Since late November, a white hen has been separated from the brood fussing about Bok Bok Cottage. The sickness in her lungs was obvious, gurgling escaped with each breath. Because we didn't want her illness to spread, we put her in the halfway house.
Without the artificial light, she stopped laying eggs. But because she was already at the bottom of the pecking order, she was free for a while from the other hens that constantly butted in front of her at the food pen. A mixed blessing perhaps?
Yesterday, The Mister of the House conspired to put her out of her misery, and went to the back with his axe. I desperately stayed in the house for no particular reason.
Moments later, he came back with the axe still clean. "I lifted her up and listened to her breathing long and hard...and I think she's better".
I was happy.
So back to Bok Bok she goes. And today after getting the eggs, Rainbow Girl rushes inside to declare that the chicken is dead in the cottage.
So I walked to the back, and wormed my arms inside a garbage bag and grabbed her by the legs. I pulled the bag around her, tied it up, and threw it in the trash. Poor girl had been hen-pecked to death.
Farm fresh eggs high in omega-3's! Happy chickens outside of cages! These are our slogans plodding us along our little hobby of a farm. And me bordering on vegetarianism when I have to axe our Thanksgiving Mistress.
O the savagery of Nature!
The Matter-of-Factness bordering on Refreshing!
The Curiosity of This Day...
Posts
5 comments:
You explained it correctly when you referred to it as the "savagery of nature." Quite a post.
oh dear. That death does sound better though in a way than the ax.
Poor Chicken, I hate death of any nature!
How's the whole fresh green thing going???
You need to come to Wisconin for a visit...I need some AA cheer!
...and here this whole time you've been thinking it's the T.V. that's traumatizing Rainbow Girl.....
ha ha paula
I'd rather be axed then pecked by the way
Post a Comment