Chickens and their Short-Term Memories

One of mum's chickens died at the weekend - I hope it wasn't the one that liked being cuddled and used to stand in front of you with its wings slightly raised like a toddler asking to be picked up. Anyhoo, Mum wants to get a couple of young chickens to add to the brood. Megan, chicken expert that she is, informed her that the best way to introduce new chickens is to add them to the coop at night - that way, the old birds wake up the next day thinking the young'uns have always been there. Not the best of short-term memories, apparently. If you introduce new chickens during the day they get BULLIED; introduce them at night and the next morning they're already part of the posse: the senile older ones wake up, look at the new birds that are to all intents and purposes complete strangers, and think "Oh look! You again! How nice."

James is now threatening to start putting new things in my room at night, eg a baby or a pet crocodile or a rhubarb plant, to see if my brain works the same way. Performing these experiments on me is apparently just his way of showing that he cares...