There was no way to explain why a commuter was left to abandon a chicken in a Queens subway car. The bird, a small white farm hen, was discovered early Thursday morning in a parked W‑train that was preparing to start service at Astoria‑Ditmars. Witnesses say the train was sitting on a lay‑up track around 10:30 p.m. the night before.
According to the Daily News, surveillance footage caught the owner boarding the train around 9:30 p.m. from a platform somewhere in northern Queens. In the clip he proudly shows off his egg‑laying pet to other riders—only to later drop it on a seat and exit the car, leaving the hen alone in the dark overnight.
When crew members swung by to inspect the car, they didn’t spot it. By the next morning, the hen had soiled the interior to the point that the train was declared too dirty for the 6 a.m. southbound run. Rather than risk spreading the mess to passengers or forcing an awkward removal, control decided to cancel the service and move the train to Coney Island Yard.
The poor bird was then handed over to the NYC Animal Care Center (NYCACC), where a spokesperson later said the chicken was “very ill” and had to be “humanely euthanized.” The exact illness was never disclosed, and it remains unclear whether the creature was sick before it was abandoned or whether its condition drove its owner to discard it. Whether the owner will face any charges for ditching a pet on the transit system is still unknown.
In the aftermath, one source commented that the hen had been “properly, respectfully seated” during its brief ride and that it “did not appear to violate any Transit rules,” but the overall outcome was a tragic and bewildering story of a commuter’s negligence.
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