It might sound crazy to some that it’s actually legal to send live birds through the mail (with some strict conditions), but what sounds even nuttier is that a guy reportedly mailed his ex-girlfriend 15 baby chicks in some kind of prank/misguided statement about their break-up.

When the mailman showed up at the door of a Washington, D.C. woman’s home with the package from her ex, she found 15 fluffy, cheeping baby chickens, reports the New York Daily News.

A note reportedly read something along the lines of: “There are lots of chicks out there,” which I suppose could be his way of saying, “I’m over you, here are some actual chicks.” Sigh.

But when the woman told the mail carrier she was just going to throw the chicks out, possibly as a reaction to the weirdness of getting live animals in the mail, he offered to take them instead. That’s how they found their way to the Washington Humane Society, and from there to a nearby animal sanctuary in Maryland.

“One of the chicks has an injured leg, but is recovering. The rest are very active and healthy,”reads a post on the Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary’s Facebook page, featuring photos of the rescued chicks.

It’s true — the USPS has a long list of conditions that must be met to mail live birds, including day-old poultry, though it’s unclear if the sender followed all those rules, including shipping the birds in the “original unopened hatchery box from the hatchery of origin.”

All’s well that ends well, however, as six of the birds have found a permanent home at another sanctuary in Virginia, while the rest are staying in Maryland for now.

Man mails 15 live chicks to his ex-girlfriend in Washington, D.C. [New York Daily News]

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