Gladys was our only remaining chicken – a Light Sussex breed, who sadly we had to say goodbye to last week. I wasn’t going to mention it but decided she needed her own story! And I hope you enjoy the story of a very special chicken!

We took on her and her ‘sister,’ Muriel about three years ago after her owners returned to the UK. Despite my hubby making them a lovely coop off the ground with a ladder and ventilation with wire to keep predators away, all fenced in, Gladys was not happy. After several escapes and screaming when we shut her in at night, attacking me when I let her out in the morning, we decided to just let them do their own thing.

Muriel died last summer – she was a very old lady, and Gladys wasn’t far behind – neither had laid eggs for a while, although Gladys gave us the odd one! She was a bit lost for a while without Muriel but soon got used to life on her own – and she had the cat to torment! He hated her but was scared of her pecking!

Gladys adapted; she was happy, she wandered around and didn’t stray too far from the courtyard, but in autumn of 2025, she started wandering a bit further down to our field and foraging for insects, fruit, and vegetation that she liked. She was a fairly quiet chicken, 🐓 and her breed are very good at avoiding predators and we never clipped her wings, so she could fly into a tree if she needed to – and she liked to! She was a happy, retired hen – aged about 6 then, which is a good age in itself !.  

Living in rural France, she had acres of land to roam on, but she was always at the door in the morning for her food, much to our cat Jax’s annoyance as she pushed in front of him for food and pinched his if she got the chance.

So now, we get into the curious part of the story.

At the beginning of this summer, it was very hot here, and Gladys disappeared. We looked everywhere for her, just as we had with Muriel when she disappeared, but we couldn’t find her anywhere. We searched barns, under bushes, down the field, around the trees and outbuildings – nothing! We didn’t think she’d be taken by anything, as no piles of feathers or signs of struggle, which from experience is normal if a chicken has been taken by a fox – and if taken by a pine marten, you usually find headless bodies as they only seem to want the head!

After a couple of days, we were resigned to the fact that she’d probably been taken or just gone somewhere to die and we wouldn’t find her. Then, after being missing for 4 days, I opened the door to the cat in the morning and there was Gladys – happy as you like, wanting food! She wasn’t particularly hungry but ate and immediately disappeared again.

We knew she wasn’t broody, or sitting on eggs anywhere as she hasn’t laid eggs in ages. The next time she disappeared for 9 days – and again, wasn’t particularly hungry, as she wasn’t interested in the chicken feed when she returned, she wanted some of Jax’s cat food, so I gave her some.

Then off she went again, this time for 10 days, and turned up and knocked on the door for food.

Glady, the nomad?

So, we had questions…

• Where did she go?
• What did she eat?
• How did she look after herself?

We came to the conclusion that we had raised a nomadic chicken! After doing some research, it seems there are a few options…

• She’d found herself a secret chicken paradise. Chickens are surprisingly capable of becoming semi-independent when they have the opportunity.
• She may have established a second home. 🌳 As she is capable of flying into trees, she may have found a good roosting tree away from the house, and a chicken that sleeps high in a tree is mainly safe from foxes and ground predators.
• She could be following seasonal food. 🍓 Rural France can apparently provide a great chicken buffet! Insects, seeds, fallen fruit and berried, (we have several fruit trees and berry bushes in the fields), vegetation, worms etc. And as she’s not desperately hungry when she returns, she’s obviously foraging.
• She’s gone completely feral! Some chickens can become remarkably independent if they’re allowed to free range over a large area. If Gladys has spent years learning the territory, avoiding predators, and foraging for food, she could have developed her own territory!

I still wanted to know where she went when she disappeared!

This is the funniest part – we had watched her to see which direction she took when she left, so we could solve the mystery. But NO! Gladys was a clever chicken! Every time I tried to follow her, she sat down and didn’t move, allowing me to stroke her. She purposely waited until I’d gone back inside and then disappeared! We spent ages looking around our land for her – looking up, looking down, looking in and under hedges, in outbuildings and barns – NO SIGN OF HER! If she were there, there would be evidence – chicken poo for a start – and a lot of it! And feathers! But nothing!

Queen Gladys I

After she disappeared for the fourth time, it struck me that she could be in the ruined chateau in our grounds – it has several underground tunnels, there are trees growing out of it and dense foliage, which is damp – so it would be a perfect place to avoid predators, forage for insects and berries and fly up high at night. It’s not somewhere we could fully investigate as it’s unsafe!

In the end, we came to the conclusion that Gladys was retired – she had acres of French countryside to explore, a guaranteed food source by foraging, excellent predator avoidance skills and the ability to roost in trees – she simply didn’t want us to know where she was. When she got bored or wanted a more gourmet style meal, she simply strolled home, knocked the door, and got room service! She was living her best life – she no longer lived with us – we lived in her territory!

Chickens clearly aren’t as stupid as their reputation suggests. They have surprisingly good memories, can learn routines, recognise individuals, and learn from experience. Gladys had clearly worked out she could have the best of both worlds.

• Free accommodation at Le Chateau
• Free range food during the day
• And catered room service by knocking on our door when she wanted it!

Our chateau was built in 1129 and has been a feudal castle, a place for the French resistance and loads in between – I think it finally found its rightful owner…

👑🐔 Her Majesty Gladys I, Queen of the Château, Defender of the Hedges, Mistress of the Tunnels, and occasional visitor to the kitchen door to supervise the staff!

I think there was something very special about Gladys. She was an old hen who had nothing useful to do anymore. She wasn’t producing eggs, so she didn’t need to raise chicks, she wasn’t part of a flock hierarchy – she’d basically just reached retirement and decided to spend it exploring her kingdom! She knew she could forage for food – there are fruit bushes and trees, an abundance of insects and we always put plenty of water out for her. And she could get gourmet food when she fancied a change!

She wasn’t lost. She wasn’t confused. She wasn’t desperately trying to get home. She was just perfectly capable of looking after herself and what a character she was!  

Last week, and aged about 7, she collapsed outside our door and was very disorientated and couldn’t stand. She was very weak – no sign of injuries. From previous experience, we knew it was just that she was old and it was time to let her go.

We will miss the old girl, she gave us plenty of laughs, lovely eggs and finally decided for herself that she would be Queen of all she surveyed during her last months.

I hope you enjoyed the curious case of our Gladys. I just couldn’t let her go without telling her story!

Long live Queen Gladys I – we won’t ever forget you – and nor will we ever know for sure where you actually went when you disappeared!