Chicken-obsessed American woman breaks record with dozens of im-peck-able bird tattoos

When Ashley Woods (USA) has a long day, she wanders outside to her backyard and hangs out with her chickens. And when her chickens have a long day… well, they can hang out with their owner – whose chick-covered skin has officially made her part of the flock!

This March, the self-proclaimed “crazy chicken lady” claimed the Guinness World Records title for the most tattoos of chickens on the body (female), an egg-strodinary effort that resulted in 43 tattoos (and counting).

With a collection clucking its way down her arms to her toes, Ashley is coated in dozens of colourful and black-and-white decorations – depicting everything from film scenes from Chicken Little (2005), to expressive outlines of chicks playing instruments, smoking cigarettes, and looking quite simply adorable. 

“The funny thing about it is, I used to be TERRIFIED of chickens and almost all other birds,” said Ashley to GWR. “... but I really fell in love with them after raising my first flock of all Salmon Faverolles. 

“They're the quirkiest little things and they make me laugh for hours just hanging out with them. The noises they make, the way they run, how they have feathers on their feet, and they can barely see because they just have more feathers!”

Along with her husband and four children, the family has had “easily over 100 chickens” over the years, and after her shifts at a commercial glass company she adores coming home to their clucking – which she describes as her happy place.

“I love chickens now,” she continued. “And I definitely love tattoos, so getting a chicken tattoo just made sense to me.”

Since the age of 18, Ashley’s skin has been covered in tattoos, swirling artistically across her chest and arm sleeves with meaningful designs. Yet it wasn’t until two decades later when she visited her artist Angie Norlock at High Desert Tattoos that the first chicken took roost on her thigh – inspired by an alien abduction scene within the desert near her home in Prescott Valley, Arizona, USA.

“She absolutely nailed it,” said Ashley, remarking that she used a special technique to make the pink ink sparkle like glitter in the sunlight. It’s still her favourite tattoo to this day.

Ashley's first chicken tattoo

Roughly a month later, a family member told Ashley about the record holder Michael Amoia (USA) – who holds the title for the most insects tattooed on the body (male) with 864 – and she says she then became inspired to make her passion official.

“When I got my first chicken tattoo, I definitely wasn't thinking about this turning into a record-breaking amount,” she said. “Now that I hold the Guinness World Records title, I feel like I can tell people about it and almost every time the person just laughs. It's such a ridiculous thing and it actually brings so much joy to people I know.”

Read more stories about record-breaking tattoos in our dedicated Human Body section!

To fill out the coop on her figure, Ashley gave complete freedom to her tattoo artist Angie, who created it into the masterpiece it is today. 

Several cartoon characters were inked – such as Chicken Little and Foghorn Leghorn from Looney Tunes – as well as a chicken holding a bag of Chick-fil-A, one wearing sunglasses while dabbing, and another playing the tuba. 

And she says her tattoos always lead to “a lot of interesting conversations”, adding that she’s even made new friends because people come up to her in public to talk about her ink. 

Yet beyond their purpose as a conversation starter, Ashley also says that her tattoos are a physical representation of her interests. She struggles with memory due to her Aphantasia, so her ink acts as a memento that allows her to remember her passions, adventures, and the important people and moments in her life. 

“Some people keep diaries for that, but I use tattoos as a way of telling my story,” she said.

And as she continues to share her passion for chickens, it’s clear that it’s becoming contagious.

Her father, who once hated her ink, “actually laughed” when he saw her first chicken alien abduction tat – remarking that it was the first of her tattoos that he liked. Now, she just accompanied his wife, her stepmom, to get her first tattoo at the amazing age of 78.

“This entire process has been so much fun that I'm honestly considering throwing some more chicken tattoos on to my right leg to increase the record number!” said Ashley. “I want to hold on to this for as long as I have the room on my body.”

But regardless of whether or not she can keep hold of the total, one thing is for certain – Ashley’s love for chickens isn’t going anywhere.

And with her giant backyard chicken coop, and years of love and care, we doubt her chickens are going anywhere, either.

So congratulations, Ashley – you are Officially Amazing!