The great escape

Before we let the hens out into the garden, we always make a temporary fence from chicken wire.  This means that they have a nice play area beyond their run, but keeps other parts of the garden safe from their attentions.

They have access to a nice area of lawn, where they can sunbathe, search for tasty insects or just generally create havoc.  There's a dwarf cherry tree and they have spent some very happy times trying to dig it up.  There are flowers for them to eat and a few vegetable plants still left for them to decimate.   There's even a little corner which contains dirt/twigs/leaves etc, which have been swept in there awaiting removal to the compost bin.   They think we've put it there for their amusement and gaily rummage around in it, looking for anything edible that might be hiding there.

Yesterday Irene decided that life wasn't worth living unless she could scatter the bark round the dwarf fruit trees onto the pebbled path.   First she squeezed under a bit of the fence that didn't quite touch the ground.   She was quickly followed by her little helper Rebecca.   The pair took off and scratted like mad under the Bramley apple.   My son took off, grabbed them and returned them to the fold.

Irene was not best pleased.   She marched up and down the fence, looking for another escape route.   When she couldn't find a place to squeeze under, she decided to go over the top.  But did she fly?  Oh no, not Irene.   She walked at the fence, pushed and pushed until it bent far enough down for her, and of course Rebecca, to walk across and back to the Bramley apple.   I'd briefly gone into the run to check for eggs.  So I missed this ingenious bit of escapology, but could see the route they'd taken.

So I returned the pair to the lawn and fixed the fence so there would be no repeat performance.   I sat down on the garden bench just in time to see Irene make her final bid for the Freedom Of The Rest Of The Garden.   This time she squeezed through the miniscule gap between the end of the temporary fence and the run's wooden fence.   Then she ran amok in my wildflower bed!   So many insects, so little time.

When I let them all out today, I think I might attach a ball and chain to Irene's left leg!