unexpected visitor

My parents came round for lunch and while I was listen to a long story my father was telling me, my mother ducked outside to wander around our yard and check the growth of the plants.

"Do you know that you have a chicken in your yard?" !! It was scratching around our tumble-weed.

I knocked on various houses asking people if they where missing a young white chicken. They all said no and when I got back he had gone.