The Chicken Who Used the Cat Flap

Lola the hen learned to enter the family home through a cat flap and make her way to a bed. (Digital Illustration: GoBeyondLocal)

The Chicken Who Used the Cat Flap

Seventeen-year-old Uriah kept finding chicken eggs on his bed.

The first egg could have been an odd household incident. More appeared, and the question became harder to ignore.

Uriah wondered if his mother, Lacy Pryde, was playing a prank on him. Lacy denied doing it.

The family knew the eggs came from a chicken. The puzzling part was the route they had taken to reach a bedroom inside the house.

The eggs appeared on Uriah bed more than once. Each discovery left the same basic question: how was a chicken getting close enough to lay an egg there?

Lola was one of the hens living outside on the property. Her usual place was away from the bedrooms, so her connection with the eggs took time to become apparent.

Uriah and Lacy began paying closer attention to what happened around the house.

The answer started with an opening intended for the household cats.

Lola had learned how to use the cat flap.

The small entrance gave the hen access to the interior, where she could move through parts of the house without attracting immediate attention.

Her route led through the laundry area and deeper into the home.

A baby gate stood along the way.

Lola crossed it too.

Video footage showed the hen hopping over the barrier and continuing through the house. The dogs also appeared accustomed to her presence, so Lola could pass through the home without the kind of commotion that might have alerted the family.

Her movements had a destination.

Lola made her way to the bedroom of Uriah and climbed onto the bed.

She settled there long enough to lay an egg before leaving the room.

The repeated eggs on the bed now had an identifiable source and a route. Lola had been entering through the cat flap, crossing the house and reaching the same bedroom.

Closing the bedroom door removed that particular destination from Lola access.

The hen found another bed.

This time, she went to the bed belonging to Lacy and laid an egg there.

The family had a second bedroom to deal with, along with a hen that had already demonstrated an ability to enter the house and cross its interior.

Lacy placed a towel on her bed for Lola to use when the hen came inside to lay.

The household had moved from wondering where the eggs came from to preparing a place for the bird when she made her way through the cat flap.