These second year legends have to keep a hen in their house

Somewhere in Redland, an ordinary second year house has an extraordinary resident.

Tikka Masala, also known as Beaker — a hen — lives in harmony with six guys.

Although not belonging to them, Oli, Ted, Will, James, James and Angus have the joy of having a pet chicken living in their garden with none of the strings attached.

Their landlord owns the hen and makes the boys take care of her.

Give a cluck: Beaker in all her glory

When it came to house hunting, the boys said the chicken was “definitely a positive” and added to the appeal of their delightful semi-detached Georgian property.

Beaker is an eggcellent addition to the house

In the first few weeks of the year Beaker lived in house free range.

Oli said: “After time the novelty wore off and we realised that she does not really belong in the house.”

This is mainly because she shat all over the place, including in the bedrooms. To be fair she is an animal, so they can’t get that angry she’s not house trained.

Despite limited access to parts of the house, Beaker still hops the stable door from the garden and struts into the kitchen clucking away in search of nibbles.

She lays an egg a day but the boys aren’t allowed to keep them. Their landlord comes round most days to collect Beaker’s eggs.

Beaker knows her own turf and all housemates agree that she has never ventured far from the garden surrounding the house.

But this has not kept her out of harm’s way.

She’s had a few close shaves with urban foxes who ate the other two rescue chickens she used to live with. Her survival instincts have given her another nickname: “Badass”.

The boys say Beaker is up at the crack of dawn making “chicken noises”. Her daily routine involves: clucking, eating, pooing, walking around and generally just being a chicken before hitting the hay in the early evening.

It’s not that different from what Arts students do in the day.

It’s unclear whether house parties cause Beaker unrest, but it’s not as though she has to get an essay in for the next day and she’s got enough to worry about with those foxes chasing her.

All in all she has a pretty sweet deal, no rent, a caring owner and a few students to play with when she gets bored. The housemates are obviously all very fond of Beaker and she has made a very good impression.

Will wants a chicken for his next house while James fondly described her as “one of the family”.