For most of Wednesday, drivers were detoured around the scene of an accident on Ga. 60/Thompson Bridge Road involving an overturned truck carrying a full load of chickens.
The truck's driver, Freddie Lamar Bagley, 57, was not hurt or charged with any traffic violations, said Georgia State Patrol trooper Scott Atwood, who investigated the single-vehicle wreck.

The incident happened around 9:37 a.m., Atwood said, after the driver swerved to avoid an oncoming car.

The truck, traveling south at the time, veered off the right side of the road and came to a stop near Lanier Elementary School.

Anthony Fox Trucking, a company based in Rome, owns the truck, Atwood said. He had no details on who owns the chickens, many of which escaped their cages initially.

Six DOT workers helped round up the livestock, said Teri Pope, state Department of Transportation spokeswoman.

Georgia's Agriculture Department was also called about the wreck.

"This was a tractor-trailer carrying a full load of live chickens," Pope said. "That's about 80,000 pounds of chickens."

Wrecks involving chicken trucks occur about once a month in this DOT district, which includes 21 counties in Northeast Georgia, Pope said.

Three tow trucks were needed to right the truck. No damage was reported to the highway.