HEALTHIER HENS

Isaac Esparza

Co-founder & Head of Logistics

• Our initial cost-effectiveness analysis shows that we can start improving the lives of 137,000 hens per year at $1.60 per hen by the end of year two.

• Our lobbying efforts, if legislation and enforcement is passed, would increase our impact to an estimated 4.6 million hens over 10 years at $0.60 per hen.

• March 2022: After an extensive country selection process, we have selected Kenya as our pilot country of operations. We have hired a Country Manager who will start helping us lay the groundwork for our intervention in March 2022. We are also considering a new scoping plan to conduct our pilot for two dietary interventions (feed fortification and split-feeding) in a controlled setting (private research facilities) before moving to a commercial setting in our country of operations.

• Nov.-Dec. 2021: We are completing in-person country visits in Germany, Kenya, and the United States to gather more data before selecting our country of operations at the end of the year.

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

• Completed volume 1 & 2 of our Literature Review

• Granted funds from the EA Infrastructure Fund so we can help grow the EA community in Kenya, and attend EA conferences to network and learn. 

• EA Forum: Introducing Healthier Hens

• Country Mini-Reports: Australia, Canada, Chile, Dominican Republic, Germany, India, and Nigeria.

• Full Country Reports: Kenya, Germany, and the United States

• Literature review Vol. 1 & Vol. 2

• We are currently in need of funds for the rest of our Year 1 budget and Year 2 operations.  

• For our remaining Year 1 costs, we need $40,000 to support the costs of initiating a full pilot program to validate the proposed intervention of feed fortification and, most importantly, evaluate its welfare impacts on egg-laying hens so that we can update our cost-efficacy metrics.

• Also, if we move forward with conducting our pilot in a controlled setting, room for funding ranges from 105,000 to $135,000 for Year 1. This additional funding will support the costs of initiating and completing a full pilot program in a controlled research facility along with building and maintaining a presence in our country of operations so we are ready to conduct a trial in a commercial setting as we scale up.

• For Year 2, we are seeking $170,000 to cover operational and intervention costs. This funding will support the implementation of our intervention in a commercial setting, will allow us to hire a specialist and upskill/train current staff, and will enable us to evaluate our potential impact with experts, the EA community, and future partners