Feature:
How Therapy Chickens Are Helping Patients With Anxiety
“We usually associate therapy animals with being dogs, but many other animals — horses, cats, rabbits & even chickens — can provide assistance with mental & physical health.
Mountain House, a Santa Barbara-based adult residential facility, has recently implemented a program that uses chickens to help comfort their patients who have been diagnosed with mental illness & high anxiety...
Each patient gets a stipend so they can properly care for the chickens every day. On average, the patients spend about an hour & a half taking care of & spending time with the chickens...
Mountain House isn’t the only organization that has incorporated a poultry therapy program on its grounds. Chickens are becoming more common as therapy animals. Organizations have used chickens to provide companionship to the elderly & kids with autism.
...there is evidence that chickens have high intelligence & can easily create personal bonds with humans. In 2013, a study out of the University of Bristol found that chickens can outperform human toddlers in certain intelligence tests.
Chickens also have their very own means of communication. Each sound means something different in 'chicken language' & researchers have identified up to 30 different types of vocalizations, which include alarm calls if a predator is near, calls for their young, & calls for when food is around. In addition... they are able to recognize up to 100 different individuals, which include humans. They also have their own societal class system.
The intelligence of chickens goes far beyond problem solving. They exhibit emotional intelligence traits that are surprisingly human-like. Chickens enjoy playing & exercising. Mother hens...will actually “talk” to her chicks when they are inside the egg.
...chickens are smart, empathetic, emotional creatures that are easy for humans to bond with.”
Lindsay Patton
August 17/ 2016
care2.com
Cute Critter Pic
Weekly Chuckle
Memorial
Minette- Nov. 3/2012 Adrian's cat passed away after battling diabetes. You were a good'in. RIP
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