"Little Jerry Seinfeld" -- a rally chicken brought into the Mets clubhouse by reliever Tim Byrdak -- arrived Tuesday at his new upstate digs, the 275-acre Farm Sanctuary Shelter in Watkins Glen. Originally named "Little Derek Jeter," he was renamed after the classic "Seinfeld" episode in which Kramer enters a chicken in a cock fight. The chicken made headlines as a practical joke after Met closer Frank Francisco's called the Yankees "chickens" before the weekend's subway series. Little Jerry can look forward to a life of "scratching in the dirt, dust bathing and basking in the sun," according to the Farm Sancutary.

A representative, Meredith Turner, spoke from Watkins Glen.

How did it happen that Little Jerry ended up at Farm Sanctuary?

Well, after Tim Brydak brought the chicken into the clubhouse, after he posted the video of the chicken running around on the Mets carpeting, and after everybody had a good chuckle, then Tim Brydak took to Twitter and wondered, well, now what do we do; we have this chicken on our hands. And they had bonded with Little Jerry Seinfeld. They got to know him as an individual, and they couldn't stand the thought of him being killed. So Tim took to Twitter and said, I need to find a home for Little Jerry Seinfeld; does anyone know of a farm or a rescue group who can help us. Some of our supporters immediately contacted him. . . By Saturday night, we were ironing out a hand-off ceremony that would take place on Sunday at Citi Field, just hours before they took on the Yankees.

We're thrilled that this story has a happy ending. Most chickens in this country, 9 billion a year in fact, meet an extremely grim end in a slaughterhouse after enduring a life devoid of sunshine, fresh air, kindness -- the things Little Jerry Seinfeld will enjoy at Farm Sanctuary. He's a very lucky bird. Most chickens suffer terribly before they are killed for food. This is just a testament to the human spirit, and to our ability to be moved by the plight of another living being. That's what happened in the Mets clubhouse. They got to know Little Jerry. They bonded with him, and they wanted the best for him. We're so grateful that they took the pains that they did to make sure this happy ending would happen. Because they didn't have to do it.

Is Little Jerry your first celebrity animal?

We have a number of celebrity animals, although maybe not quite as high profile as Little Jerry Seinfeld. The high profile animals here have been rescued running through the streets of New York City. When that happens, they make the cover of the New York Post and get shown on every news outlet in town. And New Yorkers tend to rally behind these animals. They tend to be live-market escapees. Live-markets are storefront slaughterhouses. There are about 100 in New York City. Animals are brought in and slaughtered on site. The conditions inside these places are despicable.

You've got other animals who were on the front pages?

Oh, absolutely! We had Queenie, the cow who escaped from a live market in Queens. She captivated the New York media for weeks.

They have cows in Queens?

They do. Most people aren't aware of this. These places are out of sight, out of mind. You could walk by one and not know what was going on inside. They bring the animals in and keep them in these tiny back rooms. A customer will walk in and see a menu of the animals they offer. They make their selection. . . The animal is slaughtered on site. And it's one of the cruelest forms of slaughter there is. . . That's how these places operate. The larger animals -- cows, goats and sheep -- you'll find in the outer boroughs, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens. In Manhattan, you'll find more live bird markets, generally concentrated in Chinatown, where Little Jerry Seinfeld came from.

The Mets lost two out of three to the Yankees. Is there concern that Little Jerry is a jinx?

I don't think so at all. I think if they had won, they would have considered him the ultimate good luck charm. Jerry Seinfeld, his namesake, tweeted as much. He said if we win this game then we should ride this bird all the way to the World Series. I don't think they see him as a jinx at all. The remarkable thing is that the team rallied around this bird. You know? The vice president of media for the Mets told me the team really wanted to see this happen, they're pushing for it, they really wanted to see this bird go to sanctuary. They want him to have a good life. They're seeing it in such a positive way, and they are so touched by him. They would never see him as a jinx.

Will Little Jerry have access to Met games on TV or radio?

(Laughs.) You know, we might have to install a TV in his barn. He's a big Mets fan now. They saved his life.

Does a celebrity chicken get his own coop? Or does he suffer a roommate?

He's probably going to want a roommate, because chickens love to spend time with other chickens. I think that's probably the biggest thing Little Jerry Seinfeld has been missing during this exciting 48 hours. As much as he loves the Mets, he'd probably prefer to be hanging out with other chickens, scratching in the dirt, basking in the sun and doing all the thing that we wasn't able to do before -- but he's going to be able to do for the rest of his life now.

How many chickens do you have?

Well, we have about 700 animals altogether. We have a lot of chickens. I'm not sure how it breaks down by species. . . We have cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys -- every kind of farm animal. There was a sheep named Lucky Lady, who actually was corralled by the NYPD (New York Police Department) and put in the backseat of a police car. There are animals whose pictures have been splashed onto the front page by the New York media.

Early this year, we rescued a goat named Elliot. He was wandering along a highway in Brooklyn, another live-market escapee. He was in terrible shape, sick, diseased -- he could barely hold his head up, he was covered in parasites. Unfortunately this is common. We've rescued over 400 animals from the New York City streets over the last 10 years along - not a single one was in good health.

What do you say to folks who think Little Jerry belongs in a frier?

People think that just because they've been conditioned to think that. The meat industry has deep pockets, and they spend billions of dollars each year trying to convince people that these animals are somehow less important than other animals. At Farm Sanctuary, we live with them. We know they're highly intelligent, they have the full range of emotions of any animal, including the cats and dogs that we cherish. They have their own likes and dislikes, the capacity to feel joy or fear or pain -- they are very charming, they have individual personalities. People have been conditioned to think this is not so. But when you spend time with a farm animal, you quickly realize that they are every bit the same as your dog or cat. . . There is a disconnect between the animals that we cherish in our society and the animals to which we pay other people to torture and kill and exploit. Farm animals constitute the largest group of abused animals on the planet. . .

We just hope people will think about what they can do every day to spare food animals just like Little Jerry. It's as easy as choosing one meat free meal a day, or designating one day per week as meat-free. These small changes make a huge difference. So what I would say to people who say he belongs in the frier? I would say they've never gotten to know a chicken.