Chicken Found in Park Near Courthouse

Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to Rocky Run Park, apparently.

A chicken was found in the park, on N. Barton Street in the Clarendon-Courthouse area, by an animal control officer Thursday. No one seems to know how the chicken got there.

An Animal Welfare League of Arlington spokeswoman said stray chickens are actually more common in Arlington than one might think.

“We periodically pick up chickens ‘running at large,'” said Susan Sherman.

She said the chicken will be housed at the animal shelter for a couple of days before being shipped off to live out its days on a farm.

“It is being cared for at the shelter as a stray until November 6,” said Sherman. “If it is not claimed by an owner by that date, then we can adopt it to a person with a farm or transfer it to a farm sanctuary.”

“We do not send the chicken to any place where it would be eaten,” Sherman noted. “In our experience stray chickens are almost never reclaimed by owners since very few Arlington residents have the property to keep chickens legally.”

Never a dull day in #animalcontrol – Officer Torres found this chicken in a local park! #chickenlittle #awla pic.twitter.com/WHH81bwF0G

— AWLA Arlington, VA (@AWLAArlington) November 3, 2016