Video of 'terrifying' giant chicken that looks like 'a grown man in a costume' freaks out the internet

It doesn't take long for a new animal video, picture or meme in any shape, size or form to captivate social media. Now, a new video of a "terrifying", massive chicken is freaking out the internet with some people saying it looks like "a grown man in a chicken costume".

The minute-long video clip shows a chicken innocently popping its head out of a chicken coop before slowly emerging and revealing its actual size. The massive fowl then struts around while flapping its extremely feathery wings. Keen observers will also see a second chicken hiding under the coop and another one still inside. The video was posted on Facebook and Reddit before it quickly took the internet by storm. While many questioned the legitimacy of the humongous bird, some Twitter users said the chicken in the video was actually a Heritage Breed Brahma Chicken, also known as the "king of all poultry".

The Livestock Conservancy confirmed this in a Facebook post. Brahmas are large, hardy chickens with feathers on shanks and toes and come in three colours: light, dark and buff. Some birds even reach astounding weights of up to 13-14 pounds (6-6.3 kg) for hens and 16 to 18.25 pounds for cocks.

According to the Livestock Conservancy, the breed was "developed in America from very large fowls imported from China via the port of Shanghai".

"The eggs of the Brahma are large and uniformly medium brown in colour. The hens tend to go broody in early summer and will sit devotedly on their nests. But because of the size of the hen, trampling of the chicks must be guarded against for the first few days after hatch," the non-profit explains.

The video triggered a flurry of comments, theories and jokes about the breed which is endangered but recovering.

One Twitter user wrote: "When you see it at this size you can really imaging how they're the cousin of dinosaurs. Sh*t reminds me of Jurassic park." Another tweeted: "That big chicken is the scariest thing I have ever seen in my life."

"This is how nightmares and chicken nuggets are born," one user tweeted.

Mashable reports that the gigantic fowl in the video seems to belong to a man named Fitim Sejfijaj who posted the video on a Kosovo-based Facebook group called "Shpeztaria Dekorative" which means "decorative poultry".

The caption reads: "Shikim te kendshem merakli" which means "Enjoy watching Merakli."