The Rural Fire Service was called to the incident in the early hours of December 20 to find around 400 hens roaming across the highway and looking for roosts in the thick undergrowth on the median strip.

Moonee Brigade captain Rohan Smith said his crew and volunteers from the Solitary Brigade were able to get around 300 birds back into their crates and into the trailer before the sun came up.

"While it was still dark, they were easy to catch but there was a point where we had to think about the safety of our crews and the people on the highway." he said.

Mr Smith said when the RFS crews left the scene, about 100 birds were still loose on the median strip.

"We don't expect to be rescuing chickens but in the RFS we get called to all kinds of incidents and we step up to do what's required to help the community," he said.

Animal lovers to the rescue:

Nana Glen resident Kellie Pearce (Below right) said she was horrified when she caught sight of scores of birds as she was driving along the road later that day.

"They were terrified," she said. "They had been there on this tiny 1.5-metre-wide median strip with the traffic thundering north and south past them."

As a member of the Animal Justice Party, Ms Pearce felt compelled to act and enlisted the help of her friend Tess Hawkins (Above left).

The ladies returned to the scene that evening, as did Mr Smith and his wife.

Between them they gathered the majority of the remaining birds, but some remained at large.

Ms Pearce said she and Ms Hawkins spent the next four nights dodging B-double trucks, crawling through thick undergrowth, getting encased in weed burrs and attempting to use infrared technology to rescue the chickens that remained.

They had to be contained in dog and cat cages to be taken to Ms Hawkins' chicken coop.

"Hand and knees, crawling through bushes … the last two were quite elusive," she said.

Ms Pearce said the situation was dangerous, but she could not just leave the birds in harm's way.

"Chickens are sentient beings," she said.

"If it had been a trailer load of puppies people would have been jumping up and down and saying, 'You have to save the puppies'.

"But because they are chickens, people seem to think they are expendable, but they still feel cold, and fear and hunger and thirst."

Mr Smith said he was heartened by the community response to finding new homes for the hens, and within days the birds under his charge were safe in backyard coops around the area.

Ms Pearce says some of the Isa Brown hens she and Ms Hawkins had gathered still needed to find their forever homes.

Below | Left : Tess Hawkins has taken in all 80 hens until new homes can be found | Right : Kellie Peace is an animal lover and member of the Animal Justice Party

Original Story By | Hannah Ross