Bertha is in RED
Beulah is in BLUE
Alexander in GOLD
Group is in GREEN
Gladys is in ORANGE

Hey, Beulah!  Come check this out.  Get the rest of the girls out here.

What on earth are you clucking about?  I swear, Bertha, you can cause more commotion than all us hens together.

You gotta see what Mommy made for us.  Look!  It’s a fenced yard with a lid on top so the foxes can’t get in the hen house anymore.

Well, she certainly was quiet about it.   When did she do this?  Probably while we were out roaming the woods.  Now, we’ll be stuck in here with that rascally rooster, Alexander the Great.

Alexander the Great, all right.  A great pain in the hind feathers.  Strutting around like he’s the great I am because he’s a Rhode Island Red who looks down on us lowly Leghorns. But at least we’re safe from things that want to eat us.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It’s been a week we’ve been held captive in this yard with a lid.  This gives new meaning to “chicken coop.”  Cooped up is what it is, and it’s time we make a break for it.  Are we all in?

Yep!  I’m ready!  Let’s do it. 

All right, ladies, here’s the plan.  We need a distraction.  Who has an idea for that?  

I’m good at that.  I can crow like there’s something wrong, and you all run out when she opens the gate.  I’ll follow as soon as I can get past her.

The next day, there was a terrible commotion in the chicken coop, and Mommy ran out to see what was wrong.  Immediately, the chickens got out, and after some quick-step maneuvering, Alexander made it past her, too.  They all gathered in the woods to plot their next move.

The flock made it through the first night, a little nervous, but happy.  The second night didn’t go so well.  They’d never been left out at nighttime before, and it was quite scary.

What was that?  An owl!  He’ll eat us.  Wait!  Was that a fox that’s sneaking around?  Beulah, I want to go home.

Me, too.  We all do!  Let’s go back.  We’re scared and tired and hungry.

Ladies, ladies, ladies, calm down.  We’re perfectly safe.  I’ll protect you.

Yeah, right, you pompous feather duster!  Who’s going to protect you?  Tell me that.  You’d make a bigger meal than any of us, even if you’d be tough.

Okay, listen up, you foul fowls.  I haven’t said anything until now, but we need to go back to the chicken house.  We’ll be well fed, can rest in peace, and still go for daily roams in the woods.  For two nights, we’ve been cold, hungry, and scared.  I’ve had enough!

And so it was that they all went back to the chicken house and the safe coop that had been built for their safety.  They still got to roam in the woods in the afternoon, and were glad to return to the coop at night.  Freedom wasn’t all they thought it would be.  They were lucky to have a good home, and never broke out again.

The End