The Hens' Rebellion Against Egg Surrender

Recounts the brief but brutal uprising of the hens when ordered to give up their eggs.

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The Call to Sacrifice

The Demand The Contract Napoleon, through Whymper, agrees to sell four hundred eggs a week to buy grain. The hens are told to surrender their eggs. The Outcry The hens protest, as they were about to sit on the eggs for hatching. They call it murder. This is the first open rebellion since the expulsion of Jones. The Method of Defiance Led by three Black Minorca pullets, the hens fly up to the rafters and lay their eggs from there, smashing them on the floor.

Napoleon's Ruthless Suppression

The Crushing of Revolt The Punishment Napoleon stops the hens' rations and decrees that any animal giving grain to a hen will be punished by death. The dogs enforce the order. The Five-Day Standoff The hens hold out for five days, but hunger and fear force them to capitulate. Nine hens die, and their bodies are buried secretly, the cause given as coccidiosis. The Lesson Learned The hens return to their nesting boxes. The rebellion is crushed, and the animals learn that defiance is futile. The eggs are delivered, and the outside world knows nothing.

The Aftermath of the Hens' Rebellion

The Silence No Further Resistance The hens' failed rebellion breaks any remaining spirit of resistance. The animals become more compliant. The Normalization of Sacrifice The egg contract becomes a routine part of farm life. The hens' sacrifice is forgotten, and the pigs continue to trade with humans. The Symbol of Lost Freedom The hens' rebellion is a turning point; it shows that the pigs will use violence against their own kind to maintain power.

the second winter

immediately after the hens' defiance

the following weeks