Once a month, the Healing Hens nonprofit visits the residents at Signature Pointe Senior Living Home in Dallas.
"These are silky chickens, " Healing Hens President Kris Munster told curious resident Glenda Egans. "They are so neat," Egans exclaimed.
Silky chickens are a smaller breed of chicken. They have a poof of soft feathers on top of their heads, kind of like a poodle. "Toby is one of our supermodels," Munster said pointing to a dark brown hen. "They come in a lot of fun, beautiful colors and they're just interesting."
"She's so cute," Egan said petting a hen. "I would keep her!"
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After the summer, Signature Pointe will keep 4 silky chickens from Healing Hens on the property in a permanent coop. They are the first to participate in the Healing Hens pilot program for senior homes. The birds are kind of like therapy dogs...except with feathers.
"First of all, it makes me smile," resident Martha Horne said. "And then it just makes me feel good."
Egan started Healing Hens nonprofit after she moved from the city to the country. She felt isolated and needed companionship and connection, so she got a few silky chickens. Eagan said the hens helped lift her spirits, so she thought maybe they could do the same for those living in senior homes.
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"I feel like as a society we often forget about that portion of the population and it just hurts my heart," Munster said. "I feel like we can do more to help."
"It's definitely emotional," Signature Pointe Executive Director Blaire Freshwater said. "It's heart medicine. It's therapeutic for their mind. It's something to ease their anxiety and worry about not being home right now."
"It really brightened up my day. Because I was just sitting in my room doing nothing," Egans said. "Therapy came of course and I wasn't too interested in that, but she told me the chickens were gonna be here and I said ok 'cause I love animals!"
Healing Hens will provide the chickens, coop, and feed for the birds when they move to Signature Pointe. Munster hopes to expand to other senior living facilities.
"A lot of people have told me it's the highlight of their day," Munster said.
