My Mother always kept chickens as long as I can remember.
Being a little girl (1945) I was extremely fond of these lovely ladies, they were my companions and playmates.
As they grew old, many of them had rheumatism.
One of my favorite games was "playing hospitals"and the chickens were given massage, wrapped in blankets and put in dolls beds. (needless to say they soon climbed out but.....they loved being coddled,co murmuring soft coos and becoming almost hypnotised!
The sad part was they were soon put out of their misery by our gardener,as my father couldn´t bring himself to kill them!
One thing that I learnt from these childhood games was that all creatures definately have feelings and should always be treated compassionately.
