Hatchery delivers chicks to care home for therapy
By Mike Bunge
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MASON CITY, Iowa (KIMT) — Four chicks arrived at the IOOF Home and Community Therapy Center on Monday morning, part of a program designed to provide emotional support for elderly residents.
The chicks came from Hoover’s Hatchery, a local Iowa hatchery that has been in business since 1944. The birds will live at the facility for the next six to eight weeks while they grow their feathers and gain size.
Residents will be able to spend time near the chicks. Staff will care for them, and family members visiting loved ones will stop by the brooder.
“Having that emotional support from an animal does provide some comfort for the residents,” IOOF Spokesman Anthony Romualdo said. “Some residents don’t even have family.”
Programs placing chickens in care facilities have spread across the United States and internationally. A program called HenPower has placed chickens in more than 40 UK care homes since 2011, and Northumbria University found measurable reductions in loneliness and depression among residents.
In 2013, the Life Care Center of Nashoba Valley in Massachusetts introduced chickens as a calming tool for residents with dementia. Similar programs have since expanded nationwide.
Experts say chickens trigger long-term memories in residents who grew up around farms. They give people a daily reason to engage through feeding, watching and collecting eggs, and they calm dementia patients in ways other animals do not.
The birds can be observed from a window, fed from a wheelchair or held in the lap. Mobility is not a barrier.
The chickens may also bring families back to visit more often. Kids love being around chicks, giving grandchildren a reason to visit more frequently.
“It’s a big draw for our facility and our residents, families and staff to bring little ones,” Romualdo said. “Anytime we have events like our Easter egg hunt or Halloween, we have kids running around here everywhere and the residents just love it.”
Hoover’s Hatchery hand-selected four breeds for IOOF Home, each chosen for personality and visual interest. The breeds include a Sapphire Gem, a New Hampshire Red, a Production Blue and a Blue Breasted Brown Leghorn.
When the chicks are ready to move outside, Hoover’s will return to install a Lean-To Easy Clean Chicken Coop. The coop is designed to make daily care easier for staff and residents.
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