On the 14th of May this year a wagon crashed on the M62 motorway carrying 7000 live chickens, 1500 of which were killed at the scene. The rest were rounded up but a few made their bid for freedom. They were ex-laying battery birds that were going for slaughter. The majority were moulting and looked quite disheveled.
Well, yesterday evening as I passed the location of the crash I saw one of them on the hard shoulder looking for grit. It was really well feathered and looked in very good condition. She had been free for over 4 months, avoiding passing vehicles on one of Britain's busiest motorways and avoiding predators such as Foxes, Stoats and Buzzards. She had found enough food not only to survive, but thrive on as swell. I took my hat off to her for such persistence and resilience. But the fairy tale was short lived. As I passed the same spot tonight, there she was in the second lane, dead. She must have only been hit moments earlier as her body was intact and her immaculate feathers moved with the draught coming off passing vehicles. Call me an old sentimentalist but I felt for that bird, even knowing that her death would have been swift. She had overcome adversity, showing the world that she could survive without the help or assistance of mankind. Nature is such a wonderful thing and she proved that life is always worth fighting for. well done that bird.