Kelson : A friend in Australia has a Rhode Island Red chicken named Elaine. Elaine is a particularly inquisitive and mischievous hen, with a big personality. She has worked out how to open cat-flaps and dog doors, and she can solve problems. She is particularly fond of exploring where she should not be, and she particularly loves the kitchen and dining rooms in the house. One of the most memorable of her antics is now known as Elaine’s Famous Tomato Heist, where she flew up onto the house roof, walked right over to the other side of the house, and jumped down into the tomato garden which was surrounded by a 6 foot high chicken wire fence. Needless to say, Elaine had pecked every single tomato before she was finally caught. She obviously felt like some lovely ripe tomatoes, and she figured out exactly how to get them.

When it’s time to feed the chickens, Elaine’s owner has to be very careful to close all doors on the house. Elaine is a so naughty, that she will swim against the tide and often she will decide to miss out on the feed outside if she thinks she can sneak into the house and find something better inside. So, while the other hens, ducks, geese, turkeys, etc are all running madly for the feed shed at the bottom of the hill, Elaine will often be found sneaking back up to the house to see if she can find a way inside while all the commotion is going on. Sadly, for Elaine’s owner, she often succeeds.

Another of Elaine’s favourite tricks is to jump inside the car while the shopping is being taken inside the house. As fast as lightning she pecks through plastic bags to sample as much bread, tomatoes, fruit, and anything else she can before she is discovered. She has also been spotted dragging entire loaves of bread out of the car and into the garden. One of her cronies, Shirley, is almost as naughty, and together they make a terrible duo. Life is never dull when Elaine and Shirley are on the rampage.

These are the forces you are up against when you keep chickens!