'Look, I really don't see any alternatives, the holiday is over, we either get down to business or the those new girls will have taken our roosts and we will be roast chicken by the end of the week'
Kerry Ann had called a private meeting in the corner of the coop, a gathering of the old girls. A crisis was at hand. Ever since the new chicks had arrived from the co op the old sisterhood's reputation had been deteriorating. Not only were their feathers thinning but they couldn't keep up their lay in light of the fierce new competition.
'Just who do they think they are' clucked Esmay in disbelief.
'Haven't they ever heard of following suit ? Respecting their elders ? Honestly i don't know what they are teaching them these days in the nest, but in my day when you got to a new pen you consulted with your Mother hen about the goings on of the place and you certainly didn't start laying on day one !
'They will soon tire out' Assured Tracie
'And then we can all get back to enjoying life as we so wish, with none of this competitive nonsense. They will soon realise that the scraps will keep on coming even if we don't lay'.
But Kerry Ann wasn't as convinced. She had been around longer than Esmay and Tracie and had seen Joeline and Tattiana plucked from the coop on consecutive days, by a gloved hand, never to return. They too had indulged in the chicken feed and the scrap bucket without too much concern for honouring their eggly duties. Blinded by the luxuries of a doting housewife named Danielle they eventually gave up on the lay and took barn yard banter as their full profession.
But...They had never dreamed that such an indulgent housewife would have such a murderous husband looming indoors. And this ignorance eventually lead to their demise. For Danielle's husband was what you would call a cold a blooded chicken killer, his reputation preceded him in the neighbourhood and he was often recruited by cowardly neighbours to dispose of 'un productive' hens or noisy useless roosters.
Kerry Ann knew this because she made a point of befriending the sparrows that frequented their pen for seed. Unlike Esmay and Tracie, who saw the sparrows as mere scavengers, Kerry Anne understood them to be informants, with whom she would happily spare some barn yard seed in exchange for neighbourhood gossip. It were such stories of murder that kept her on her toes and reluctant to retire into brooding old age.
'Listen girls' Kerry Ann piped up...
'Christmas is approaching and I don't want to be the centre piece. Our feathers may not be as red as they used to be but there is nothing a little puffing of the chest can't improve. I am not about to offer my meaty neck to the chopping block, not while I can still lay a dam fine egg - and I sure as hell am not going to be out shone by some clucky chick flick ! Come on girls, lets show them how its done !'
Inspired by Kery Ann's motivational speech, Esmay and Tracie plucked up their courage and proceeded into the hen house to start some serious laying. With such rivalry in the air and the threat of the guillotine the Cruise family coop has never produced so many eggs per day.
With a full carton to be filled every two days.
Egg Rivalry
Acrylic on Board
5x15cm
2011
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