Can Keeping Chickens Help You Manage Your Chronic Illnesses & Neurodivergence?
I have three hybrid hens and they are the sweetest creatures. I’m biased, but I think that if you love animals and have a garden or allotment, then chickens make great pets. I’ve had my chickens for almost two years now. It doesn’t seem that long but I started to research chicken-keeping years before I met my girls and, in the past 5 years, I’ve learnt an awful lot about how to look after hens, despite originally being from the city!
How can you automate chicken keeping to be low maintenance for chronic illness life?
I have an “Omlet” automatic door for the coop and I taught my chickens to let themselves out in the morning and put themselves to bed (and this training took under a week). Chickens sleep from dusk to dawn so they are asleep a lot more in the winter than in the summer.
My hens also have a rat-proof auto-feeder called a “Grandpa Feeder” which opens when the hens go to step onto the treadle. You can put 1-2 weeks’ food in it. How many hens you have will determine how long the food lasts! It has three stages (fully open, half open and fully closed) and it takes 3 weeks to train the hens on how to use it.
This means that all that is left for you to do on a daily basis is collecting eggs, giving the hens fresh water and cleaning out the coop and run. These tasks take about 10 minutes, but I almost always am there somewhat longer for cuddles, treats and fun. For cleaning the coop, I got the Eglu Cube coop, which has a handy, pull-out, hard plastic litter tray drawer, which means you just pull out the drawer and scoop! It is so easy and fast to keep clean.
Once a week, you will need to do a deeper clean of the coop and every couple of months, the run bedding will need clearing out and replacing.
What if I am too unwell to collect eggs, provide fresh water and clean?
If you are too unwell to do this, it would be helpful to have a few people who can help with this, such as a partner, neighbour, friend or PA. Before I got my chickens, I asked around and created a WhatsApp group for the people who offered to step in on the days I was unwell or when I was on holiday. This meant I could just post to the group on my worst days, and there would always be someone to step in for this 10-minute task in return for some fresh eggs!
How do chickens help with mental health, chronic health issues and neurodivergence?
1) They get you out of the house – even on the days when you may not feel like going outside, you feel like you can’t let these beautiful creatures down. Going to see my hens and getting outside always makes me feel better. There has been a lot of research done into how being out in nature and connecting with animals and the earth can improve wellbeing.
2) They provide routine – since hens need attention every day, you can build visiting your girls and collecting their eggs into your daily routine. Routine is immensely important for creating a stable life and is often more difficult if you don’t work or study as you haven’t got the enforced schedule of classes or working hours to adhere to. If you aren’t working or studying, looking after some hens could give you a sense of purpose. When I was at my very worst with my chronic illnesses, my health was so unpredictable that I didn’t have any sort of routine. Getting hens when I felt able to do so really helped me have a small goal (seeing to my girls) every day to create a routine.
3) They provide good company and are social creatures – they are often cuddly, running towards you for treats and they chatter to you. Hens are surprisingly smart given that they remember about 100 human and hen faces and have their own language, which is fascinating to look into and learn about. Hens need to be in groups of three or more due to their social hierarchy. You will have at least 3 new friends! They also all have different temperaments – my top hen Olive is very forward but gentle and she was the first to let me cuddle her when I got them at 16 weeks’ old. Clementine, is very adventurous, sociable and enthusiastic – she always keeps me on my toes! Coral is a shy soul who prefers preening herself in the sun to being around people.
4) Their eggs provide good nutrition – you cannot beat the taste of fresh eggs and given that most hens in their prime lay every almost day (from about 16 weeks to 18 months) before tapering off, you will get a lot of eggs in the first year and a half of keeping them if you buy from a decent breeder. If you rescue hens, they may not be as reliable layers, but you can nurture some poorly treated hens (possibly bald or near bald) back to thriving with their full, glossy feathers! This transformation is very rewarding and many state it can gives them a sense of purpose.
5) They are funny and make you laugh - there is never a dull moment with these creatures! They are always doing silly things or chirping away. One summer, the neighbours played Katie Perry on repeat and one day I went to clean out the hens and one of the hens had memorised the chorus to one of her songs! It’s moments like this that will have you crying with laughter!
Good luck and feel free to get in touch with any questions!
