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HEALTHIER HENS

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STARTED: Incubation Program 2021

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Dr. Kikiope Oluwarore
Co-founder & Head of Field Operations

SEED GRANT: $100,000

MONEY FUNDRAISED TO DATE (Jan 2023):  $240,000

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Isaac Esparza

Co-founder & Head of Logistics

TEAM SIZE: 6

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Lukas Jasiunas, PhD
Head of Research

WEBSITE: https://www.healthierhens.com/

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Improving the welfare of egg-laying hens via cost-effective dietary interventions.

CURRENT OR PREDICTED IMPACT:

  • Acquire robust, geographically-relevant data on the prevalence of poor bone health on commercial cage-free farms in Kenya.

  • Organise a veterinary science training for local professionals to boost on-farm welfare assessment capacity, led by hen welfare experts and co-hosted with the country’s leading university.

  • Explore the feasibility of introducing a welfare certification scheme in the region to improve on-farm conditions.

COST EFFECTIVENESS:

  • An initial internal cost-effectiveness analysis showed that Healthier Hens could start improving the lives of hens at $1.42 per hen upon implementation.

  • Similarly, initial analysis showed that phase two - lobbying efforts, when enforcement follows improved legislation, would decrease the costs to $0.10 per hen. Sam Nolan was kind enough to question and investigate their lobbying CEA.

SIGNIFICANT UPDATES: 

  • After an extensive country selection process, Healthier Hens selected Kenya as the pilot country of operations. In March 2022, they hired a full-time Country Manager who has helped them connect with 35+ farms, 12 feed mills, 13 government officials and industry leaders, as well as scope 7 of 15 egg farming prevalent counties. They have also got 26 commercial feed samples tested. 

  • As they entered year 2 of their operations, the plan was to promote hen welfare knowledge, capacity and network through farmer workshops, outreach and veterinarian training. This endeavored to enable them to conduct a baseline assessment of keel bone fracture prevalence in Kenya to test the hypothesis that the issue is prevalent globally.

  • A calcium timing feeding trial, where the hens get most of their calcium needs in the evening, was conducted in partnership with Dr. Toscano and the University of Bern and has come to an end. The results were negative and not as expected. The findings are disseminated at animal welfare events and through publications.

  • As of March 2023, Healthier Hens downscaled and became a volunteer-led organization. This difficult decision was made due to the current fundraising landscape, and the belief that it will not change in the near future. This means that on-the-ground activities in Kenya were stopped until further notice. The main goals then included transparent reviews of their situation, finalizing farmer and intervention resources, fundraising and strategizing potential pivots for long-term impact.

  • In July 2023, Healthier Hens received an Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE) Movement Grant to conduct three mini-projects they hope will have lasting impact for the hens in East Africa.

ACHIEVEMENTS: 

  • Introduced their intervention to relevant animal welfare and poultry experts, industry professionals, NGOs, and the greater EA community.

  • Selected a country of pilot operations (Kenya), after a rigorous and systematic country scoping exercise.

  • Established an initial Advisory Board from key stakeholder groups.

  • Supported Effective Animal Advocacy community building in Kenya.

  • Facilitated a feed trial in collaboration with the leading keel bone fracture and hen welfare research group oriented at the Global North (Switzerland).

  • Completed Volumes 1,2, & 3 of their Literature Review on feed fortification.

  • Identified commercial hen feed quality and consistency risks in Kenya.

  • Held three farmer workshops in Kenya focused on improving farmed animal (specifically, hen) welfare knowledge and raising awareness

IMPORTANT PUBLICATIONS:

ROOM FOR MORE FUNDING IN 2023 

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