Hello HH community, We celebrated our 2nd year anniversary in September, and although the year came with lots of ups and downs, we made strides toward our goals thanks to your support, feedback, and constantly reminding us of our mission to improve the lives of egg-laying hens. We have plenty of updates since we last sent you a newsletter. If you have any questions email us at info@healthierhens.com. |
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September marked the 2 year anniversary of our organisation! We reflected on our year, including lessons learnt, where we went wrong, and where we think we could have done better. Please click the link below to read the full EA forum post. If you would like to provide feedback, you can do so anonymously any time by using this form or by emailing us at info@healthierhens.com | | |
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Our Country Manager, Faisal Qureshi, recently attended the African Animal Welfare Conference in Kigali, Rwanda. He joined representatives from animal welfare organisations across the African continent and took part in group discussions on how hen welfare can be addressed in the global south from both a feed nutrition and a cage-free transition approach. During the conference, Faisal shared a summary of Healthier Hens’ past and current mini-projects and our upcoming strategic plans for the last quarter of 2023. You can see our poster presentation above. |
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Above Video: Our Head of Research, Lukas Jasiūnas, had the opportunity to present and answer questions at Fauna Connections, Faunalytics’ remote symposium for animal advocates, where researchers and NGOs present original findings that can help animal advocates better represent the needs of animals. Lukas shared how over the past year, we looked into Kenyan feed quality, farmer awareness of hen welfare, and on-farm welfare issues on small-scale commercial cage-free farms. Below Video: Earlier this year, Karthik Palakodeti had a chat with Lukas on many aspects of HH work and animal advocacy. Lukas shared about the background of how he ended up in the animal advocacy space, co-founding Healthier Hens, what role nutrition plays in hen welfare, our country selection process, identifying feed quality problems, challenges and some of our current projects. |
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We were honoured to be featured in Africa Network for Animal Welfare (ANAW) magazine’s recent issue. ANAW has provided us with a lot of support during our time in Kenya. We value our collaboration with them, and are glad to contribute to a great source of information on animal welfare. Our article discusses risks posed to hens due to low quality and inconsistent egg-laying hen feed in Kenya. Click the link below to read (pages 14-18). | | |
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We have conducted three more keel bone assessment exercises. Initial data collected indicates that KBF is indeed an issue present on commercial cage-free Kenyan farms, with its prevalence and severity yet to be confirmed (preliminary data: 20-65% prevalence (compared to 13.5-71% as per Keel Bone Damage COST Action Global North data), 6:1 ratio of low-to-high severity fractures. We have also learned how to navigate logistical challenges, and are slowly becoming keel bone scoring experts. Learn more about scoring via this link, and then come back here and make your best guess on the two x-rays below. |
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We are gearing up for our veterinarian training hosted in partnership with the University of Nairobi and Dr. Toscano of the University of Bern. The free workshop will take place on 17-18th of November and is aimed at building up farmed animal welfare assessment capacity in Kenya and will provide Continuing Professional Development credits for participants looking to progress and develop their careers. On the first day, experts will introduce hen welfare, common issues, and the progress in Kenya, as well as demonstrate proper hen handling and welfare assessment. The second day will see experts touching on environment and early-life impacts, good on-farm practices, and conduct hands-on keel bone damage assessments. You can see the full agenda by clicking the link below. During the workshop, we are also showcasing lessons from Coursera’s Chicken Behaviour and Welfare course held by the University of Edinburgh. It is a free course and great source of information for any hen lover out there! Click the link below to take the free online course at your own pace. |
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We are excited to announce that we received a generous grant from the craigslistfund of $45,000. These funds will allow us to operate into Q1 2024 and expand staff, ensuring we have enough resources to see out our mini-projects. We are grateful for this financial runway as it allows us to focus on our mission until the next decision point. Having this support also enables us to stay on track with our measurement and evaluation plans to determine the best next steps for the hens. |
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Our new Field Intern, Kavinya Oduor! Kavinya Oduor is a dedicated Veterinary Paraprofessional with three years of experience in the field. She pursued a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Health and production from Meru University. She has honed her skills and commitments in providing top-notch care and wellbeing to animals. Her love for animals and strong work ethic drives her to continuously learn and improve, making her an integral part of any veterinary team. |
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