Aaagh, I got home after work and found the top half of the stable door WIDE OPEN! I stuck my head in and curiously there were still 6 chooks in there! So I shut the door and went indoors to do some jobs.
Mr Nora got home from work and announced, "There's a mass breakout on the lawn".
WHAAAAAT! I explained about the stable door self-opening and he realised that I HADN'T let them out! He shot out and fortunately we still have 6 chooks (there's a gap under the fence that we have to cover up before we let them out).
It would seem that we've had so much rain that the latch isn't closing properly so I have to be much, much more careful :o)
Phew, that was close!