Hens on the run: what’s so funny?
For those who do value a hen’s life (beyond her monetary value), the image of hens ‘making a run for it’ across a field was a poignantly sad one.
The hens were on their way to be slaughtered when the accident occurred. Up to that moment (assuming they came from the battery hen system of production), they had never seen the light of day, cooped up in crowded, windowless sheds.
It would be reasonable to conclude they were traumatised not as a result of the accident, but because they had never before experienced fresh air, and certainly had never found themselves in green fields.
This was a chance for the media to highlight the awful conditions in which laying hens are forced to live out their entire lives. Instead, the punners got punning, the cameras clicked wildly, and everyone (except the unfortunate hens) had a great laugh.
Gerry Boland
Keadue
Co Roscommon
