I used to have a summer house up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on Little Bay de Noc. I had my own pet woodchuck there until one winter, he was a little cold and dug a way into my basement (it was an old hand-dug basement) I had to use one of those live traps and then called the Ranger to come and get it. It was too angry for me to want to try to get it in the car. Surprisingly, he came after work. All that to say, they can be destructive little critters, but, until he did that, we lived amiable side by side. He lived under the Sauna House and I was okay with that.
Your Mandevilla is incredibly beautiful and so full of flowers. Everything seems to be doing really well up there. I keep pinching back my chrysanthemums to make more blooms and fuller plants, which looks like you did. In early summer, I let them go until they bloom and deadhead them until frost. Mine look almost at the same stage as yours. I love the smell of them.
I don't know what kind of chickens those are, but, they have nice plumage and are very healthy looking. (Read: Yummy delicious!) They are free-range, I take it. :))
I haven't had chickens, but, I do have a Mallard that is nesting under one of my cedar trees using the bird feeder. She did it last season too.
I hope you get your salad. It sounds like you deserve it! Fun post!