The season of no eggs (and what it taught me about rest)

I used to wear busyness like a badge of honour. Rest was something I had to earn, something I granted myself only when every box was ticked, every job done. But this week, my chickens showed me otherwise. Yes, chickens.

If you’d told me a year ago that some of my greatest teachers in life would be 22 hens and a rooster named Jude, I probably would’ve laughed. But here I am, finding deep wisdom in my own backyard.

Right now, our chickens are in full-blown moulting season - patchy feathers, moody hens, and absolutely zero eggs. It's a messy, chaotic, utterly unproductive season. And it’s exactly what they need.

Moulting: the messy, essential pause

For those who don’t speak chicken, moulting is a natural phase when chickens shed their worn feathers and take a complete break from laying eggs. It’s their version of a sabbatical; a necessary pause that lets them regenerate and come back stronger. Watching them, feathers everywhere, looking like they've had one too many nights out with their hen pals, I couldn’t help but laugh and relate. Because isn’t that exactly what burnout looks like in human form?

Last year, after ignoring my own version of moulting season, when my body was practically screaming for rest, I found myself in bed for a month. I pushed through the signs, kept laying eggs (metaphorically speaking, of course), and crashed hard. Seeing the chickens in their messy but necessary pause brought that lesson back into clear focus.

Rest is not something you earn

Somehow, we humans got the idea that rest is a reward, something we’re only entitled to after hustling ourselves into exhaustion. But watching these feathered philosophers, I realised something vital: rest isn’t a prize. It’s not optional. It’s essential.

Chickens don’t question their need to rest. They don’t hustle through moulting because there’s an egg shortage or because people are waiting impatiently for their morning omelette. They just stop. They rest. They allow their feathers - and their energy - to regenerate fully.

And when they’re ready, they come back stronger, healthier, and even more productive.

Stillness isn’t stagnation

This moulting season also taught me that there’s a huge difference between stillness and stagnation. Being still, like a serene lake at sunrise, is restorative. It’s the purposeful pause that allows for renewal and clarity. Stagnation, on the other hand, is stuckness. It’s the muddy water that goes nowhere and breeds frustration.

Yet, we often fear stillness, mistaking it for stagnation. We keep ourselves moving at all costs, worried that slowing down will somehow mean losing our spark. But the chickens reminded me that pressing pause doesn’t diminish your brilliance; it amplifies it.

Letting go of guilt

The biggest thing I’ve let go of, thanks to my chickens? Guilt. The guilt of not always producing, of not always "being on." The guilt that sneaks up whenever I think about slowing down or taking a real break.

I'm not a spring chicken anymore. My body doesn’t bounce back like it once did. If I push too hard, I pay the price. So why keep forcing myself into unnecessary exhaustion when I can simply honour my natural seasons?

If chickens don’t feel guilty about resting, why should we?

What season are you in?

Maybe you're laying eggs like a superstar hen on a triple espresso shot (now there’s an image!). Or perhaps you're in your own moulting season, feeling patchy, unsure, and a little messy.

Whatever season you're in, my invitation is simple: honour it. Rest without guilt. Stop treating rest as something to earn, and start embracing it as the intelligent, necessary act of self-love it truly is.

Because if chickens know the secret to thriving is resting, maybe it's time we learned it too.

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