This is the hilarious moment a retired farmer’s rare long-tailed chickens refuse to go to bed in their cosy coop – and instead sleep high up in a tree.
The clip was filmed on a smallholding in Adisham, a village on the outskirts of Canterbury in Kent, where a flock of striking Yokohama chickens has developed a very odd nightly routine.
Instead of settling into their purpose-built henhouse, the birds scale a nearby tree at dusk and roost together in the branches until morning – keeping their extra-long tail feathers well clear of the mud below.
The owner, retired farmer Nigel Coleman, 68, had asked his visiting stepson, journalist Michael Leidig, to “shut up the chickens” for the night so they wouldn’t get their tails dirty and would be safe from foxes.
The video shows Michael retracing his steps up the field to the chicken huts, checking one after the other – only to find the coops completely empty.
As he checks each henhouse, he can be heard saying: “There’s no chickens in there… none in there… another place where there should be chickens.”
It is only when he hears rustling above his head that he finally looks up – and realises the birds have taken matters into their own claws.
Perched all around him in the branches are dozens of colourful Yokohamas, their flowing tail feathers hanging like streamers through the tree as they quietly settle down for the night.
Nigel said: “My wife wanted some nice chickens and we went to a local market where we eventually spotted these Yokohama chickens being sold. They’re an ornamental breed known for their dramatically long tail feathers and very agile, pheasant-like movement.”
He knew the birds did not do well in muddy ground, but had not bargained on their determination to stay spotless.
He said: “We noticed early on that the chickens didn’t like living in a henhouse because the tail feathers are so long they dragged along the ground and got dirty.
“They can keep them clean if they jump up in the tree, so as we liked the chickens looking clean we gave up trying to put them in the henhouse and just let them live in the tree.”
Nigel now likes to have a little fun with visitors by asking them to go and shut the birds in, knowing full well the joke is on them.
In the video Michael explains: “If you don’t shut up the chickens, a fox comes and eats them – and we don’t want that to happen.”
But instead of finding a cluster of birds inside the coop as expected, he was left baffled by the empty huts until he finally spotted the real “chicken hotel” overhead.
He said: “I looked up and saw all these chickens in the tree.
“The tree is full of chickens. Most of them cockerels, all getting on, not arguing with each other but just living in the tree. They just don’t like to live in the hen house.”
Although their name suggests they come from Japan, the modern Yokohama is actually a German breed, developed in the 1880s by Hugo du Roi from long-tailed ornamental fowl imported from Japan in the 19th century.
Some of those birds were shipped from the port of Yokohama – the name that eventually stuck.
Yokohamas are famed for their extra-long tails, with males growing spectacular flowing feathers that can reach impressive lengths. Their slim, elegant bodies and striking colouring set them apart from typical farmyard hens.
They are also far more agile than the average chicken. Light on their feet and powerful jumpers, they can easily reach rafters, roofs and high branches.
Nigel sees that athleticism every evening.
He said: “They are actually incredible flyers and can go for very long distances.
“They can easily reach very high branches in tall trees without any problem.”
While most chickens prefer an enclosed roost at dusk, Yokohamas often choose the highest vantage point they can find – and can be notoriously hard to confine.
And for Nigel, who no longer has to trudge up the field every evening to shut them in, the sight of a tree full of chickens has become a nightly reminder of just how unusual – and surprisingly independent – this elegant breed can be.
To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below. Story By: Evie Goodwin, Sub-Editor: Simona Kitanovska, Agency: newsX
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