60+ “Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road” Jokes for Kids and Adults

Why did the chicken cross the road? You know the classic punchline—“to get to the other side”—but we won’t be the first to say this answer is pretty capital-L Lame. That said, there are loads of versions of this riddle that are actually objectively hysterical—well, OK, they’re still pretty cheesy, but that doesn’t mean they’re not funny! Keep reading for our guide to “why did the chicken cross the road” jokes guaranteed to actually make you chuckle—and stick around for our history lesson on the origins of this anti-joke (spoiler: it was probably never really meant to be funny).

Top-Tier “Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road” Jokes

Why did the sheep cross the road? To get to the baa-baa shop.
Why did the dinosaur cross the road? Because chickens didn’t exist yet.
Why did the chicken hold a seance? To get to the other side.
Why did the chicken cross the road? To knock-knock on the door, walk into the bar, and change the lightbulb.

Section 1 of 7:

Clever “Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road” Jokes

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A punchline that’ll actually make you laugh? Groundbreaking! Sure, most of them will make you laugh in the it’s-so-dumb-why-am-I-even-laughing, but our point stands.
- Why did the chicken cross the road? To bock traffic.
- Why did the chicken cross the road? To knock-knock on the door, walk into the bar, and change the lightbulb.
- Why did the chicken hold a seance? To get to the other side.^{[1]
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- Why did the chicken cross the road? Because it was free range.
- Person 1: Why did the chicken cross the road? Person 2: I don’t know, why? Person 3: I don’t know, that’s why I asked you!
- Why did the chicken cross the road? To find a world where no one would question her intention of crossing the road.
- Why did the chicken cross the road? Because she was late for her peck-nic.
- Why did the chicken cross the road? Because the light was green.
- Why didn’t the chicken cross the road? She wanted to be unpredictable.
- Why did the chicken cross the road, roll in the mud, and then cross the road again? Because she’s a dirty double-crosser!
- Why did the chicken cross the road? She thought the grass was greener on the other side.
- Why did the chicken cross the road? Because the road was too long to walk around it.
- Why did the chicken cross the road? Just beak-cause she could.
- Why did the chicken cross the road? So people would stop asking why it crossed the road.
- What do you call a chicken crossing the road? Poultry in motion.
- Why didn’t the chicken cross the road? Because she was chicken.
- Why did the Roman chicken cross the road? She was afraid someone would Caesar!
- Why did the baby chick cross the road? Because it was “take your child to work day.”
- Why did the chicken cross the football field? It was a fowl.
- Why did the chicken run onto the basketball court? Because the referee called for a fowl.
- Why did the chicken stop crossing the road? He was tired of everyone making so many jokes!
- Why did the chicken cross the road? It thought it was an egg-cellent idea.
- Why did the chicken cross the road? Because there was no footbridge or pedestrian underpass.
- Why did the chicken cross the playground? To get to the other slide.
- Why did the rubber chicken cross the road? To stretch her legs.
- Why did the chicken run across the road? To get to the other side faster.
- Why did Chicken Little cross the road? To warn everyone on the other side that the sky was falling.
- Why did the chicken cross the road? She wanted to understand what all the jokes were about.

Section 2 of 7:

Dark Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road Jokes

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Same chicken, harder edge. Changing up the punchline to “why did the chicken cross the road” is already guaranteed to take your audience by surprise—even more so when you inject the punchline with a little bit of dark humor. 😈 Try these dark chicken jokes to startle your audience into reluctant laughter:
- Why did the chicken cross the road? To show the armadillo it was possible.
- Why didn’t the chicken cross the road? Because there was a KFC on the other side.
- Why did the chicken cross the road? To escape the police who wanted to charge it with countless counts of jaywalking.
- Why did the chicken cross the road? Because she saw what you did to her eggs.
- Why didn't the roast chicken cross the road? It didn't have the guts anymore.
- Why did the chicken cross the road? Because chickens are really, really dumb.
- Why did the chicken cross the road? No one knows—but the road will have its revenge!
- Person1: Why did the chicken cross the road? Person 2: I don’t know, why? Person 1: To get to the loser’s house. Knock, knock. Person 2: Who’s there? Person 1: The chicken.

Section 3 of 7:

Chicken Jokes Featuring Other Animals

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Who says chickens are the only ones who can cross the street? These “why did the chicken cross the road” variations all feature different animals making their own ways across the road. See if you can guess why they do it before reading the punchline!
- Why did the dog cross the road two times? Because he was playing Fetch with a boomerang.
- Why did the rabbit cross the road? To get to her hare dresser.
- Why did the rooster cross the road? Because he has something to cock-a-doodle-doo!
- Why did the raccoon cross the road? Because he saw you put out the garbage.
- Why did the fish cross the ocean? To get to the other tide.
- Why did the fox cross the road? Because she was chasing the chicken.
- Why did the turtle cross the road? To get to the Shell station.
- Why did the turkey cross the road? To prove he wasn’t chicken.
- Why did the sheep cross the road? To get to the baa-baa shop.
- Why did the pheasant cross the road? Because the chicken retired.
- Why does everyone get mad when the pig crosses the road? Because he’s a road hog.
- Why did the cow cross the road? To get to the udder side.
- Why did the (other) cow cross the road? She wanted to go to the moooovies.
- Why did the duck cross the road? Because it thought it was a chicken.
- Why did the horse cross the road? He wanted to see his neigh-bor.
- Why did the cat cross the road? Because her owner told her not to do it.
- Why did the dinosaur cross the road? Because chickens didn’t exist yet.

Section 4 of 7:

Other Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road Variations

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You can pretty much turn any item or pop culture figure into a chicken joke. Like Adele, for example. Or skeletons. Or…PowerPoint presentations? (Just trust us!)
- Why did Adele cross the road? To say “Hello from the other side.”
- Why did the cactus cross the road? Because it was stuck to the chicken's back.
- Why didn't the bicycle cross the road? Because it was two-tired.
- Why did the man with one hand cross the road? He wanted to get to the second-hand shop.
- Why did the Easter Bunny cross the road? The chicken had his eggs.
- Why did the sushi cross the road? He was on a roll.
- Why did the corn cross the road? Because it was being stalked.
- Why did the teenage boy cross the road? He heard there were chicks on the other side.
- Why did the PowerPoint presentation cross the road? To get to the other slide.
- Why couldn't the toilet paper cross the road? Because it got stuck in a crack.
- Why did the clown cross the road? To retrieve his rubber chicken.
- Why didn't the ghost cross the road? Because she had no body to go with.
- Why didn’t the skeleton cross the road? Because she had no guts.
- Why did the (other) skeleton cross the road? He needed to go to the body shop.
- How did the egg cross the road? It scrambled across.
- Why did the strawberry cross the road? Because there was a traffic jam!
- Why did the gum cross the road? It was stuck to the chicken’s foot.

Section 5 of 7:

“Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road” Origins

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Why did the chicken cross the road? Because The Knickerbocker said so. The O.G. “Why did the chicken cross the road?” joke first appeared in 1847 in The Knickerbocker, a New York-based magazine. But before you think, “Wow, people really had no sense of humor back then,” we have to say, in The Knickerbocker’s defense, that it was presented as a sort of “anti-joke”: a joke with a punchline intended to be, well, supremely lame. (And therefore…actually sort of funny, somehow? We’ll let you be the judge.)
- To quote The Knickerbocker: “There are ‘quips and quillets’ which seem actual conundrums, but yet are none. Of such is this: ‘Why does a chicken cross the street?’... ‘Because it wants to get on the other side!’”^{[2]
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- The joke became one of the first national jokes thanks to its popular use in minstrel shows—a type of American theater that originated in the 19th century. They typically involved mostly white actors wearing blackface with the intent of portraying racial stereotypes of African Americans. (Basically, the origins of the chicken joke are as disappointing as the joke itself.)

Section 6 of 7:

What exactly is an “anti-joke” (and why is it funny)?

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Anti-humor relies on the lack of an expected punchline for its humor. Anti-jokes (like the original “Why did the chicken cross the road?”) rely on you expecting a funny punchline, so when the teller subverts that expectation by offering a punchline that actually makes sense or is anti-climactic (like “to get to the other side”), it’s startling—so startling, you might actually chuckle at the absurdity of it all. So, paradoxically, anti-jokes are funny…kind of…we guess?^{[3]
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- Some anti-jokes make use of established joke tropes—like “walking into a bar”—to signal to the listener that a funny answer is coming, only to turn the joke on its head with an anti-climactic punchline.

Section 7 of 7:

Other Anti-Jokes

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Had enough of chickens, eh? Try these other dumb anti-jokes on for size. “Why did the chicken cross the road?” is a classic, but it’s not the only example of anti-humor out there. Check out these other subversive anti-jokes and make all your friends groan (or laugh if they’re all really, really tired):
- What did the farmer say when he lost his tractor? “Where’s my tractor?”
- What did one Frenchman say to the other? I have no idea; I don’t speak French.
- Two muffins are sitting in an oven. One of them says, “Gee, it’s hot in here.” The other one says, “Yes it is.”
- What do you call a doctor who graduates last in their class? A doctor.
- A priest, a rabbi, and an imam walk into a bar. They have a pleasant evening discussing a variety of topics because they are friends.
- A rat walks into a bar. The other patrons say “Oh my god, a rat” and leave.
- Why is 6 afraid of 7? It’s not—numbers aren’t sentient and are therefore incapable of feeling fear.
- Why can’t a T-Rex clap their hands? Because T-Rexes are extinct.
- Why did they bury the general on the hill? Because he was dead.
- A duck walks into the pharmacy. He asks the pharmacist for some ointment for a rash he has on his beak. The pharmacist says, “Sorry, we don’t sell medicine for ducks here.”
- Person 1: Ask me if I’m a tree. Person 2: Are you a tree? Person 1: No.