Why are chickens so hard to shoot?

With the credit crunch in full swing, talk of food miles (which according to wikipaedia is the impact of transporting food on the environment), talk of organic food and 'is it better than non-organic food?', the number of gardening programs and the never ending re-runs of 'the good life' there are obviously pressures and desires to grow food in the garden, with a back to the post war years mentality.

During my childhood my Granfer would rear chickens in his garden, and as Christmas approached anticipation would grow. There was no 'two for a fiver' chickens then - they were hung in the butcher's windows with their heads still on, and they were expensive - far too expensive for kids on the council estates to even dream about. Actually, they probably were two for a fiver, but that was when a fiver was worth five pounds. Come the week before Christmas, we would go over to help with the preparation.

Cycling the five miles through lanes that have long disappeared under a cigarette factory (now long gone in it's turn) my head would be filled with thoughts of chocolate selection boxes that were heading my way. Once there, the chickens would be brought in in pairs, and killed and bled. Then we would all be given a bird to pluck - I always remember then wings being the hardest part, and this convinced me that I would never pluck the end of the wing - any pheasants that come my way get the wing tips cut off now.

Anyway, back to the story. The hens in my garden. Since hens are certainly more popular these days, I have decided to set up a website featuring poultry, and needed to shoot some photos. For domestic birds, they are a pain to photograph - they keep moving, they won't let you get close, and they insist on being end-on. As soon as I get the site up, I'll let you know!