When I went out this morning to feed the chooks I found Sussex (minus her chicks) happily frolicking with the other chooks, which surprised me. Neverthless I was happy that she had recovered from her grief so quickly. I was sitting in my usual place on a log, feeding out the scraps when, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Malay (another chook named after her breed) and – shock of shocks – all three chicks were with her! I knew that both Sussex and Malay had been sitting on eggs under an old shed for weeks but since I only ever saw the chicks with Sussex, I assumed Malay was having the chook equivalent of a phantom pregnancy.
On closer inspection I noticed that two of the chicks looked a lot like Malay, pictured below – sort of ugly handsome. Maybe yesterday was the day she decided to take them back from Sussex. Malay has always been rather elusive so I didn’t think anything of it when I didn’t see her yesterday. She must have been hiding with the chicks somewhere, perhaps smirking when she heard Sussex’s squawks of grief.
If I were Sussex I would leave well enough alone because, as you can see, Malay is rather formidable!
jmgoyder 
Glad they showed up – the Malay looks like Julia Gillard
You do realise that millions of people (hehe!) will read your comment!