The authorities in Nukus, in the autonomous Karakalpakstan Republic, have been handing out freshly-hatched chicks due to a lack of money in the country's banks, US-backed Radio Ozodlik reports . One teacher describes the decision as "shameful", telling the radio: "Last year they paid us with potatoes, carrots and pumpkins. This year they are forcing us to take newborn chickens instead of our wages. If we need chickens we can buy them from a market at a much cheaper rate."