Dorothy, 82, Gateshead

A lot of people had them during the war - mainly for the eggs I think because they were hard times. But you could nearly always get chicken or eggs. You always had chicken.

 I used to stay at my aunty's in Embleton when I was a child. From about the age of 9 me Mam would put me on the bus at Haymarket and my aunty would get me off at Embleton, up the coast. I used to go up there for holidays in the summer - I loved the sea. Anyway, there were chickens all over the bloody place up there. They'd just wander in the middle of the road. They knew who you were and they'd follow you all over, I've even seen a chicken trying to get into the bloody sea man!

Ollie, UK

During WWII my Uncle Fred had a small piece of land, known as a "piece". There was a small area for vegetables but most of the land was for live stock. A few pigs, one more than the government knew about (that one was for the family). Goats for milk and later their meat. Hens were my favourites and I've had a soft spot for them ever since. I loved collecting those warm eggs!

Noreen, Birtley

I used to like to take the eggs out - they were my dads. We used to like it when they laid the eggs because we had something to eat! My dad was very keen so we had lots. We used to like the eggs. We didn't play with them, but we liked them. We certainly liked the eggs.

 When I was a little girl I went with dad who kept bantems. We ate them because we had lots - we would replace the ones me Mam had killed for the Sunday dinner. We went to the allotment every day from the age of 2 until school and we played with them, they were very friendly.

 My Mam was very interested in the hens - she used to gather the crusts off the neighbours and she'd mix that with their food. Look after them was hard work. Getting them back into the garden after they escaped was especially hard work!

 They kept them in wooden cages called crees - cobbled together from whatever wood they could find. My dad put them into shows - they'd judge them on their feathers, if the nails were properly cut - allsorts. He used to win and that kept him going. We went all over. You didn't have a lot of money to spend in those days but we went as far as we could - we went on some hilarious hikes.

 On the morning they knew who you were - they definitely knew they were getting fed!

Harry, Gateshead

My Dad kept 3 crees, so about 50 hens I think? There might not be that many but there seemed like there might have been. I didn't look after them - my father looked after them. He didn't sell the eggs - everything was for us. There were 10 of us in the house - 5 lads and 5 lasses. We never wanted for anything. That was life. Only two cockerels and the rest were hens... for the eggs.

Elsie, Gateshead

My Dad kept hens, ducks and geese - he dug the pond they lived in himself. He had half a dozen at the beginning but they laid eggs and hatched so ended up with a couple of dozen - this was before the war. During the war, my mam looked after them while my dad was away in the navy. We used to give the folks around the area the eggs. People didn't sell things in them days. They just gave them away cos people needed things. We had more than we needed so we gave them away. We never went hungry like - we probably would have starved during the war if it weren't for the eggs.

My dad put them in the range to keep warm when they hatched during the winter.

Dorothy, Stockton

I lived in a farmhouse in the 30s so we had about half a dozen hens - I used to help out with them. There were no jobs so you had to go where the work was, and during the depression you went where the food was. We didn't sell them though because you had to register them if you wanted to sell the eggs. But I just went to feed them because that's just what you did. I didn't keep hens after I left home - I was sick of looking after them! They weren't like pets like they are today.

Jenny, Stockton

I kept hens when I worked on a farm when I was about 15. I liked farm work and I needed a job. There were hundreds! I helped clean them our, helped to feed them, lock them up, and put them away at night. The farm was in Halls during the war. Eggs were rationed so they were useful. I enjoyed it very much.'

Ian, Stockton

I stayed on a farm in Donegal when I was part of the Merchant Navy. They kept hens there, but I never did myself. I didn't have much to do with them - they were just there.

Matty, Stockton

We mainly kept them during the war because eggs were rationed. You'd only get one per week so they were like gold. People always wanted an extra one, especially when they were making Christmas Cake and things.

Shona Branigan, Derwent Reservoir

Look up on Google the story of the headless chicken - in 1945 it had its head chopped off and lived for 2 years. It was fed into its neck with a pipette. So the myth of the headless chicken is true! It's an American story.