Do you have a chicken? How about £12 (which is about $19)? Then it’s time to get your hen a reflecty vest so she can cross the road in safety. (Safety from cars, at least; foxes are another story.) According to the Telegraph:

Reader support makes our work possible. Donate today to keep our site free. All donations TRIPLED!

Owners are dressing their domestic flocks in new fluorescent bibs, which have been specially designed to keep the creatures seen in the autumn evenings. The bibs are meant for the growing numbers of people who keep chickens as pets, especially in urban and suburban areas, to protect the birds from motorists. The bibs, costing £12 and available in pink or yellow, went on sale earlier this month.

Grist thanks its sponsors. Become one.

And lest you think this is foolish, dusk is a pretty dangerous time for chickens:

Chickens tend to put themselves to bed — or roost — at dusk, but [chicken vest businessman] Mr. Paul said [this] was a time when they were particularly vulnerable to traffic.

He also suggested that street lighting in urban areas, where growing numbers of chickens are now kept, could confuse them and lead them to stay up later than they should.

Grist thanks its sponsors. Become one.

Tut tut. Make sure YOUR chicken adheres to a reasonable bedtime, wears a safety vest, and notifies you about her reason for crossing the road. Because we’d like to know.