Deliverance....

If you've been reading my blog for a bit, you may have read about the chook that pops over the fence into our backyard and spends her day poking around and feasting on snails, dropped figs, our compost scraps and pretty much anything else that takes her fancy. When we first discovered her in our yard 18 months ago it was around Easter time, so we named her Haighs after the famous Adelaide chocolate brand that come into their own around Easter and produce lovely chocolate hen shapes (and fish, frogs, bilbys, eggs, truffles etc...). I don't think she has a name where she lives...but who would know, she doesn't say much beyond the occasional cluck. Lately she's been arriving first thing in the morning. It's rather satisfying to see her at 7.30am....kind of settles us in for the day. She also recognises our blue compost bucket and starts to chase us around the yard before it's deposited. Joe will attest to the pecking of one's foot just because he had the bucket! There was even a day when she gorged so much at our place I had to lift her up to the fence because she was too heavy to fly up to it! However, about two weeks ago we found her nestling in some plants one afternoon and making quite a ruckus. Joe was right onto it. He spotted all the signs. Yep, pretty soon we had an egg. Warm and fresh. Since then we've received a perfect dozen. (Sorry, picture shows eleven but we ate one!) They're picked fresh each day and popped into the carton. It's quite a ritual. I often wonder what her owners must be thinking about her lack of presence and/or lack of laying. My only hope is that her owners don't get onto it.....!