A chicken from Campbell River didn’t just cross the road, it made the hours-long trek to Nanaimo after hitching a ride in the undercarriage of a transport truck.
Cory Parnall, supervisor at Nanaimo Animal Control, says the chicken was brought into their care on Feb. 8 after truckers spotted it. They were back in the Harbour City after a trip to Campbell River, which is about a two-hour drive away.
“It was in the undercarriage of a truck,” said Parnall.
“D.B.L. Disposal in Nanaimo called us and said, ‘We have a chicken!’ One of our staff members said, ‘Okay, I can come get it.’ They’re like, ‘Yeah, it hitched a ride on a truck from Campbell River.'”
So Animal Control staff picked it up from D.B.L.
“It was just sitting there, chilling out,” recalled Parnall.
“We brought it here and looked after it. We posted a photo of it (to Facebook), and no one claimed it. We put it up for adoption, and someone came and grabbed it.”
But before it went to its new family, staff had some fun. They named the chicken Henrietta, and Parnall says a childhood story of his inspired the name.
“When I was a kid, my grandpa had a farm on Salt Spring, and I named one of the chickens that I had caught. My grandpa and I made a bet that if I caught a chicken, I could name it. So I did that, and I named it Henrietta. I had no idea why.
“I was seven years old,” he laughed.
‘A one-time thing’
Parnall calls Henrietta’s cross-city situation “kind of unique,” adding, “It’s kind of a one-time thing for us.” The supervisor has worked at Animal Control for more than two years now.
“I talked with my colleague who’s been here for about four years, and he said the same thing. He’s never seen that either,” said Parnall.
He adds that Henrietta was no ‘chicken’ during its travels and was seemingly unscared amid the whole ordeal.
“It was completely unharmed and unscathed. We were handling it. We could pick it up and hold it,” said Parnall.
“It was completely fine.”
On Valentine’s Day, Animal Control posted to Facebook saying Henrietta was adopted, with Parnall noting it was “a happy ending” for all involved.
The chicken spread its wings and is now calling Nanaimo home.
“Really good people adopted it,” he said. “They have a farm. They came and grabbed the chicken and added it to their roost.”
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Ethan Morneau
