Diane, your story about the hen reminded me of when I was little and my Dad and I were out in the garden one Saturday morning. We noticed that one of our neighbour, Aunty Camo's, hens had escaped into the farmer's field, so Dad and I chased after this thing madly until we finally caught it. We took it round to Aunty Camo, who said, "Thank you so much. I must give you something.", dug in her pocket, brought out a piece of string, rung the hen's neck and handed it to Dad!
I can't remember if we actually cooked it or not - don't think, even though I was a country girl, I would have been too happy about eating it.