A psychic Orpington chicken has predicted England will narrowly beat Denmark to claim a place in the Euros final.
Steven Sangster, 39, decided to test his two chickens’ powers of foresight from the quarter final onwards, offering them the choice between a strawberry placed under a St George’s Cross and the flag of England’s opponent.
Jessica, a rescued battery hen, correctly predicted England’s 4-0 drubbing of Ukraine, devouring the three lions’ strawberry and trampling over the opposition.
And yesterday Susan picked England as finalists, despite indicating it could be a tough match by showing some interest in Denmark afterwards.
Steven, who lives with his wife and three young children in Orpington, said: “I don’t usually count my chickens till they hatch but this time they’ve given a promising result.
“We’re taking it one step at a time at the moment.
“They trampled on the Ukraine flag which gave us a clue it could be a thrashing.
“The concern with tonight’s came is that she took a nibble and then went over to Denmark, which suggests it could be a match with some ups and downs.
"We put Jessica on the bench for this one and Susan got the result.
"We may release both of them for the final."
I asked my chicken Jessica to predict the football result .…. 🏴 🇺🇦 #ENGUKR @NewsShopper @kentlivenews @BBC_HaveYourSay @bbcsoutheast @AnnaLouiseRadio @KM_newsroom @DailyMirror @TheSun @GarethBaconMP @daraobriain @MirrorFootball @Daily_Express @standardnews @DragonKettle pic.twitter.com/xoYzMXLc59
— Stephen Sangster (@SteveSangster) July 3, 2021
Steven adopted three chickens in last year’s lockdown from the butcher, after they were deemed no longer sufficiently productive for battery farming.
He was inspired to test out their clairvoyant capacities by Paul the Octopus, whose accurate predictions in the 2010 World Cup brought him worldwide attention as an animal oracle.
His children, aged 6, 4 and 2, have designed each team's flag since England’s clash with Ukraine.
“They love anything red, which helps with the England flag,” Steven said.
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