I've known of people shooting cattle and cutting a few steaks & roasts off. They were more of a thieving scumbag type of person than someone with a legitimate hunger or need to feed their family.
I thought stealing chickens was only something Snuffy Smith did in the funny paper.
*IF* I was going to steal a chicken it'd be one from the grocery store because It's already cleaned and I don't have to worry about getting shot.