The first time I held a chicken I cried - I mean, ugly cried. The chicken was a Silkie, black and beautiful, being raised by a neighbour who was getting into the backyard chicken movement. I was struck by how tiny her body was, how fragile she seemed. My fingers explored her frame and felt the familiar 'drumstick', the breast bone, the bony wings. I had held many chicken parts in my hands as I readied to eat them, but to see those connected to a real, living, breathing and wa