Can chicken keeping improve your health?

[Tesumph]

What Chickens Teach Us

Search this up and see what you can find,there is a thread called this and may touch on your topic as far as stress,anxiety and issues like that.

I have read that thread in the past. Interesting read!

 

[Tesumph]

My favs are actual licensed therapy birds, not for myself but for pallative care patients to help with depression and anxiety. I'd say they're on par with the best meds out there. Patients who didn't make a habit of leaving their rooms showed up early for chicken time. I was eventually given the greenlight to start a small bantam flock in the courtyard of the facility so touch therapy would be there 24/7 and not just on my scheduled days. I don't have charts or graphs but seeing people at the end smiling just due to holding or even just watching the birds says it is very sucessful.

That is wonderful! What a great idea. Animals are truly amazing healers, aren’t they? I wish there was more studies done on this. I love hearing personal stories though, thank you for sharing! I am currently advocating for my own chicken meds

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

I've had anxiety problems for 20 odd years. With anxiety comes depression. (They hold hands and lead you down a dark forest path.)
I can honestly say my chickens help me immensely. Not only do they give me good reason to get off my butt they are quite the entertainment committee.
My dogs will gladly sit on the couch and be potatoes with me.
The cats are happy to nap in bed all day.
When a tiny dinsour tells you it wants something--you listen. They have life figured out. Get up in the morning and look for food. Poop at will throughout the day. Dirt bathe whenever you want but don't stop moving. Keep your day going by doing something--anything. And when you are stuffed with food and utterly exhausted--go to bed with the sun.

 

[biophiliac]

First of all, this might be in the wrong forum. Sorry.

Hello all! Been a very long time since I started a new topic and I have a tendency to ramble, so bear with me. This is something very near and dear to my heart and I really hope I get some insight and opinions.
To cut to the chase: I’m looking for fellow BYC member’s experiences of chicken keeping improving your health. If you have actual licensed therapy birds or experience with that, awesome! But I expect a lot more anecdotal experiences with backyard flocks.

To try and explain my muddy thought process, I’ll just share some back story. I’m a newly married college student who is dead set on getting my veterinary degree if it kills me (and it might). I was recently diagnosed (possibly misdiagnosed) with epilepsy, and have an ugly list of other health problems that I’m working through, including a possible heart problem, as well as a lot of trouble with fatigue.
I lost my flock during Harvey last year and haven’t had birds since. Since I just got married, my dogs stayed at my parents house, and my beloved ferret died very recently. The house is way too quiet but we’ve been waiting on more animals because we were planning on moving and being very busy.. however, I recently (read: 30 minutes ago) decided with my husband that we are not moving closer to university this summer like we intended, because of my health.
Not gonna lie, this sucks. I can’t drive, work, or go to classes.. ok, now I’m just venting, but hey. I’m upset and angry and all I can think of is.. dang, I deserve some chickens.

Back to the point. So I’ve been wondering, for my own knowledge and curiosity, as well as a means to convince my husband, if chicken keeping can improve health. I kind of already know the answer is yes but I want to hear it from this wonderful community. I’ve researched the use of animals in professional therapy, read studies on how petting dogs lowers stress levels, and know that physical exercise improves mental health. My main concern is if I can actually DO this and get something out of it (I don’t particularly like eggs haha), or if I’ll just get burned out and be stuck with a farm chore that I may or may not be able to upkeep in Texas heat.

So, if you are or have been in the same boat as me, PLEASE share how you managed it. I’m open to literally anything, from hardy chicken breeds with healthy track records, to easy to maintain coop designs.
But I’m especially interested in how your flock has benefitted you, whether it be lowering blood sugar or helping anxiety or curing cancer (maybe not), I don’t know! Educate me! Maybe if I can make it another year in college, I’ll write my thesis on this and use some testimonials. hah!

Good topic! I can tell you that interacting with my homing pigeons is a real anxiety reducer. It has now become a conditioned response for me which is a good thing. I have a couple of chronic conditions that aren't so bad unless made worse by anxiety. I have heard many people says just watching their flock reduces stress.

 

[biophiliac]

I've had anxiety problems for 20 odd years. With anxiety comes depression. (They hold hands and lead you down a dark forest path.)
I can honestly say my chickens help me immensely. Not only do they give me good reason to get off my butt they are quite the entertainment committee.
My dogs will gladly sit on the couch and be potatoes with me.
The cats are happy to nap in bed all day.
When a tiny dinsour tells you it wants something--you listen. They have life figured out. Get up in the morning and look for food. Poop at will throughout the day. Dirt bathe whenever you want but don't stop moving. Keep your day going by doing something--anything. And when you are stuffed with food and utterly exhausted--go to bed with the sun.

You said it better

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

I will add that although generally a shy person I can talk chicken for hours. I love when people find out I'm a crazy chicken lady then "this may be a dumb question but" and they ask and ask. I never knew about chickens before I got them so I'm glad I can now answer others questions.
I have also made chicken friends. I've driven hours to meet other chicken people and get chickens. The feeling that I'm not as weird and awkward as I sometimes think goes away as we get lost in chicken talk.

 

[ldawntaylor]

I will add that although generally a shy person I can talk chicken for hours. I love when people find out I'm a crazy chicken lady then "this may be a dumb question but" and they ask and ask. I never knew about chickens before I got them so I'm glad I can now answer others questions.
I have also made chicken friends. I've driven hours to meet other chicken people and get chickens. The feeling that I'm not as weird and awkward as I sometimes think goes away as we get lost in chicken talk.

I can completely relate to this. Perhaps that is part of why this site is so popular.

 

[Celeste Cannon]

Chickens have definitely made me happier, but i’ve also heard of therapy ducks. I feel like ducks are a bit smarter and you could probably keep one inside with you and potty train it. Just another idea for you. If you do get chickens though, you should raise them with lots of attention so that they don’t just seem like a chore. Get cute breeds like silkie, polish and Cochins that don’t lay many eggs. When they do lay some eggs you can just give them to friends. If you have cute breeds you can also get away with bringing them places lol. I love your idea!

 

[TheTwoRoos]

Just hearing chickens a relaxer,I wanna just sleep with them.

 

[Tesumph]

I've had anxiety problems for 20 odd years. With anxiety comes depression. (They hold hands and lead you down a dark forest path.)
I can honestly say my chickens help me immensely. Not only do they give me good reason to get off my butt they are quite the entertainment committee.
My dogs will gladly sit on the couch and be potatoes with me.
The cats are happy to nap in bed all day.
When a tiny dinsour tells you it wants something--you listen. They have life figured out. Get up in the morning and look for food. Poop at will throughout the day. Dirt bathe whenever you want but don't stop moving. Keep your day going by doing something--anything. And when you are stuffed with food and utterly exhausted--go to bed with the sun.

Thank you everyone for your input, it means a lot. I also can relate to the anxiety and depression, I almost didn’t post this because I overthought it so much. Being physically unable to leave the house definitely doesn’t help. Very good point about dog/cat companion animals vs a flock of chickens, I never thought of that.
I don’t have chickens yet but this website has been a godsend for me. Just talking and learning with people who share my passions and my heart is therapeutic all by itself. Really an amazing community.