go to pot

Fig. to go to ruin; to deteriorate. My whole life seems to be going to pot. My lawn is going to pot. I had better weed it.

to become worse or be spoiled because of a lack of care or effort My diet has gone to pot since the holidays.

to be damaged or spoilt because of a lack of care or effort My diet has gone to pot since the holidays.

Also, go to the dogs. Deteriorate, decline; come to a bad end. For example, My lawn has gone to pot during the drought, or The city schools are going to the dogs. The first of these colloquial expressions dates from the late 1500s and alludes to inferior pieces of meat being cut up for the stewpot. The second, from the 1600s, alludes to the traditional view of dogs as inferior creatures. Also see rack and ruin; run to seed.

Become useless. When a chicken or other edible farm animal out-lived its earthly utility, it would be cooked and eaten. That's the pot to which it would go.