Something that might be of relevance, when some of the chicken references
in this episode are concerned. I wrote on another thread (
Ben's refrigerator) about an earlier chicken reference from Season 3 where Locke checks Ben's fridge and accuses him of cheating and missing the island spirit. To Locke's surprise, he found Ben living like he lives, using electricity and eating chicken cooked in a fully furnished kitchen..
In
Eggtown, it seemed rather curious that Locke came to mention killing a chicken twice; first to Ben and later, when answering Kate's question about the blood on his hands. In both cases he looked cheerful and refreshed, though not without some signs of anxiety.
In Ancient Greek culture, Asclepius was believed to be the demigod of health and medicine with powers to heal and mend, and the traditional sacrifice to him when one asks for recovery, was often a rooster sacrifice. Socrates' Apology includes the most famous reference to this: After his trial, Socrates says that he owes Asclepius a rooster, implying that he's content with taking his death-penalty as a cure to his dreadful situation (being judged by the ignorant, false accusations etc).
Now, I don't think Locke's looking for a "similar cure"
I rather take his chicken killing as a sign of his will to move on and re-collect his strength, recuperate and recover from both the gun-shot wound, and from his recent state of confusion. Locke's also planning to invite everyone for dinner [where there'll be some poultry course I'm assuming
], so I'm thinking he's gradually gaining some clarity and planning a move.
I am not sure if Kate holds any sacrifical value to Locke, but his banishing of Kate could be interpreted respectively as well.