Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Welcome New Member To Family

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have welcomed a new member to their family of chickens at their mansion in Montecito, Santa Barbara, California.

The bird, named Sinkie, had to be re-homed because she was being bullied by her coop-mates, according to its previous owner, Ellen DeGeneres. In an Instagram post, she shared that her neighbours, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, were kind enough to agree to take Sinkie in.

"Sinkie's leg is fixed but our chickens were still picking on her, so she had to be re-homed. Luckily our friends Harry and Meghan's coop had room for one more. Not sure yet what her royal title will be," the talk show host captioned a photo of the chicken.

She also thanked the animal's vet, Dr. Christine Sellers for her "excellent care of Sinkie".

In a separate post, she shared a video of the chicken feeling right at home at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's chicken coop. She captioned it: "Update: Sinkie is fitting right in at her new home." The duchess' voice could be heard by the end of the clip saying "Hi".

Last month, DeGeneres shared that Sinkie suffered from a fibula injury and had to go to the clinic and heal for four weeks. She said in a video posted in December: "Turns out the bathroom is not the best place for her."

She said her cat Monkey was also constantly at the door worrying about the chicken and "just wanting to help".

"Broken fibula. I don't know how she did it. But she's healing and she's doing okay," she shared.

Sinkie joins the residents of "Archie's Chick Inn," the name of the coop Prince Harry and Meghan Markle own, which they named after their four-year-old son, Prince Archie.

The couple shared a glimpse of the coop during their interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021. The talk show host got to see the chick inn which is filled with rescued hens from a factory farm.

"Hi, girls! I just love rescuing," Meghan Markle said in the video as she greeted the fowls and opened the door to the coop.

The former "Suits" star also previously shared a photo of then-two-year-old Prince Archie carrying a basket as he fed the chickens during her interview on "The Ellen DeGeneres" show back in November 2021.

An episode in the Sussexes' "Harry & Meghan" Netflix series also featured the coop. It showed the Duchess of Sussex carrying then-baby Princes Lilibet while feeding the chickens.

Aside from the fowls, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are also parents to dogs they adopted from a shelter. The duchess revealed during her interview with DeGeneres that they both bonded over rescue animals.

"We met at a pet shop, and I was going there to rescue a dog," Markle shared, noting that the talk show host even encouraged her to rescue a pup at the store. To which DeGeneres jokingly responded, "Obviously, I didn't know who you were, I just love people rescuing pets".

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are dog parents to rescue beagles Guy and Mamma Mia and to a rescue labrador named Pula. They recently adopted the seven-year-old Mamma Mia or Mia for short, from the Beagle Freedom Project in California. She came from an animal breeding facility alongside 4,000 other beagles in one of the US' biggest dog rescue efforts, according to the BBC.

Mia was rescued from the Envigo breeding facility earlier in 2022 after it was shut down for animal cruelty. Beagles bred there were reportedly sold to laboratories for use in research and medical testing. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made an hour-long visit to meet the rescued beagles and were determined to take one adult dog instead of a puppy and went home with Mia.