For over a week and a half, a chicken has been spotted scratching around the forecourt of a supermarket petrol station in a Welsh town, stirring up quite a buzz on social media.
The bird has become a regular sight at Morrisons in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion.
Ems Hanley, a local wildlife rehabilitator, has even assembled a “chicken rescue team” to capture the runaway.
“A witness mentioned seeing a chicken jump from one of the battery lorries, so we have a rough idea of where it might have come from,” Hanley explained. The bird reportedly made its escape when the lorry it was traveling in stopped for fuel.
“The petrol station manager said the chicken’s been hanging around for nearly three weeks now,” she told BBC Radio Wales.
There’s even speculation that it might not be just one chicken.
“There are rumors of three chickens,” Hanley noted, referring to social media chatter. “We’ve seen photos that show at least two, but no clear evidence of a third.”
The chickens are reportedly skittish around people, often retreating to a green area next to the forecourt, hidden among dense privet hedges.
Hanley and her team are planning to use a thermal scanner on Thursday night to search the thicket, after previous rescue attempts proved unsuccessful.
At one point, they set up a trap—a crate propped up with a stick and trigger string—but the elusive chickens evaded capture.
“We almost had her, but a group of people walked by at the last moment,” Hanley recalled.
Another team member even crawled into the hedges and had a chicken within view, but it remained just out of reach.
“It’s the fastest chicken I’ve ever seen—no exaggeration,” she added.