I've taken this illustration to the SCBWI artists' forum and was given some advice. I think I like where this is going. At first, having the hen look like a hen with it's wild, non-focused eye didn't bug me. But engaging the red hen in the scene by having her look at the seed and the hound works so much better for me. Also, having the hound look up at the hen makes the scene work better in that it draws more attention to the seed and further engages the characters, and has them more anthropomorphized. If I like it enough in a few days, I think I'll start painting.