Feathers

Every year, my chickens shed their old feathers, looking very bedraggled for a time. During this time, they are very sensitive, sometimes staying on the roost extra long in the morning and they definitely don’t want to be touched.
If they lose too many feathers at a time they begin to look like plucked chickens, waiting for the roasting pan. The first time I saw this I felt very sorry for the poor chickens but now I know that it is followed by beautiful, soft, warm, new feathers.
The letting go of what is no longer useful, voluntarily or not, makes room for what is next