A chicken that went for a joyride in a truck travelling from Campbell River to Nanaimo has found a new home after its previous owners could not be found.
Mike Sherman, an animal control officer from Nanaimo Animal Control, said he received an unusual call from a recycling company on Feb. 8.
“One of their trucks that had brought materials down from Campbell River for processing had a little stowaway,” he said. “The chicken hopped out of the undercarriage of the truck.”
Unfazed by the 150-kilometre journey, the well-travelled chicken was sent to the Nanaimo pound, where a staff member named her Henrietta.
Sherman said the chicken — likely a Rhode Island Red — was used to being handled by humans and was likely a lost pet.
A reporter in Campbell River put the word out about the hitchhiking hen after speaking to Nanaimo Animal Control, but no owner was found, so the chicken was adopted into a new home on Saturday.
“Sound like the new owners are very happy with having such a friendly chicken to add to their flock.”
Sherman said Nanaimo Animal Control has scooped up a chicken or two from the streets over the years, but nothing quite like this.
“Quite often it’s just a bird from a backyard coop of a neighbour that’s hopped the fence or dug under,” he said.
“People are usually quick to notice when a couple of birds are missing. But this circumstance was certainly unique.”
