莎士比亚在《麦克白》(Macbeth)中使用了相关意象,Lady Macduff 提到 "the poor wren, the most diminutive of birds, will fight, her young ones in her nest, against the owl",暗含鸟类栖息与保护领地的主题。
习语 chickens come home to roost 在查尔斯·狄更斯(Charles Dickens)的《荒凉山庄》(Bleak House)中也有所体现,用以比喻因果报应。