How To Terrify Your Chickens

[dinosaw]

No longer do you need to shake a roasting tin and packet of paxo at them or invest in an expensive fox costume which can't be used when it is raining, nope a whole new means of terror is available courtesy of the Swiss Army. Below you see a photo of a Swiss army tank crew overall in the distinctive alpenflage camo scheme that is unique to the swiss, whatever this looks like through a chickens eye I really wouldn't care to imagine, but they don't like it thats for certain.

I was making up some new frames for a run extension yesterday and once it gets into summer if I don't wear overalls my lower back always ends up being bitten to pieces by insects so I didn't give it a second thought when I went up to muck out the birds. Normally the Thuringians are right up at the door to meet you and they have a tendency to all four of them squat at once so you can't get it without shoving them with the door but this time they were running towards the back of the run instead. When I got in they were even worse hiding behind the house. I managed to coax them out with some grapes and they eventually settled down while still being a little wary. The next run was the Silver Sussex who are skitty at the best of times, you should have seen them, they were flapping six feet up in the air and banging into the mesh with panic. The only difference to normal was the overall, so I went down and changed came back up and they were like different birds. I think it must be the camouflage scheme as I have some plain green British overalls and have never had any reaction. At least now I know that if the giant chickens from space ever invade earth the one safe place on the planet will be Switzerland, who'd have thought it?.

 

[Marigold]

We need a pic of you wearing it, dinosaw, please.
If not too scary for a family-friendly forum!

 

[dinosaw]

It looks bad enough without me in it, plus taking too many photos of such a gaudy pattern might break the camera.

 

[rick]

I can imagine a Swiss military maneuver going terribly wrong-
"I'll keep watch while you sneak round behind that chicken coop"

 

[Marigold]

The chickens' reaction was really odd, though. We know they have super-excellent colour vision, so since you are obviously a familiar and friendly outline to them, I suppose they must have been seeing the colours in your suit in some way we can only imagine. If it had been dayglo instead of camouflage it would be easier to understand. Or perhaps the camouflage was SO effective for them that they didn't see you as a person at all, just a piece of disconnected zombie moving woodland background which was inexplicably coming to get them? Sort of like in a chicken horror movie?
It's interesting that it affected two pens of birds. If you'd had only one pen, you could have put it down to one bird panicking unnecessarily, like they do sometimes, and setting all the others off by her alarm calls and flapping around.
Perhaps Rick can come up with one of his explanations?
Mind you, if that's camouflage, the Swiss army must train in some strange places! Do you ever answer the door when wearing it? If so, what effect does it have on the postman?
What do the alpacas think about it?

 

[dinosaw]

It is a bit of a puzzle especially as the ex batts didn't seem overly bothered, they may have seen me in it before last year though and I didn't actually go in with them as they had been done in the morning. The alpacas are fine with it, what Nimrod doesn't like at all is you wearing a hat, you have to take it off if you want to approach him. Camouflage is quite interesting, apparently this stuff worked very well in an alpine setting and in built up environments, though the Swiss have now changed it after nearly 50 years which is why the pattern is now surplus.

 

[rick]

Total guess Marigold but probably looks like a strangely animated swirl of leaves. A bit like those computer generated monsters they are using to advertise cars recently. It would-be interesting to know if they find it alarming when it's still (I.e. Hanging on the wall) or only when its moving.
At least now mother hens can tell their chicks to be good or camo man will get them