Ain’t Nobody Here but us Chickens

Nearest Village’s generally deserted streets have been enlivened in recent weeks by three nice friendly brown hens, who wander around it freely, sometimes on the verge, sometimes in the road – folk do like their chickens *very* free range round here. A local building project, plus some forestry means there’s a fair few lorries coming through the village at the moment on their way to and from the Big A Road, so you’d expect they’d not be long for this world – but we already know that trucks brake for poultry, so maybe their owners are onto something. As a traffic calming device, a couple of hens are a lot cheaper than speedbumps, and more replaceable than children, with the added advantage over either of laying eggs.

In fact, now I come to think of it, the question is not ‘why are there hens roaming the streets of Nearest Village?’ but ‘why doesn’t every village have them?’