Canadian Chicken With Tim Hortons Addiction Becomes Local Celebrity

An ordinary-looking chicken has become something of a local celebrity in the Canadian town of Shediac, New Brunswick. Every day the chicken crosses the road to get to Tim Hortons, and people can relate.

"I think he's got a Tim Hortons addiction," said Tim Hortons employee Marcelle Leger to CBC News.

The chicken has been turning the Tim Hortons into an impromptu animal cafe for several weeks. Leger says the chicken shows up every day at around 1 p.m., even though it has to cross a busy road to get there. She says she's seen the chicken watch for traffic. Sometimes it takes the chicken five to 10 minutes to get across the road, but the chicken always perseveres.

So far the chicken has been lucky and hasn't gotten run over. Sometimes drivers stop to let it go by. Other times, Tim Hortons regulars or other town locals have come out to escort the chicken to the doughnut shop.

"Two days ago, it was some schoolkids that were escorting him, and stopping traffic," Legere said.

Tim Hortons' regulars seem to love the new mascot. One man who says he goes to that Tim Hortons for coffee three times a day says it's a nice chicken that just clucks and pecks. It hasn't pecked anybody yet.

It's not entirely clear why the chicken keeps doing this. The chicken just comes over, pecks around at the grass, eating muffin crumbs and whatever else it finds, with seemingly little regard for what human foods should not be fed to animals. Then it crosses the street and goes back home, where it's reportedly being kept as a pet by a little girl.