When a fresh-out-of-the-academy police officer pledges to serve and protect the community, we’re not quite sure the implied population includes those of the poultry persuasion. However, such was the case earlier this year when California Highway Patrol officers were dispatched to a stretch of Interstate 605 in Norwalk, Calif., to investigate an avian affair gone awry.

Most California commuters are used to fender benders and the occasional police pursuit interrupting their daily drive, but an unusual commotion on January 2 gave new insight as to why chickens might cross the road. A cage housing 19 chickens fell off of a truck and onto the busy highway, which quickly led to a feathery frenzy of terrified birds scurrying across several lanes of traffic.

Responding (and amused) CHP officers performed a traffic break, and armed with nothing more than a piece of cardboard found alongside the road, safely recovered the frazzled fowl. The surviving brood was turned over to the local animal shelter, where, unfortunately, seven had to be euthanized due to the severity of injuries they sustained in the ordeal. Those unscathed were made available for adoption to any qualified person living in an area zoned for chickens.

Because the driver of the truck never returned to the scene or the shelter to claim the animals, no one will ever know the intended fate of their journey. They could’ve have been destined for anything from egg laying hens to pets or, gulp, Sunday’s chicken dinner. Perhaps the bird-brained biddies hatched the plan all along, in what would be known as the “Great Capon Caper of 2018.”