Stolen chickens back after long trip
Rare chickens stolen from a pen in the back garden of a Staffordshire home have been reunited with their owners – after a round trip of more than 266 miles.
Andrea Greaves and her three young daughters were heartbroken as 11 Orpington chickens were stolen from their Lichfield home. But nine of the 11 young chickens were found dumped by the side of a road.
They were found close to the city's Curborough Sprint Course by Richard Keyser of Portsmouth who was visiting a classic car show at the venue. Unaware they had been stolen, he took them back to Portsmouth, where he has been caring for them.
Members of the Scimitar Classic Car Club contacted owner Andrea Greaves, of Curborough, after a report on the theft of the chickens was featured in the Express & Star. Andrea's husband, Richard, went to Tewkesbury to meet Mr Keyser and bring the chickens, worth hundreds of pounds, back.
They were stolen on August 13.
The car club member who had been camping in the area saw the chickens a half mile away by the side of the road close to the venue.
Andrea said that he had feared that they might be killed by a fox.
"The girls are delighted to have the chickens back," she said. Annabel, aged seven, Zara, six, and eight-month-old Imogen, had been caring for the rare chickens since they hatched in June.
They were bought for 36-year-old Andrea as a birthday present.
She still hopes that the two missing birds may still be alive somewhere in the area and she appealed for anyone finding them to come foreard."It looks like our birds had been pecked by other poultry.
"Some are missing a few feathers and looking a bit bedraggled, but they should be fine when the feathers grow back," added Andrea.
Orpingtons were the late Queen Mother's favourite breed of chicken and she reared them herself.
