A scheme introducing hen keeping to older people is proving to have a miraculous effect on their wellbeing by reducing isolation and loneliness. The scheme came about when an older gentlemen at a care home kept musing that he missed his girls. It took the care home staff a while to work out he wasnt talking about family members, but his pet chickens. The care home then bought some chickens along with a coop and many of the residents became attached to them quickly. Their moods improved and the hens gave them a new hobby to work on and to socialise around. One resident said, My life has been a lot fuller since weve had these hens. I think I’d be lost without them. The scheme has now been rolled out to 8 different sites across the UK. One site even went as far as to buy some fertilised eggs and an incubator to watch them hatch. The company behind the scheme, named Henpower, have just been given a £1 million lottery grant and now hope to roll the scheme out across the UK!
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 19:00:00 +0000