Hitchhiking chicken reunited with owner after winding up in Vermont’s biggest city

A hitchhiking chicken was reunited with her owner after journeying 13 miles from her home, several news outlets reported.

The chicken belongs to Rebecca Thibeault, a farmer from Hinesburg, Vermont, WCAX reported. Thibeault told the outlet she raised the bird “from very small” and was sad when she went missing one day.

The chicken somehow got into the undercarriage of a Ford pickup and was whisked away to downtown Burlington, about 13 miles away, CNN Wire Service reported. At some points, she traveled at speeds of 65 mph on an interstate, according to the outlet.

Once she wound up downtown, she was spotted by a bystander, Lo Fasano, WCAX reported.

“That’s a chicken! That’s a chicken on Church Street and I don’t know why it’s here,” Fasano told the outlet. “What can I do now aside from find who it belongs to?”

Fasano reached out to animal rescue farms and the police for help, but was told that they “don’t do chickens,” CNN reported.

So Fasano looked after the bird at her home while she tried to track down her family on social media. She eventually found them on Facebook and was able to reunite them, according to the AP.

The bird, who was originally named Bug, was renamed “Amelia” after Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, CNN reported.

“First woman chicken to go by herself across Church Street,” Thibeault explained.

Fasano said she feels connected to the chicken after their shared adventure.

“I think about her and I’m really happy it had a happy ending,” Fasano told WCAX.

This story was originally published July 20, 2022 at 8:00 PM with the headline "Hitchhiking chicken reunited with owner after winding up in Vermont’s biggest city."