Hen Chronicles: Fast and furious, death comes for a cricket

I know chickens have excellent daytime eyesight — better than humans, according to the experts —  but it’s easy to take it for granted if you grow accustomed to dealing with these birds on a daily basis.

At least until a suicidal cricket hops into the pen.

That’s just what happened shortly after dawn this morning when Snow, Nellie and Hope were out in the pen, pecking away at their feed. The hens spotted the cricket even before it made its fateful decision, while it was stationary right outside the pen, just beyond their reach. All three hens immediately zeroed in on the bug, desperately trying to get at it through the chicken wire, but without success.

I thought that was the end of that, but instead of hopping away from the pen, the cricket hopped into it. What followed was an impressive demonstration (but fatal for the cricket) of eye-beak coordination. The hens fell upon the cricket instantly, and in unison. Once that happened, the little six-legged critter was a dead cricket hopping. Briefly. Very briefly. The only consolation, from the cricket’s point of view, is that death came quickly. And from the hens' perspective? Let's just say nothing went to waste.