@sketchingmad
This is pepper one of our new Black Orpington hens.
They are an interesting addition to our growing flock. Orpington chickens hail from Orpington Kent, in the UK. They were developed in the late 1880s, a cross between Plymouth Rocks, langshans and minorcans.
We have four hens who despite my best carpentry efforts refuse to roost inside their house out of the cold, but instead on a gate.
There they are exposed to the elements and any predators that may lurk in the dark. I have gone out after dark and physically moved them several times, but still they prefer the gate.
Chickens are crazy.
Jon Stevenson 