HEALTHIER HENS

Isaac Esparza

Co-founder & Head of Logistics

• Our initial cost-effectiveness analysis shows that we can start improving the lives of hens 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.

• After an extensive country selection process, we have selected Kenya as our pilot country of operations. In March 2022, we hired a full-time Country Manager who has helped us connect with 35+ farms, 12 feed mills, 13 government officials and industry leaders, as well as scope 7 of 15 egg farming prevalent counties. We have also submitted 26 commercial feed samples for testing as we gather data for our upcoming feed fortification trial. 

• As we enter year 2 of our operations, we will promote hen welfare knowledge and capacity through farmer workshops, outreach and veterinarian training. This will also enable us to conduct a baseline study on keel bone fracture prevalence in Kenya, and measure the direct efficacy of dietary interventions on keel bone fractures via pilot feed trials. 

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

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

• Initiated a feed trial in collaboration with the leading keel bone fracture and hen welfare research group.

• Completed Volumes 1 & 2 of our Literature Review on feed fortification.

• Held three farmer workshops in Kenya focused on promoting animal (and specifically, hen) welfare knowledge and capacity.

• Established our initial Advisory Board from key stakeholder groups.

• Supported community building for Effective Altruism.

• 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

• Lessons learned from country visits and pilot country selection – Healthier Hens 6M Update

• We are currently in need of funds for the rest of our Year 2 operations. We are aiming to secure $76k in funding for a 3 month runway beginning Q4 of 2022 or $127k for a 6 month runway, as to focus our attention on impact rather than fundraising efforts. In total, we need $180,000 more for Y2 operations. 

• Also, as we enter year 2 we will continually grow in capacity on the ground as we add personnel, including a welfare/poultry nutritionist specialist, upskill/train current staff, and continue to implement interventions and evaluate our potential impact with experts, the EA community, and future partners.