Chicken truck overturns, blocking Houston County highway

A tractor trailer hauling chickens to a slaughter house overturned early Friday in Houston County.

At about 4 a.m., the driver was turning from Scott Road in Elko and flipped into a ditch on Ga. 26, Houston County sheriff's Sgt. Tim Chapman said.

There were minor injuries reported for the driver and a passenger in the crash, and chickens spilled out of the truck.

The wrecker arrived by 5 a.m., Chapman said, but once the crew got the truck upright, there was still be plenty of work to do.

"They'll start picking up chickens whether they're deceased or not," Chapman said. "Hopefully in a couple of hours they'll have that thing cleared up."

Perdue Farms spokesman Joe Forsthoffer said the chickens that were not injured will be taken to the plant.

"The poultry welfare officer was on hand to take care of any injured birds and make sure they were humanely euthanized," Forsthoffer said.

All lanes of Ga. 26 were initially shut down, but as of 5:45 a.m., only one westbound lane was blocked.

The highway reopened at 8:10 a.m., according to Houston 911.

This story was originally published May 4, 2018 at 5:44 AM with the headline "Chicken truck overturns, blocking Houston County highway."