Think of the poultry

It used to be that when chickens got the flu, there was nothing to worry about. All they needed was a couple of days of bedrest, plenty of fluids and some of their own soup and a full recovery was guaranteed.

However we live in more complicated times now, where avian flu is a recurring problem in Asia. We might be well on the way to developing a vaccine but what about the chickens? Will someone please think of the poultry! Each time a new outbreak is reported, hundreds and thousands of our feathered friends end up being culled - that's a whole lot of potential kung pao chicken gone to waste.

The answer lies with keeping the chickens healthy and disease-free in the first place. After all, prevention is better than cure. Thanks to an innovative Austro-Japanese collaboration involving chicken suits, we have found a way to do this. After spraying the suits with anti-viral disinfectant we can let our chickens don them like armour against the ravages of deadly virus.

Of course there is also the aesthetic value from the stylish designs and the credibility gained from being featured on The Manolo's Shoe Blog (where I first came across them). There are five designs in the current collection which correspond roughly to the five main personality types found in chickens (the words in italics are from the website. really.):

Austria
for the mozart freak, the vienna choir boys and chocolate freak


Japan
for the japanophiles among the chicken


Hairy
for the super fashion conscious chicken. useful for expeditions to the south pole


Camouflage
shy chicken? always want to hide? this is your model!


Knitted
your chicken is into skiing? well – this suit will keep it warm and comfy.


It might take a while to make it onto the G8 agenda so in the meantime we're going to have to rely on your generosity. Please send a chickensuit our way today and make the coop a safer place for our children!