Over 2K Baby Chicks Spilled Out Across The QEW After The Driver Forgot To Shut The Door

Well, this answers that age old question.

People scooping baby chicks off the road into bins. Right: A close-up of the chicks.

People scooping baby chicks off the road into bins. Right: A close-up of the chicks.

Toronto Associate Editor

While there are likely many reasons why a chicken would cross the road, thousands of baby chicks were forced to wing it on the QEW after a driver forgot to close the door properly.

On Monday afternoon, August 29, at around 1:30 p.m., Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) GTA Traffic alerted the public that the QEW ramp heading toward Toronto and Ontario Street North was closed off after a truck carrying baby chicks lost "hundreds" of them there.

The incident really beaked the interest of the Burlington OPP detachment, who attended the scene.

Hours later, just a few minutes before 5 p.m., the plot chickens. The OPP Highway Safety Division confirmed in a tweet that the number of chicks on the side of the road was 2,400 in total.

Officers and the public helped the chicks caught in a peckle — sorry, pickle — and gathered them all up to put them back on the truck so they could make their way.

Police didn't share where exactly the fluffy little chicks were headed off to (but one could hope that it's back to the chicken coop).

In the photographs shared on social media, a handful of people can be seen scooping up the baby birds into plastic baskets.

OPP GTA Traffic confirmed that the on-ramp to QEW reopened at around 4:15 p.m., but Burlington OPP was still on the scene. The OPP Highway Safety Division said the road was "all clear" just before 5 p.m.

Officers didn't disclose any details about the driver or whether or not charges will be laid following the incident.

Either way, these chicks redefined what it means to make an eggs-it.

  • Toronto Associate EditorAlex Arsenych (she/her) was a Calgary-based Associate Editor at Narcity Canada, covering everything from what's trending across the country to what's happening near you. On top of her Bachelor of Journalism, Alex graduated with a history degree from the University of Toronto. She's passionate about past and present events and how they shape our world. Alex has been published at Now Magazine, Much, MTV, and MTV Canada.

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