Hannah Crowe
With more than 30 chickens in her own backyard flock, Hannah Crowe knew she would have to incorporate hens and their intrinsic value into her MSc thesis. The chicken ‘boom’ over the past several years has seen a rise in the popularity of owning chickens amongst urban and rural environments whilst the recent pandemic allowed people more time at home and drove the need for a sustainable food source. Owning chickens not only provides eggs but promotes well-being and mental health for those who own them.
This is a crucial time for researching into the trends and numbers of owners across the UK, understanding the social influence chickens now have will ultimately improve their welfare and progress further research of these impressive animals.
Jenny Mace
Jenny is a remote visiting lecturer with the Centre for Animal Welfare at the University of Winchester. She is the lead author of two papers concerning human relationships with nonhuman animals; the first is published in the journal Animals. She has also produced a report on chicken welfare for an Israeli animal welfare charity, and Faunalytics has published several of her research articles.
Jenny’s keen to focus the bulk of her foreseeable research on optimising the care of pet chickens, particularly ex-commercial chickens. She is especially interested in researching novel and emergent care-taking practices such as the use of the Suprelorin hormonal implant as a means of healthcare in hens. Jenny is also an academic editor and editing co-ordinator for an academic editing company. She is a committed animal carer with two adopted cats, one adopted dog and three ex-commercial hens.
