Tales from the Coop – Betty Bottom Hen gets a reality check

Life in the coop follows the daily routine, they come out and peck around for their breakfast and have a drink and a hen chit chat.

Betty Bottom Hen though still thinks she is top chook, she tries to boss the others around but all the time she doesn’t realise she is firmly at the bottom of the pecking order.

The baby hens run for cover and jump on the roof and quietly laugh at her behind their wings.

When Hen treats are delivered everyone piles in for a free for all, stuffing as many treats in as they can fit, but not Betty Bottom Hen, she wants to play ‘rock paper feather’ to see who goes first. Sadly, Primrose Head Hen has played a different game unbeknown to her. It’s called ‘me first, you lot can wait’

By the time Betty Bottom Hen has realised the flaw in her plan the treats are all gone, through sheer temper she chases the baby girls around but as she is not as agile, they laugh and stick out their tongues and show her their tail feathers.

Its tough being bottom hen, in particular when you think you are top hen, the others humour her but she doesn’t get the reality that she is definitely as low as it goes in the pecking order.

Just now she thought she had played a winner; the resident magpie came around to see what he could purloin… always a bit of feed within beak range through the wire. As she charged over to see off the intruder, she wasn’t aware that Primrose Head Hen had just glared and the magpie had taken the hint. Poor Betty Bottom Hen, she isn’t bright!

The Head Hen Herder arrived and promised a party, a real hen night! Orders were taken for beak stick, claw polish and individual snacks and drinks, poor Betty Bottom Hen missed out as she was laying her egg.

  

Betty Bottom Hen sat on top of the Coop looking disgruntled while the disco beat vibrated beneath her steppers, and the flashing lights gave her a head ache. The others were having a ball and to make matters worse for Betty Bottom Hen, they all threw their discarded buffalo wings at her! Betty Bottom Hen didn’t know Buffalo’s had wings, Hens are not bright.