To show our solidarity with our feathered friends around the world in these bird flu H5N1 times, here's a tale to warm the cockles of your hearts.

Guai Guai is a hen.

She lives in Shenyang in Liaoning Province, China, and can peck answers to simple math problems.

She is only 6 months old and takes class three times a day.

Every time she gets a question right, by pecking at the sums on a board such as 8 + 2 or 9 - 4, she gets French fries as a treat.

Guai Guai was bought in a local market and one day when her owner dropped a coin, Guai Guai picked it up with her beak and gave the coin back to her owner...

From that moment on her owner thought the bird had special abilities and started training her...

Guai Guai in action: