September is National Chicken Month, and those of us that already raise these feathered friends know how awesome they can be. They all have their own personalities and can either frustrate you or make you laugh. They provide eggs and meat. They serve as pest control.
But more than that, they can also provide therapy. September is also Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and oddly enough, chickens can factor into good mental health. The birds are being widely used as therapy animals across the U.S., Canada and the UK.
In an article by Kimberley Fowler on Next Avenue, a website dedicated to news and information for people over 50, she noted that chickens offer significant therapeutic benefits for people of all ages and are proving a powerful therapeutic tool for those suffering from anxiety, depression, isolation, loneliness and dementia.
Nikki Pike, of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, said her three hens Nugget, Noodle and Nibble changed her life. Before bringing chickens into her life, she had daily, severe anxiety attacks.
“The only way I could cope was to medicate myself,” she said. “With the chickens, I was able to be a better person. I found it easier to get through the day, and was excited to get up, go out and be active. I felt calmer and happier.” Having chickens to care for has reignited the bond Pike experienced as a child and has drastically reduced her medication needs.
Pike explained how her chickens reduce her anxiety. “There is a sensory benefit to having the chickens – the feel, smell and sound of them calms me down and brings my heart rate down, helping to level my breathing,” she said. “The result is that I’ve had fewer anxiety attacks. I don’t have to carry rescue medication all the time and am lessened by the amount of anxiety I experience on a day-to-day basis. Holding, smelling and feeling the hens brings me to a calm place.”
Programs like the Furry Tales project bring chickens into senior living communities as therapy animals, and many retirement communities and nursing homes like Morningside Health Center in Sheboygan, MI, have integrated hen therapy into their regular programming by including chicken coops on site so residents can care for chickens as part of their daily routine. Studies into these pilot programs have shown that “chickens at nursing homes can reduce resident-to-resident altercations, reduce antipsychotic drug use and increase the number of visits residents receive from friends and family.”
Want to see if having chickens around can help you with your mental well-being? Start small, with just two or three. They won’t need too much space and they may brighten your world.
