Old Bertie McPhee was standing in front of them, waiting to register his moth eaten hens. How old Bertie thought his hens were up to competition standard was a mystery to Mr Finleyson. Old Bertie had been entering hens in shows around the country for over fifty years and had not even placed let alone won! It didn't stop him from entering competitions though. Old Bertie was a real character. Mr Finleyson had known him all his life, as Bertie's farm was around fifteen miles from his. Old Bertie uses a livestock carrier to transport his hens from show to show, then he takes a train. The queue was now moving steadily along. He did not notice that old Bertie's bright red jumper was a bit tattered, with bits of the wool hanging everywhere where the jumper had come unravelled in places. It looked as if the jumper was as old as Bertie! Unfortunately Martha noticed and she was in pecking distance to the back of old Bertie, she began to pull on the bits of yarn that had been used to knit the jumper. The bright red yarn that was hanging everywhere must have intrigued Martha as she merrily pecked away! Mr Finleyson did not notice because he was speaking to Gilbert Davidson, who was in the next queue on his left. So Martha pecked away at old Bertie,s jumper unchallenged. Mr Finleyson moved along with the queue while speaking to Gilbert, and Martha continued to pull the yarn that was hanging from the jumper with her beak and then she would toss it to the ground. There was now a trail of red yarn on the ground. Martha managed to unravel the whole of the back of the jumper, until it was entirely missing. Old Bertie did not even notice that his old threadbare jumper now consisted of a front bit and two arms! You could now see his old threadbare flannel shirt which was moth eaten. Martha then stretched her neck out as far as it would go and started pulling at the left sleeve, tossing the wool to the ground. After a few minutes the left sleeve was no longer attached to the arm hole. Old Bertie did not even notice that the unattached sleeve had slipped down his arm to his wrist. Martha then got started on the right sleeve and that sleeve came loose from the arm and slipped down to old Bertie's wrist! As the queue moved along, people were starting to notice the state of old Bertie's jumper and the trail of red yarn along the ground, and were howling with laughter. As old Bertie's red jumper now only consisted of a front part being held onto his body by the knitted crew neck. The front of the jumper was now flapping about his body unnoticed by Bertie himself. Surely he must feel a draft up his back!