Mortality I

Last week I had considered writing about survival, and this is pretty close.
We lose a few sheep every year especially as the flock ages. Often we can’t tell the cause of death. Sheep bunch up so every now and then they all try to run through a narrow opening. We lost one lamb when she hit the stone wall beside the opening.
Chickens seem to die more than any other farm animal. We started with 26, ate six and ended with two. Local predators did away with some. The alpha rooster took care of his competitors.
Every now and then one of the cats goes missing. I found one curled as if in sleep on a shelf above the door I had just ushered members of the public through. I tried to keep from looking up at her during my presentation.
My heart aches for all these deaths. I know the sheep as individuals each with her own personality and voice. I loved all the chickens.
Still that’s what farming is all about. Each animal lives its term and then dies. Each dead sheep has given us many seasons of her quality wool. I have eaten my share of lamb (though not from our flock); our heritage chickens were very tasty and gave more eggs than we could absorb into our foodways programs.
I never see a plastic wrapped package in a supermarket without thinking about how that food came to be there.