What the cluck?

Naked and weird goings-on kept residents of a small Waikato town up at night over the weekend.

In one incident, a person entered a Huntly property on Bailey St, was trapped in a chicken coop, and cut through the wiring to escape leaving a “person-sized” hole, despite there being an exit door right next to their escape route.

The other incident involved a “naked drunk man” knocking on a front door and trying to enter a home that wasn’t his on James Henry Cres, also in Huntly.

Both incidents happened in the early hours of Saturday morning and police said inquiries were ongoing.

The owner of the chicken coop, Renee Clarke, posted on social media that she heard random comings and goings around midnight, and then around 2am woke up with a fright to someone “booking it down our driveway towards the road”.

The next morning when she was getting ready to head out with her family a chook approached her - something she found odd as they’re always contained in the run, and not usually let out.

The "person-sized" hole that was left in a chicken coop in Huntly, after someone had broken into it and escaped through the wiring. Photo / Renée Clarke

She picked up the chook and headed to the run to discover their coop had been broken into overnight, and now sported a large “person-sized hole” right by the entry/exit door.

Clarke told the Waikato Herald the incident was just “hilarious.”

“Nothing else was damaged and from what we can tell nothing was stolen thankfully,” she said.

All her chooks were accounted for.

“Thankfully, I came away from this incident not feeling afraid. We frequently pray and have wonderful neighbours that look out for each other, and I came away from the situation laughing more than anything.

“I really wish we had a camera that recorded the whole thing, it would’ve been hilarious to play back.”

A resident on nearby James Henry Cres alerted her of an incident the same night at his home involving a “naked drunk man” coming to his house, trying to break in through a window, and then knocking on the front door.

The incident occurred shortly after the incident with her chicken coop, around 2.30am.

Waikato Herald approached the neighbour who didn’t want to comment further but did confirm the incident.

The neighbour said the man came to his house the next day and apologised.

Police said they received a report of a person unlawfully on a property in Bailey St on January 11.

“It doesn’t appear any items were taken however, there was minor damage to property.”

Around 2.40am on the same day, police also received a report of a person unlawfully on a property in James Henry Cres.

“It does not appear entry was gained to the property, and area inquiries were made at the time to locate the person, however were unsuccessful.

“Inquiries are ongoing.”

Malisha Kumar is a multimedia journalist based in Hamilton. She joined the Waikato Herald in 2023 after working for Radio 1XX in Whakatāne.