The RSPCA believe an irresponsible delivery driver has dumped 12 hens in a Yorkshire village deliberately rather than taking them to the address of the person who had bought them.

The chickens and a ‘poultry starter kit’ including food and a feeder appeared to have been part of a legitimate delivery to a customer who was venturing into keeping hens as a hobby, but did not reach their intended destination.

Instead, the van driver left the flock on the driveway of a house in the village of Golcar, near Huddersfield, on the morning of November 10.

The birds were in three sealed cardboard boxes alongside a large bag of feed, and although the van was caught on CCTV and the occupant seen leaving the package on the drive, they could not be identified from the footage.

The chickens, their food and a feeder were all dumped in the same front garden

The RSPCA has rescued the hens and taken them to the South Yorkshire Animal Centre in Bawtry, from where four have already been adopted and rehomed in Cumbria.

New homes will now be sought for the remaining eight healthy poults.

Animal rescue officer Ollie Wilkes said: “It was a really odd discovery as it doesn’t look like these birds were abandoned - I suspect they were being delivered to someone, but we don’t know for sure. There were four chickens in each of the three egg-laying boxes. They were well packed and it looks like this was some sort of ‘starter set’ for poultry.

“We couldn’t identify the driver on the footage and although I put a poster up in the area no-one has come forward to explain how these chickens were left like this.

Four of the hens have already been rehomed

“It does look like a delivery that has gone wrong for whatever reason, but we couldn’t trace it back as there was no documentation in the boxes. It’s a real mystery, but fortunately the chickens were only on the driveway for a short amount of time and they are doing fine.

“It was a good outcome for all of them and as soon as I got them to Bawtry they made themselves at home in the centre’s chicken coops. Since then we have managed to find a good home for four of them.”

The RSPCA has advice on its website for those considering keeping chickens as pets. Anyone arranging to buy birds should avoid stressing them by collecting the animals in person rather than risking a delivery disaster, such as this incident may have been.

The British Hen Welfare Trust hosts regular rehoming days where prospective owners can collect their chickens from approved locations as well as receiving advice on the best methods to transport their new pets home.

'Erratic' delivery driver dumps 12 chickens and 'poultry starter kit' in Yorkshire village