The Flightless Bird Paradigm

Okay, so some of you probably already know my family has several chickens, about 7 right now I think. Also, some of you might know, I live in the nicest bedroom, at the back of the house overlooking the garden (where the chickens live). Stay with me, there's a point to all this. Many morning's I am woken by the completely pointless commotion they make. Every once in a while, one of the chickens will get overexcited and start squawking, and when one starts, they all start. Like dogs barking, it can go on like this for 10 minutes or 10 hours, and unlike dogs, you cannot make them stop by yelling at them.
So obviously, I am very used to being awakened by the dulcet tones of bat-crap crazy chickens. Now, here's where the story gets good: Early this morning, I was planning to go to the Market at the Square, our local farmer's market. So here I am, still asleep, but with that sneaking feeling I need to get up soon. Suddenly, i hear chickens. I moan. They don't stop. I put a pillow over my head. They don't shut up. I try to ignore them. They're still there. Finally, after what feels like half an hour but was probably only 5 minutes, I give up and wake up, reaching for my alarm clock. Then I stop. No chickens. Nothing. I can tell from years of practice, that they didn't just stop. They were never making any noise.
This morning, I was woken up by the chickens in my head.
I leave in 8 days.