‘Lucky’ chicken with ‘zero remorse’ hitchhikes 70 miles from Suffolk to Northampton

A beloved pet chicken is back home after an adventure which saw her hitch a ride on the back of a lorry.

Chicken Licken went missing on Tuesday, with her worried owners thinking she had hopped the fence of their Suffolk home.

Little did they know their pet had jumped on the back of a lorry and been discovered at Lodge Farm Industrial Estate in Northampton.

Warehouse staff kept the chicken for a few days, feeding her sweetcorn.

They then researched local chicken rescues and got in touch with Kingsthorpe Northampton Hen Rescue, which took her in.

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 lorry drivers as most people wouldn’t have had a clue!”

Back in Suffolk, owner Rebecca Thompson took to social media in a bid to find the chicken.

Within an hour one of the lorry drivers had spotted the post and got in touch to tell Rebecca where Chicken Lickin was.

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

And it was lucky Rebecca discovered Chicken Licken’s location when she did, as the day after she arrived at Kingsthorpe the chicken was nearly rehomed.

The charity spokeswoman said: “I only keep my own chickens at my house, but when I do rehoming events the chickens come to me that day before going to their new homes.

“She was extremely lucky as I had an adopter come in the day after she arrived and I almost rehomed her with them.”

Now Chicken Licken is back at home in Suffolk with her two siblings.

Rebecca added: “Chicken Licken is home with a full belly, lots of memories and zero remorse.”