We found Shirley the hen crawling around the barn this morning and she crawled over to us and died right outside the barn. Chickens sometimes die while laying eggs and that seemed to be what happened. She was a calm hen, but not very interesting. I often say that if you wish a life with dogs, you will know loss and change, and this is even more so with chickens. They just don’t live that long and lots of things kill them or eat them. We took Shirley out to the woods and left her for the foxes and coyotes. The flies were already at work. Chickens teach us to accept the real world of animals. We’ll get another hen from Jenna Woginrich at Cold Antler Farm. That girl knows her chickens.