In the chicken house this morning. The second one this week. I carry the stiff hen out to the back pasture for the coyotes, since fall is coming on. In spring and summer I’m happier treating turkey vultures. Several of my hens are old–and chickens of course are not ordained for long lives. Commercial hens lay themselves out in one to three years.
After their laying slows with these battery-caged chickens it’s off to the slaughter house and chicken soup–or other worn-out laying hen products. My uncaged, roam free hens can last 6 or 7 years, depending on the breed. Occasionally, one of my barnyard and pasture grazing chicken can reach 12-15 years. Because I am old myself, far beyond any chicken years, I am not indifferent to how my hens slip into eternity. So I do not early-cull my layers when they slow down, or stop laying altogether. This hen I am carrying to the back field has her dignity still intact, if no longer her well-being.

wind ruffled
feathers
hen unriled

Ed Higgins