Why would anyone shoot a chicken?

That's what my four-year-old niece asked me last night. She is obsessed with where meat comes from, and frankly, not too thrilled about what she is learning.

She asked me: "How did this turkey get dead?"

And I said: "I think this turkey had a long happy life on the farm, and then when it was time for him to die a natural death, he came here to be our Thanksgiving dinner. It is what the turkey wanted." (Note: I am not this child's mother, so I can say anything I want to say, right?)

She said, completely ignoring me: "Why would anyone shoot a chicken or a turkey?"

I said: "I don't think anyone shot it."

She said, again ignoring me: "I think there was a bad guy on the farm, and the farmer tried to shoot at the bad guy, and he accidentally shot the turkey instead."

And I said: "I think that is exactly what happened."