The explanation the G-dCast provides for shaluach hakan (sending the mother bird away) makes little sense, especially from a traditional Torah perspective. Shooing the mother bird away from her young certainly appears to be cruel and even meaningless since the eggs need not even be used if they are kept and not returned. And yet, there is a “huge” payoff for for fulfilling this mitzvah.
In reality, shaluach hakan is a chok (a statute). There is no official reason that the Torah provides for shaluach hakan.
Many, if not most classic commentators acknowledge that shaluach hakan appears cruel and deals with the issue instead of providing an unsatisfactory explanation that illustrates why it is actually a kindness.
One classic explanation for shaluach hakan is the following. The Torah states that the reward for the Mitzvah of shooing the mother bird away is a long life. The Torah says the same reward for honoring one’s parents. How can that be??? It appears that the Torah is trying to teach us that we should not discriminate between one mitzvah and another. How can we judge what is a big or little mitzvah? Whether one honors their parents which is an obvious kindness or shoos away a parent (a mother bird) from its young which appears cruel, a person should regard their general alacrity in performance and subsequent reward to be equal for all mitzvos.
Memoirs of a Jewminicana 
that is really beautiful.
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The explanation the G-dCast provides for shaluach hakan (sending the mother bird away) makes little sense, especially from a traditional Torah perspective. Shooing the mother bird away from her young certainly appears to be cruel and even meaningless since the eggs need not even be used if they are kept and not returned. And yet, there is a “huge” payoff for for fulfilling this mitzvah.
In reality, shaluach hakan is a chok (a statute). There is no official reason that the Torah provides for shaluach hakan.
Many, if not most classic commentators acknowledge that shaluach hakan appears cruel and deals with the issue instead of providing an unsatisfactory explanation that illustrates why it is actually a kindness.
One classic explanation for shaluach hakan is the following. The Torah states that the reward for the Mitzvah of shooing the mother bird away is a long life. The Torah says the same reward for honoring one’s parents. How can that be??? It appears that the Torah is trying to teach us that we should not discriminate between one mitzvah and another. How can we judge what is a big or little mitzvah? Whether one honors their parents which is an obvious kindness or shoos away a parent (a mother bird) from its young which appears cruel, a person should regard their general alacrity in performance and subsequent reward to be equal for all mitzvos.
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