
David and Sara LeBlanc had a rotating display of the roughly 6-foot-tall
(1.8-meter-tall) ornaments decorating their Ogunquit lawn until
officials in the small coastal town deemed them to be impermissible
advertising for their attached restaurant, The Omelette Factory.
The couple initially resisted the town's removal order, insisting the
roosters were meant to comfort their daughter Pyper, not advertise their
business.
“Roosters don’t lay eggs,” David LeBlanc told The Associated Press on
Wednesday.
But they eventually came to an agreement with the town allowing them to
keep two of the roosters in front of their home.
As for what to do with the others? That's where friends, neighbors and
complete strangers came in.
It started with a beloved stuffed rooster
The LeBlancs took in Pyper as a foster child and later adopted her. She
arrived with a stuffed rooster, and roosters became her favorite animal,
her parents said. When her father took her to a Tractor Supply Store to
play with baby chicks last year, she noticed a large rooster sculpture
for sale and asked her dad what it was saying.
“I think he wants to come home,” David LeBlanc said he told her.
Eventually, their collection grew to more than two dozen roosters, which
they set up in batches for seasonal and holiday displays. Pyper took to
hiding behind one each morning while waiting for the school bus, which
her parents said helps her regulate her emotions and navigate
transitions.
But the couple ruffled feathers when they added a rooster to their
restaurant’s logo, which is featured on its shirts and other
merchandise. Although the LeBlancs said they view the rooster as a
“family crest,” the town saw their lawn statues as advertising.
A code enforcement officer, Tyler McOsker, issued the LeBlancs $450 in
fines and ordered them in April to "remove all unpermitted signage,
including but not limited to rooster statues."
McOsker didn't respond to an email requesting comment. But he told the
Zoning Board of Appeals in June that he had no idea the roosters were
connected to Pyper’s autism diagnosis until the couple appealed the
fines. He also pointed to a May 2025 article in a local weekly newspaper
that described the roosters as a “fun and unconventional way to announce
that The Omelette Factory is officially open for business.”
“That, to me, is the definition of a sign. You’re announcing you’re
opening,” McOsker told the board.
David LeBlanc said the reporter misinterpreted a customer’s joke about
the roosters serving as an “Open” sign.
“We never said that,” he said.
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Pyper Leblanc kisses a tin rooster goodbye after a visit to the
Hilton Winn Farm in Ogunquit, Maine, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP
Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
 The town offers a compromise
The zoning board discussed the issue last month. At one point, board
member Jay Smith voiced frustration at the lack of medical proof
that the roosters were necessary.
“I’m inclined to think there may be some merit to a comfort animal
on the front lawn … but the point is, how many does it take?” he
said.
Autism spectrum disorder is a complex developmental condition that
affects different people in different ways, and comfort objects are
frequently incorporated into therapy for autistic children to help
manage transitions, support emotional regulation and provide a sense
of familiarity, Beverley Cush Evans, a professor of special
education at Lesley University, told the AP.
“It’s part of who they are and what they need," she said.
Eventually, the board decided it lacked the authority to rescind the
fines but tried to accommodate the family by granting a disability
variance that essentially deemed two roosters necessary for Pyper’s
access to the home.
“I want to emphasize we’re talking about two roosters. If they have
babies or multiply in the night — no,” another board member said.
The variance requires the roosters to be part of a railing, however,
and for now, they are just bolted to the steps. The couple has been
fined another $500 for noncompliance.
A show of support
David LeBlanc said he is moving on from the dispute and is focusing
on the good that has come from it. The family has given roosters to
others to “foster” and show their support for autism acceptance,
starting with a man named Sam who lives up the road. Though Pyper
was sad to see them go, she understands the adage about making
lemonade, LeBlanc said.
“She understands that the roosters being taken away were the lemons,
and Sam and his friends, fostering them, are the lemonade,” he said.
“It’s a beautiful thing.”
Thanks to news coverage and a Roosters of Ogunquit Facebook page,
the story has spread far and wide. One supporter wrote in from New
Zealand sharing pictures of his children with a rooster statue in
their yard.
Hetal Patel, who owns a motel in nearby Wells and has a relative
with autism, wanted to buy a rooster after hearing about Pyper. They
were sold out in the Ogunquit area, though, so she and her son went
to New Hampshire last week to get one.
“We found the last one,” she said. “We couldn’t wait to put it out.
People were so supportive, they were honking. It was so nice to see
all the love for Pyper.”
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