MURRAYVILLE - Authorities at the scene in Murrayville Wednesday morning said that an 18-wheeler chicken hauler from Rome overturned near the entrance of Lanier Elementary School, spilling its load and shutting down State Route 60 until 3:00 Wednesday afternoon.
Workers spent hours busily clearing debris from the accident that occurred around 930 a.m. Live chickens escaped from their wooden cages and it was quite a job gathering them up.
Clayburn Bird said he saw chickens, feathers and wreckage all over his front yard.
"I couldn't believe the noise it made," Bird said. "I looked out the window and the yard was full of chickens and feathers and the truck was laying on its side."
No injuries were reported as both lanes of Highway 60 were shut down during the clean-up process.
Hall Sheriff's deputies and D.O.T. personnel directed traffic around the accident site through a detoured area. A secretary at Lanier Elementary School said that crates and live chickens were scattered across the roadway when the accident first happened.
DOT officials caught the chickens and re-loaded them onto another truck as a heavy-duty wrecker hauled the heavily damaged rig from the scene. Workers worked successfully to re-open the road before Lanier Elementary dismissed its students for the day.
Authorities have not given a cause for the wreck, which occurred in a straight section of the highway.