Why did the hens have to surrender all their eggs in Animal Farm?
According to Napoleon, the hens have to give up their eggs because he signed a contract to provide someone named Whymper with 400 eggs a week. Napoleon says this is necessary to raise money to buy enough grain and meal to keep the farm functioning until summer, after which time life will get easier. Later, however, the quota rises to 600 eggs a week. This comprises more or less all the eggs the hens produce, so they can barely hatch enough to keep their population level. Napoleon says their sacrifice is needed to raise money to rebuild the windmill. Meanwhile, the text also notes that the pigs live comfortably and are putting on weight. Therefore, we can assume selling the eggs, which the hens regard as a murder, was not strictly necessary but rather a way to keep the pigs living well.
Why must the hens in Animal Farm surrender all their eggs?
Napoleon has made a deal with a lawyer by...
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the name of Mr. Whymper to supply four hundred eggs a week. This is all part of a cynical ploy to convince the outside world thatAnimal Farm is a successful, thriving enterprise and doesn't need any assistance from humans. But of course it's all a complete sham; in reality, the farm is in serious trouble. Winter's starting to bite, and as well as a broken windmill, there are chronic food shortages, especially of grain. But Napoleon considers it much more important to keep up appearances than to prevent the loss of animal life due to starvation.
To the hens, Napoleon's deal with one of the human oppressors is a betrayal of everything Animalism stands for. They stage a rebellion, flying up to the rafters of the barn to lay their eggs. Once there, they proceed to knock their eggs to the ground on purpose, making it difficult if not impossible for them to be collected and sold. Napoleon's response is swift and brutal. He orders the hens to be deprived of their already meager food rations. Furthermore, he decrees that anyone giving food to the hens will be killed. The hens resist for five whole days before reluctantly returning to their nesting boxes.