Semitruck full of live chickens crashes on I-5 in Pierce County

People always ask why the chicken crossed the road, but few ask why the chicken was on the road in the first place.

Well, in Friday morning’s case, it’s because a semitruck tipped over in Pierce County. And it’s not just one chicken pondering the crossroads. It’s a truckload (cluckload?).

The poultry poured onto the pavement after a semitruck carrying the live birds overturned on northbound Interstate 5 at Mounts Road near DuPont in Pierce County at about 1:15 a.m., the Washington State Department of Transportation said. The collision blocked the right three lanes.

It was a fowl sight. In pictures shared by Washington State Patrol trooper Kameron Watts, the chickens can be seen strewn across the interstate, their white feathers dotting the pavement between collapsed crates and the wreckage of the semi. It’s unclear how many might have been killed.

One trooper stroked the back of one chicken as it brooded in the dirt on the side of the road.

The egg-ceptional sight was cleared by about 5:45 a.m., WSDOT reported. No more chickens all across the road.