Chicken's crying "wolf"

I was playing with Wren in his room in the comforting gloom of 7am when we heard a godawful shrieking and "bocking" from the hens. I rushed out to the coop barefoot (scene: dark, wet, grass covered in hen poop) expecting to surprise a raccoon or possum or fox or ... well, anything.

It was pitch black with only the faintest hadean blue to the sky and I couldn't see anything in the coop but they kept going BOK BAAAARK BOK BAAAARK in a most alarming way. I rushed inside, grabbed a flashlight. My mind was now going "boa? monkey?" I was losing the geographic plot. I remembered my garden boots.

I looked all around. The chickens were walking around in the run but I couldn't see any cause for alarm.

I am guessing Chippie (the third hen) is about to start laying and is making a fuss about it.

We are going to have breakfast now. Yawn. Frost is catching up on homework - on glaciers.