Runaway chicken rides truck for 73 miles before being rescued

By Laura Kearns and Jack Fifield

A pet chicken has been returned home after she fled her coop and traveled 73 miles on the back of a truck.

Chicken Lickin went missing from her home near Chippenham, Cambridgeshire, on Tuesday, and hitched a ride to Lodge Farm Industrial Estate in Northampton.

Perplexed warehouse staff kept her for a few days and fed her sweetcorn, before getting in touch with Kingsthorpe Northampton Hen Rescue which took her in.

Meanwhile, owner Rebecca Duffy had taken to social media in an effort to find her beloved pet.

Within an hour one of the truck drivers spotted the post and got in touch to tell Rebecca the feathered stowaway was safe.

Owner Rebecca said: "Chicken Lickin escaped the garden, hitched a ride 73 miles on the back of a truck, hopped off in Northampton and got fed at the warehouse like she was on shift.

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"She then checked into Kingsthorpe for a full spa retreat.

"Thanks to the power of social media, we found her.

"Within an hour of our post we had got a location so we set off.

"We did a 146-mile round trip which took over three hours to collect her.

"Chicken Licken is home with a full belly, lots of memories and zero remorse."

A spokeswoman for the Kingsthorpe Northampton Hen Rescue said the bird was just hours away from being re-homed when she was claimed.

A spokeswoman for the rescue said: "She was very friendly and had clearly been looked after.

"She was hungry when she got here as sweetcorn is not their staple diet, but well done to the truck drivers as most people wouldn't have had a clue!"