Depression is not just a mental crisis for humans, it hurts chickens too. That’s why I established the Free Feathers Foundation.
Similar to the human version, poultry depression is a mental state of severe despondency in chickens. A study conducted by a poultry research team from Deakin University determined that the causes of the dopamine deficiencies are environmental, like predator presence and restrictive cage size, and social, like intraflock fights and loneliness. I have some experience with the latter.
As a lone rescuee, my first pet chicken had no companions for the entirety of her time in my backyard. When her depressive symptoms manifested, I was too ignorant to understand her loneliness, which ultimately prolonged her conditions and led to her death. But her unexpected end had me reading up on avian illnesses, educating me about poultry depression.
According to the Kimmela Center for Animal Advocacy, common symptoms include isolation, slowed grooming habits, and reduced vocalization, yet stagnant egg production remains the most alarming one, as it reduces profits or benefits for owners. Although there are antidepressants available for chickens, I recognized that accessibility may be a problem for low-income chicken owners due to the unaffordable costs of medication, vet visits, and replacement chickens.
My immeasurable guilt reactivated my interest in vertebrate research to come up with an inexpensive solution to the illness. During my initial reading, I noted that “colorful displays” could stimulate dopamine production in chickens as they piqued their curiosity, so toys had the potential of fulfilling the role. Further research provided that chickens showed higher curiosity levels for colors like bright orange and green and smooth-lined textures like ceramics and mesh.
Combining my love for animal welfare and crafts, I soon got to work and designed toys with consideration of chickens’ research-supported preference for specific colors and textures. With three total prototypes, I worked with my high school’s faculty from the rigorous science, math, and AP Capstone departments in investigating the effectiveness of the ChickFlicks in relieving poultry depression for chickens and boosting their egg production rates.
The chicken toys were a success – research results indicated that depressed chickens who consistently interacted with the ChickFlicks for periods of time upticked production by an average of three eggs per week, and their depressive symptoms were dissolved.
I independently established the Free Feathers Foundation in 2021, intending to distribute toys just throughout Los Angeles City as a small project. Through outreach efforts and public workshops, my organization has expanded the staff team to include students from higher education institutions like the University of Chicago, local pet sanctuaries, and recreational animal organizations like PackLife L.A.
Now, partnered with fourteen ranches, farms, and sanctuaries across California, my Foundation has been solving poultry depression and stagnant egg production for low-income chicken owners of over a thousand chickens! The pioneer solution? ChickFlicks — anti-depression toys for avian species that stimulate dopamine production.
Over the past three years, we have distributed more than seven hundred ChickFlicks all over California and have been recognized as the “Top Veterinary Organization” by PackLife L.A.
“The party’s just starting,” distribution volunteer Ramos Ramone said. “We’re knocking on the doors of other states and countries as we speak. The ultimate goal is to educate every chicken owner.”
Just last year, the organization officially became multi-state and international as we transferred ChickFlicks to Illinois, Texas, snowy ranches in Germany, and humid chicken coops in Bangladesh through our representatives and partnered family ranches in those new networks.
Free Feathers Foundation is currently negotiating transfer routes with seven other U.S. states, contacting local high school administrators to spread the word to student chicken-owners, and in the process of publishing poultry research with Harvard University’s Journal of Emerging Investigators.
In time, the efforts of my organization help to sustain an inexpensive solution to an overlooked avian welfare issue. But the missions have also constructed a new, widespread community of chicken owners who wish to learn more about their feathered companions, ultimately leading the next generation of animal activists.
