A pal put me onto the concept of utilising package forwarders in order to be able to purchase products from UK, US and french websites that do not normally ship to Australia.
Mostly, I’m after cool electronics, but out of sheer curiosity I had a look in the pet section of Amazon in the UK, and found some pretty whacky things for sale that made me laugh a bit. I wonder how many they sell?
My first pick is the “chicken swing” by fowl play products from amazon UK. 
Fair enough, our chooks like to caper around.. but a plastic, purpose built playtime object.. just for swinging… And to top it off, just in case your avian avian happens to read, and forgets what her henhouse toy is for, its name is written in big, bold letters!
Admittedly, it is a kinda cute idea, and would make a thoughtful gift fro someone with some bored chooks in their back yard.
The next bit of unusual kit for your chicken is the Omlet Pink High-Vis Chicken Jacket. also on amazon UK, by the same seller. “Omlet”
Yep. You read right. It’s a high visibility safety jacket for your chicken. Turn your chook into a tradie or factory worker overnight?
Or, rather, make very sure that a wild dog, or fox will see her in the dead of night with certainty. The mind boggles.
In reality, its a quirky sort of gift that will engender a few laughs at the next family BBQ.
In all practicality though, some of the sillier and more intellectually challenged chooks designed for egg laying do have a habit of hiding in the back garden, and being impossible to find at twilight so you can pack them into the safety of the henhouse and shut the door (well away from the murderous intentions of the said dastardly Mr Fox)
Under a torch, any absconding prize egg layer hiding under a bush would glow and flash quite brightly, making them easier to catch.
The pic on the product listing below adds some context- why did the chicken cross the road? Because..
BUT, safety first! She had to do a JHA – Job Hazard Assessment, which determined there was a risk, and she needed to wear appropriate PPE – Personal Protection Equipment to mitigate the risk of being run over…
Again, my mind runneth over with wonder.. normally these kind of obscure and odd inventions with questionable practical uses only come from Japan last I checked.
Seems the Brits have jumped on the bandwagon of too much time and money to burn. At the time of writing, there were only a few of these abominations left in stock. I never would have guessed they could turn out to be popular!!
Might have had something to do with a tweet on by a bloke called “lord sugar” on twitter that went a bit viral perhaps..