Motorway fowl-up: Why 3000 chickens crossed the road

 

Last updated at 08:34am on 12th October 2007 Comments (8)

Why did 3000 chickens cross the road? Because the lorry they were in crashed on one of Scotland's busiest motorways, that's why.

Thousands of runaway chickens brought traffic to a standstill after a transporter lorry crashed on a busy road near Glasgow.

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Bemused traffic police looked on as thousands of chickens enjoyed their few moments of freedom

 

 

 

The A80 heading towards Glasgow was shut for more than eight hours as the birds were rounded up by a specialist team drafted in by police.

The lorry carrying 3,000 live chickens jack-knifed near Castlecary at around 4.30am causing feathery mayhem for motorists travelling south and north.

The southbound carriageway was shut throughout the rush-hour, causing major tailbacks, with the M80 and M876 approach roads also closed.

Central Scotland Police said the 45-year-old driver of the lorry was treated at hospital for serious, but non-life threatening, back injuries.

The A80 is the main route into Glasgow from Stirling, Perth and the north of Scotland and is a notorious blackspot for traffic delays.

 

The accident took place on one of Scotland's busiest roads

 

 

There's one! Police faced an impossible job rounding up the escaping chickens

 

 

The crates of chickens were scattered along the side of the road causing mayhem - and long traffic jams - for many motorists

 

Hensational!!:rolleyes:

Almost as funny as the road which turned into a river of cola syrup.

Almost as funny as the road which turned into a river of cola syrup.

 

Would that by any chance have been the Colachester Road??:rolleyes:

:rolleyes:

OMG,chicken everywhere!! :lol:

The Times version has a little more detail. Particularly about the lack of sense of humour on behalf of the police.

 

Why did 3,000 chickens cross the road?

 

To thousands of Scottish motorists, it appeared to be a mass re-enaction of an old joke. On the A80, Scotland’s main north-south artery, thousands of chickens were crossing the road.

For the chickens, it was much more serious. At 4.30am 3,000 of the birds were being transported from farm to slaughterhouse when the lorry carrying them overturned.

 

The driver sustained serious back injuries, four hundred birds died in the impact – or later from their injuries – but as dawn broke and the lorry lay on its side, thousands of chickens escaped from their crates and swarmed on to the road. Some sat on the verge, others took to the bushes, hundreds more milled around and pecked at the road and seemed uncertain what to make of their new-found freedom.

 

For the better part of the morning they brought a large chunk of Scotland to a standstill. The traffic tailback stretched five miles, alternative routes were gridlocked and the A80, the main route to Glasgow from Sterling, Perth and the north, was closed until after noon.

 

The scenes that followed seemed a cross between Chicken Run, the animated film based loosely on The Great Escape, and It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet.

 

It certainly shouldn’t have happened to a police officer. The finest of the Central Scotland force were drafted in and spent five hours attempting to catch the birds. Their efforts were captured on the mobile phone cameras of scores of motorists. The police were not amused. A spokeswoman told The Times: “It is illegal to use a mobile phone while driving.” Officers had even noted down the registration numbers of the worst offenders, and 20 of them were to be charged. “Offenders will receive a fixed penalty of three points on their licenses and a £60 fine,” she said.

 

James Ireland, 43, a passer-by at the scene yesterday morning, said: “There were dead chickens all over the road, live chickens running about everywhere, and policeman and chicken catchers trying to grab them by the legs and put them into containers.

 

“The air was thick with feathers and policemen and chicken catchers, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

 

Vets began to arrive at 7am. At 9.30am the operation to recapture the chickens was stepped up, with the arrival of specialist chicken handlers from Noble Foods in Glenrothes.

 

By now many of the chickens appeared to have lost the will to keep on running. Catriona Ewan, a vet involved in the clear-up, said: “Most of them were huddling together, they’re not used to being out of doors. They were sitting calmly at the side of the road and some were starting to perch in the bushes.”

 

Ms Ewan estimated that she had put down up to 80 birds that had sustained broken wings and legs. She had hoped to minimise the suffering, although she could not help feeling that this effort was somewhat superfluous considering the life expectancy of the chickens – broilers that are slaughtered while still young and tender.

 

“They don’t have the best life as a result of being farmed and they were on their way to be killed anyway,” she said.

 

The survivors were eventually put back in their crates transported to a processing plant in Gainsborough.

 

On the run

 

–– The easiest way to catch a chicken is to do so in the dark. Poultry catchers grab the birds by its legs and put them in plastic drawers inside a metal crate. A team of catchers can catch 5,000 birds an hour, the usual consignment on one lorry

 

–– Trying to perform the same task in daylight is difficult. Chickens can see their catchers and also to escape from a drawer. They will run free wherever they can

 

–– The usual method is therefore to corral the birds gently with a piece of wood and guide them into a pen. Only in a real emergency would birds be caught by netting or blankets

 

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2641841.ece

What about gunning them down??

Would that by any chance have been the Colachester Road??:rolleyes:

 

 

 

Oh Lord!!:rolleyes:

Oh Lord!!:rolleyes:

 

Have you heard of it? :stunned:

I am very familiar with it.:cool:

Have you heard of it? :stunned:

I am very familiar with it.:cool:

 

 

 

I know Colchester---not the Colachester Road---would that be anywhere near Pepsi Lane?:thinking:

I know Colchester---not the Colachester Road---would that be anywhere near Pepsi Lane?:thinking:

 

So what do you know about Colchester??:confused:

So what do you know about Colchester??:confused:

 

 

 

 

Not much---just that it's in Essex---I have relatives in Essex.

Not much---just that it's in Essex---I have relatives in Essex.

 

Really? Where in Essex. I'm from there.:rolleyes:

Really? Where in Essex. I'm from there.:rolleyes:

 

 

 

 

Hornchurch:rolleyes:----last I heard.

Hornchurch:rolleyes:----last I heard.

 

Really? That's unbelievable! We need to talk!:stunned:

Really? That's unbelievable! We need to talk!:stunned:

 

 

 

Oh no---could we be related??:stunned:

Oh no---could we be related??:stunned:

 

Wouldn't that be exciting?:rolleyes:

Wouldn't that be exciting?:rolleyes:

 

 

 

 

 

Yes it would!!:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Yes it would!!:rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

Well put it this way - I'm very familiar with Hornchurch.:rolleyes:

Well put it this way - I'm very familiar with Hornchurch.:rolleyes:

 

 

 

 

 

As far as I know, my father's first cousin lives there.:rolleyes: