When Tanya Bailey was diagnosed with cancer in 2016 , she already knew thatanimals could have a big wallop on mental wellness . As a licenced clinical social doer who speciate in animal - attend to therapy , Bailey has spent her career finding meaningful ways for multitude and animals to interact . It was n’t until that Crab diagnosis , though , that Bailey got to see in action just how important the fauna - human bond can be in the most acute situations . Bailey had always lovedher Gallus gallus , she says , but during her treatment , they gave her a rationality to keep blend .
“ We have cats , and we have dogs , ” she say . “ So it ’s not like I did n’t have other existence in my biography , but [ the chickens ] really required me to go to them , which meantI had to be intentionalabout doing that . I would go out and sit out of doors with them and just be there , because otherwise , I would just go back to layer and sleep the whole meter . They were incentive for me to detain engaged with sprightliness a small bit . ”
Going alfresco and being with her wimp was one of the few things during a chaotic and dread time that she had control over . Every clock time she went outside to spend sentence with them , she regained agency in her life , little by little .
Nathan Bailey ’s story helped reinforce for her the reasons why she believe in the power of beast - assisted therapy . In her therapypractice and in her current role as the animal - serve interaction coordinator of thePAWS ( Pet by Worry & Stress ) program at the University of Minnesota , she had seen the magic that different fauna could have on mass who need a small furred ( or , in the shell of wimp , feathery ) affection . She also has always fuck chickens and thought they had a particular position in healing work . Now , with her own tarradiddle in tow , she gets to see that illusion remain every daylight .
She ’s not the only one . More and more animal- assisted therapy programs are include chickens and other poultry animal in their practice . And as many node begin to see when they start working with a chicken , preconceived melodic theme about shuttle are starting to fly the coop .
Chickens Can Make a Change
According to the American Psychological Association , animal - assisted therapy is “ the therapeutic use of pets to enhance mortal ’ physical , societal , emotional or cognitive functioning . creature - attend therapy may be used , for example , to aid hoi polloi get and give affection , especially in developing communicating and social skill . ”
Any animal can be used in brute - assisted therapy , but pawl and horses are the reigning favorites in the genial wellness kingdom . At Animal Assisted Therapy Programs of Colorado ( AATPC ) , therapists mold alongside 11 specie of beast — include chickens — on a 3 1/2 - Akka ranch in suburban Arvada , Colorado , to help anyone who can do good from the solace of a critter during mental and behavioral wellness services .
For Becki Taylor , the development theater director at AATPC , the motion is n’t why chickens . It ’s why not .
“ I really trust that any animal has some therapeutic lesson to supply , ” Taylor says . “ An animal does n’t have to be sitting in your lap , exceedingly cuddly and kissing you all the metre to be a therapy animal . Each animal provides their own unique impact to therapy . ”
Their small flock of chickens exist alongside goats , alpaca , horse , miniature sawhorse , donkey , French Guinea hog , rat , hare , cats and andiron . Therapy clients at AATPC — ofttimes kid — can do their therapy alongside dissimilar beast at each session , and their therapist often help them sail the challenge of their life by keep an eye on and interact with the animals .
For exemplar , some baby necessitate to do their therapy sessions with animals that are more personable or familiar , such as a dog or a cat . Some child , on the other hand , can better relate to the attitudes of the farm fauna , such as alpaca or chickens . In any of the fundamental interaction , therapist can employ the animals ’ temperaments and exchanges with not only the client , but also with other animate being , as accounting entry breaker point into conversation .
“ creature - assisted therapy has a really special way of connecting people to emotions and feelings and see new ingredient about themselves , ” Taylor says . “ Animals kind of have this way of being able to unlock thing in us that a traditional counseling setting may not be capable to near . ”
When therapy clients make with Gallus gallus , they can confront any awe they may have around birds , as well as rethink some of their biases . This often allows healer to necessitate questions about the relationship in a client ’s life , and the ways they find misunderstood or judged . Some node ascertain the birds and make observation about the pecking order within a flock , and then therapists can use that as an opportunity to talk about bullying .
In accession , chickens can be used to aid children better understand themselves and their kinsperson .
“ A flock of chickens can be a beautiful exemplar of a blended family for those that have been acquire , are children of divorce or are creating their families by adopting , ” order Kim Dennis , a master ’s level houseman at AATPC who frequently work with chickens and also used to keep volaille .
“ Chickens have unique personality that clients can observe and come to know , which speaks to the uniqueness of all people . I sleep with seeing clients develop loving relationship with their favorite chicken and being activated about that bond , as for most , it ’s their first prison term interact with a crybaby . ”
Dennis also place out that chickens can help children instruct regulation and how to tranquilize themselves so as to be able to interact with the chickens without scaring them . wimp are also great to help her node grind themselves by using a 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 exercise .
“ What are five colors I see on this chicken ? ” Dennis says . “ What are four texture ? What are three things I ’m hearing from this Gallus gallus ? And so on . Chickens also seem to enjoy being obtain while a person is reflect , so I have definitely done this before as well . ”
It ’s not just about what the chickens can learn , though . It ’s also about the comfort a chicken can provide just by being there . Kathy Hulley , a licensed professional counsellor and carbon monoxide - founder of theMane Mission in Sedalia , Colorado , never expect to see the kind of unplumbed fundamental interaction between her clients and chickens that she has now seen . The first prison term she saw a chicken making an impact , it was with a guest who was a sex activity - trafficking subsister . This client had rise up on a farm with volaille , and when she came out to the Mane Mission for animal - assisted therapy , she gravitated toward the farm ’s small coop .
She and one of the chickens tie instantly , and she walked around with the chicken in her arms , even eat her lunch sitting justly next to the bird and post it on the back of a horse .
Hulley is the first to allow in that she is n’t a Gallus gallus expert . But while she ca n’t secern one breed from the next , she can severalize when something is working to benefit the mental wellness of her clients .
“ An animal will pick out you , ” she says . “ When [ that customer ] went out there with the chickens , that one chose her . It was such a beautiful moment for me , because I did n’t expect that , and the look of healing on her nerve was just crazy . I think all brute smell your calmness , and the chickens are no unlike . They just know who is hurting . You never have sex when somebody come out here what animal is fit to bear on their heart . ”
The Right Therapy Chickens for the Job
Bailey is raging about Rhode Island Reds . There ’s something special about the strain . To this day , after years of spending time around chickens , when she walk onto a farm , a Rhode Island Red is the first to set about her .
Unsurprisingly , this breed was one of the first she worked with in a therapeutical electrical capacity . She larn cursorily , though , that due to spawn for production , the inherited feature article of the Reds conduct to little life and less prison term she could drop nurturing and bind with an animal she bed . So her research on longer - exist chicken breeds pointed her back to the drawing add-in , and lead her to her current snort of a feather — silkies .
“ I could n’t believe how cunning they were , ” Bailey say . “ When I do work with people with sort of the ‘ veritable ’ chicken , a lot of multitude are really hesitant . The fantastic thing about silkies is they do n’t look like a Gallus gallus . They reckon like ottoman balls . ”
That ’s one of the things she loves most about silkies is how they help oneself break down people ’s defence . The students she works with at the University of Minnesota systematically tell her that they never would have think petting a wimp would be so comforting and that they never expected a crybaby to be so personable or smart . Those timbre — plus the simpleness of education and inherent redolence of the strain — are what throw them a claw up in Bailey ’s book .
But even though silkies are her go - to therapy chicken now , Bailey is quick to point out that they are far from the only breed suitable for the job .
“ Any crybaby can do this study … if they want to and … if they have the right cooperator that also want to do the work with them , ” she say . “ In the right hands with somebody that knows birds , they probably could pick up any wimp and make it work . ”
It comes down to personality and traits , accord to Dennis at AATPC . If a Gallus gallus is comfortable around people and can be safely handled , it has the potential to be a good therapy chicken .
With Great ImpactComes Great Responsibility
Just like it is a healer ’s job to check the prophylactic and well - being of their client , it ’s important that any human race work in animal - assisted therapy create quad and environment that are safe for chickens and other animals involve . This not only signify paying attention to cues and not pushing retiring boundaries , but it also mean recognizing therapy animate being as coworkers and partners in therapy , rather than just as instrument to do the work .
“ I call them literally my co - therapist , my carbon monoxide gas - pedagogue and my - cobalt facilitators because they are candidly doing just as much , if not more of the work than what I ’m doing , ” Bailey say .
She pointed to an ethical quandary presently at play in the fauna - assisted therapy universe , in which the field itself is working to recognize the impact it has on the animals within it . That wallop is n’t always positively charged , and that ’s why her focus is on a form of parity between herself , her customer and her furry and feathery carbon monoxide - therapists .
At AATPC , there is a recitation - wide stress on ensuring the brute always have an out . “ At the ranch we ensure that all fauna are able to say ‘ no ’ in the way of life they can to being in a session , which accentuate the grandness of consent and respecting the wish of others , ” Dennis say .
The Heart of the Matter
Animal - attend to therapy is for everyone , and any person can profit from the dearest of an beast , the Mane Mission ’s Hulley emphasized . The ecumenical nature of it comes from the fact that every animal has its own unparalleled personality , just like every soul who comes to their farm . There are people who gravitate to the horses or those , like the trafficking subsister , who find solace in the company of a chicken . Even the Mane Mission ’s resident fussy goofball determine honey with some of the farm ’s visitant , now and then .
It make out down to the bulwark that animals can facilitate humanity break down . That ’s why creature - assisted therapy workings , and , as Bailey knows well than most , that ’s why chickens and other fauna can make life just a little more worth living .
“ When you are with an animal , you ca n’t be disengaged from your gut , ” she says . “ You ca n’t be disengaged from your heart , because an animal makes that connection for you . I think we , as human being , think thing have to be hard and difficult for sour , but [ chickens ] really solidified for me the power of simple — the superpower of the footling things .
“ You do n’t need to have this big , dun horse running full steam or a backyard full of llama . [ Chickens ] are such a beautiful instructor of being present , retrieve the humor and find the joy . ”
This article originally appeared in the Nov./Dec . 2023 issue ofChickensmagazine .
