VALLEJO, Calif. -- A big-rig truck carrying nearly 5,000 chickens to a Petaluma processing plant caused a major "fowl up" early Monday morning after it overturned on a state highway, disrupting traffic for nearly five hours.

Officer M. Williford of the California Highway Patrol said the truck overturned on westbound Highway 37 near Marine World after crashing into the center divider. The accident happened shortly after 3:00 a.m., and the highway was not fully reopened until 8:00 a.m.

"Speaking from experience with a prior chicken-related incident, it takes awhile to clean up," Williford explained, saying much of the cleanup involved chasing and capturing all the birds.

"A lot of them want to make a run for it," he said.