KFC has run out of chicken in the UK

A "chicken crisis" is ruffling feathers in the UK and Ireland, after a shortage of chicken prompted most of its 900 KFC branches to close for the day. 

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On Monday, a shortage of fresh chicken caused by a delivery problem brought hundreds of KFC stores to close across the nation.

In a statement, KFC apologised for denying people their fix of finger lickin' good chicken. As of Monday night, just 300 of KFC's branches were still open, according to TIME.   

"We know that this might have inconvenienced some of you over the last few days, and disappointed you when you wanted your fried chicken fix — we’re really sorry about that," read the company's statement. 

"We won’t compromise on quality, so no deliveries has meant some of our restaurants are closed, and others are operating a limited menu, or shortened hours," the statement continued. 

Image: BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images

The problem appears to have stemmed from KFC's new delivery partner DHL's "operational issues" which caused "a number of deliveries" to be "incomplete or delayed." 

"We’ve brought a new delivery partner onboard, but they’ve had a couple of teething problems – getting fresh chicken out to 900 restaurants across the country is pretty complex!" read KFC's statement. KFC added that its restaurant teams are "working flat out" to make sure people can get their hands on fried chicken soon. 

KFC UK & Ireland's Twitter account has been attempting to crack a few chicken-related jokes in the midst of the crisis. 

"Some chickens have now crossed the road, the rest are waiting at the pelican crossing," read one tweet. 

KFC has created a webpage so hungry folk in search of fried chicken can see if their local branches are affected by the shortage. 

Mashable reached out to KFC for comment but did not receive an immediate response. 

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