Emergency workers in Austria had an egg-stremely unusual operation on Tuesday removing an estimated 7,000 chickens which were blocking a busy motorway.

The birds' unexpected break for freedom came after the lorry transporting them lost its load on the A1 autobahn near Linz in the north of the country.

"Boxes containing dead and injured animals were strewn over a 160-metre (-yard) stretch (of road) while thousands of chickens ran onto the motorway on both sides," police said.

The incident closed the motorway towards the capital Vienna during the busy morning rush hour and caused long traffic jams in the other direction as drivers slowed down to look.