Karl Stefanovic drops chicken in front of horrified owner

Chaos erupted on The Today Show when Karl Stefanovic tried to hold a chicken that had just been crowned Australia’s happiest pet.

Karl Stefanovic freaked out on The Today on Tuesday morning while trying to hold a chicken.

The Channel 9 star and his co-host, Sarah Abo, were joined in the studio by a woman named Kris Stanley and her bird, Lemon Chicken, which had just been crowned ‘Australia’s happiest pet’.

Stefanovic was his usual jovial self at the start of the segment, peppering the pet owner with some cheeky questions.

“How do we know a chicken is happy?” he asked. “Because it’s not on a dinner plate?”

Stefanovic also expressed amusement that the chicken hailed from Chatswood in Sydney, saying, “there are a lot of great Chinese restaurants (in that suburb) and lemon chicken is on the menu … I mean, she’s lucky to be alive.”

Lemon Chicken.

Owner Kris Stanley.

But when Lemon Chicken started walking towards Stefanovic on the couch, the host’s demeanour changed.

“They’re horrible creatures, chickens,” he said to the pet owner. “I was attacked by one when I was a kid.”

Abo could sense her co-host was feeling a tad uncomfortable, so she suggested he try holding the chicken to get over his fear.

The result was chaotic.

Stefanovic begrudgingly held onto the bird as it flapped wildly in protest.

Karl Stefanovic freaked out .

With his co-host in hysterics, Stefanovic then dropped Lemon Chicken on the floor, much to the horror of its owner.

“Oh my god, you’ve dropped my baby!” Ms Stanley yelled. “Oh my god!”

“I don’t like them,” Stefanovic said about chickens once again, to which the owner replied, “well she doesn’t like you”.

Stefanovic tried to patch things up with Lemon Chicken and agreed to let Ms Stanley put the bird on his shoulder.

“How long since you’ve had a chick on your shoulder?” the owner asked the Channel 9 star.

“Just last night actually,” Stefanovic laughed.

In case you were wondering, the happiest pet competition was run by online pet store, Swaggle, with Lemon Chicken winning a $5000 voucher and an appearance on a Swaggle billboard.