Chicken Crosses Southland to get to SMC

Along with new students and staff, SMC welcomes another friend to class: the chicken on campus.

Since its initial spotting on Welcome Day, people have been following and documenting the whereabouts of the bird on social media.

The chicken is often documented wandering around SMC during the day, typically on the main path cutting through the main campus. Judging by photos posted online, its usual location seems to be the tables by Drescher Hall.

Students have moved to social media to document the campus chicken, posting photos on Instagram under the hashtag, #campuschicken and #smcchicken. This chicken has also been a hot topic on the unofficial SMC Facebook group, as well as on YikYak.

"The campus chicken is not famous because it's a chicken, but because it's something unexpected," student Dario Gentiletti said. "It's something out of the box, something that breaks our routine. It can't be unpopular!"

A huge majority of students want to keep the chicken on campus, and others even joked about the chicken being SMC's unofficial mascot.

Student Christian Cervantes went as far as to post a petition on Change.org to make the campus chicken the official mascot over the Corsair.

Many speculate as to where the chicken migrated from. According to grounds worker Hector Gutierrez, his colleagues found the chicken in a delivery truck arriving from San Fernando.

"I took the chicken but I had no where to put it," Gutierrez said. "I brought her here with some feed and some water and she's still around."

Jenny Cibrian, student and cafeteria cashier, has another theory in mind.

“I haven’t seen it on campus," Cibrian said, "but during my commute I see a house that has chickens and roosters in a cage and they usually walk around on the front yard. Maybe the chicken escaped from there and came onto campus.”

With its popularity there has also been some concern about the wellbeing of the chicken as well. With the temperature fluctuating between the high 90s and low 60s within the past week, the safety and health of the chicken could be at jeopardy by living outside.

Though there are no reports of officials trying to capture the bird, there is always potential for the chicken to either be picked up by animal control or returned to its currently unknown owner.

"I think it's better for everyone if she stayed here," Gutierrez said. "The students who are stressing out studying see the chicken walk by and smile or laugh, plus the police don't seem to have an issue with it either so it works out in the end."