They’re heading off to greener
pastures, our hens,
the very ones whose eggs have graced your plates, whether poached, scrambled or boiled (hard- or soft-). It’s our usual routine every October, as the days grow shorter and the hens yearn for a more hospitable laying environment. So it is that we go to great lengths to find them new – heated and better-lit – homes, with well-meaning owners, excited at the prospect of caring for laying hens through the long winter months, feeding them copiously, giving them lots of water, conversing with them even, perhaps…
Yours truly has neither the inclination, nor the courage, to care for hens during the winter. I’d rather bring the season to a complete stop, and scattering my hens is the first step of the season’s last dance. I do so knowing that they will be in good hands – with a local goat cheese producer, a German literature professor, my local garage owner – to list but a few new owners. In fact, I have a long list of interested parties. The hen is ‘gone’, long live the hen.
Many of you have already made up your holiday baskets, thank you.
If you have yet to double up, please note that you have three weeks left to do so. Beyond that, you may have to come pick your own vegetables in the fields…
We look forward to seeing you all again.