As with most living creatures, when you put a large amount of chickens in close proximity, they will invariably turn on each other.
So some “smart” people came up with a solution: Red tinted glasses for chickens
I truly love this ad: “A flock of them so equipped would present a very intellectual appearance.”
That must be one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard.
Here is a patent from 1903:
How it worked, was they, the smartie-pant-pant-pants, believed that the sight of blood was what caused chickens to peck and basically eat each other, so if they gave chickens red-tinted glasses it would camouflage the blood.
This was still practiced even until 1973.
Now, on a more serious note. It’s always easy to laugh at the ridiculousness of our past actions, but chances are future generations will look at our methods in a much worse light, so maybe we should look into trying to fix that…
But think of it – chicken glasses. How fantastic a thought, to see hundreds of chickens wearing glasses. All they would need next are little waistcoats and pipes!