Yes. Quite inexplicably the shed window, made of thin perspex, has been broken from the inside! We did take a buffeting from the wind a few nights ago, but surely we would have noticed a broken window in the shed we visit at least twice a day, where the chicken food is stored.
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| Broken from the inside! |
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| These dodgy-looking characters were loitering, but it couldn't possibly have been them. |
But today we think we solved the mystery. For when Sue opened the shed there, already inside, was a chicken. She had clearly returned to the scene of the crime, presumably through the very window she had smashed. The only logical explanation is that she had hidden away inside the shed one day, got locked in, panicked and flown against the window, thus breaking it from the inside. Hard to believe, but the only possible explanation. But not enough evidence unless we could find a motive.
And there it was, on the floor, nestled in a carefully shaped cradle of straw. An egg.
You may be forgiven for being a bit puzzled right now, so a little history will help.
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| Elvis |
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| Cocky |
The last time we gave Elvis some eggs to sit on she got a right mixture, but a couple were her own. And I'm pretty sure that I know which of the young laying hens is hers. For starters, it looks like I'd imagine a cross between Elvis and Cocky to. Should we call it Elky or Cockvis? Neither too catchy.
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| Leave my egg alone, you! |
But more than that, it has persistently showed strong traits of Elvis's broody behaviour. For this is the hen which took itself off and laid 8 eggs in the goose house. And I suspect this to be the hen which laid 15 eggs in the leaf litter heap. Then came half a dozen eggs in amongst the straw bales, followed by EIGHTEEN eggs tucked away in the corner of the old pigs' stable. She even sat on these for a few days before abandoning them, presumably after Gerry found her and started loitering around.
So, returning to the present, it seems like her latest plan went wrong when she stowed away in the shed only to get locked in. But she left behind one vital clue - that egg.
Motive, opportunity and means.
