LIFE OF A HEN/Easter Eggery Part IV
Oh Dear. The life of a hen. I'm afraid my experience of it is far from lovely. In my last life I was a hen. I remember it very well.
From the day I came out of the shell I was incarcerated in a large facility with thousands of other chicks. I was never allowed to go outside the building. The food given to me by the keepers made me very fat and weak. I could hardly stand up. It was, how shall we say, a living hell. The smells were awful and none of the hens were happy. Everyone cried constantly.
One day when I was big enough, they came with a truck and loaded us into crates. Five hens were squished into the very small crate with me. They loaded fifty or so of these crates similarly filled with hens onto a truck. It was very late at night. I suppose so no travelers on the road might see this and become disturbed.
When they stopped to refuel, I managed to get of the crate. It wasn't easy but they didn't fasten it securely enough and with some effort and determination I jumped out and ran. But it was hard for me to run since I was so weak and overweight. It was the first and only time I managed to experience freedom.
He came with a long pole with a hook on the end. He ran after me as I hobbled in an attempt to escape but he easily caught up with me and snagged the hook around my legs and captured me, put me back in the crate and onto the truck and drove some more.
We arrived at a building where the real horror began. There was a conveyor belt high above the ground. The workers there began to take us out of the crates and hang us helplessly upside down by the feet on the conveyor belt. Everyone was in a state of complete panic but totally helpless. My wings fell open under the force of gravity and my eyes became red and blood shot with fear. Instinctively I knew what was coming.
The workers' aprons were covered with blood.
Anyway, that's my true story. So, the life of a hen may be idealized in poetry and fantasy but in reality, this is what it is.
Link to the contest: https://steemit.com/dream-steem/@hive-107855/contest-easter-eggery-part-iv-oster-eierei-teil-iv
Upvoted! Thank you for supporting witness @jswit.
Absolutely brutal. I'm aware of that and try to buy meat from responsible producers – but of course, I can't be completely certain... I don't think giving up meat entirely is ideal, despite everything. Moderation, however, is a good step towards improving the living conditions of our farm animals.
Awareness is needed... There but for the grace of God go I, as they say...