One rebellious and conniving hen eschews the cosy hen house and despite wing clipping, breaks out of the run to sneak off somewhere in the garden to lay her eggs.
Many days of frustratingly fruitless searching.
Keep on coming across frolicsome cocker, who has found the nest, and is carefully and gently transporting purloined eggs off one by one into various other parts of the shrubbery and burying them.
Unable to catch her and therefore can’t find those either.
Hen disappears for a couple of evenings to sit on nest as now broody, reappearing at daybreak, scratching around the hen run nonchalantly, having flapped over the fence, waiting for the other girls to be let out.
Stealthy sneaking around the garden in my nightie and wellies trying to catch out one or other of these miscreants but instead alarming the neighbour, who is passing my gate and sees me crouching behind a bush at dusk.
Eventually “Helpful” big stupid spaniel finds hen roosting one evening and proudly presents her to me as a bedraggled, warm and lifeless bag of feathers.
Cocker looks smug and refuses to reveal her treasure trove.
Springer looks disappointed that I’m not delighted in his retrieving skills.
Not quite a win win situation.

sigh