The latest trend in stress relief… a yoga session with chickens!

The phrase ‘zen hens’ conjures up images of brides-to-be pampering themselves, pre-wedding, in a spa surrounded by friends.

In fact it refers to a yoga class where hens of the feathered, egg-laying variety run around clucking as participants go into a downward dog, warrior pose or cat stretch.

Sometimes the hens perch on the yogis’ bodies, but mostly they are simply a soothing presence and the source of their own distinctive soundtrack.

The health benefits of yoga are well known – and yoga with dogs, goats, puppies, cats and even mini pigs is nothing new. But now it is the turn of chickens.

You may be wondering, why? Chicken yoga began in the US – where it is known as

Clucksana – just after the pandemic using silkie hens, which are known for their calm nature. The idea was that the presence of chickens would add to the soothing benefits of yoga – especially at a time when human contact had been in short supply for many.

Interaction with chickens, it turns out, is strongly associated with improved mental wellbeing.

Highly vocal, chickens can make up to 20 different sounds, encouraging us, in turn, to communicate back with them. Their happy, sociable nature is also recognised as having a calming influence on strung-out humans.

Soon chicken yoga was being dubbed ‘the newest trend in stress relief’ by the Yoga Journal and now it has come to the UK.

Former farmer Thalia Rochelle Counsell, founder of Zen Hens, is among those running chicken yoga classes – and she has been staggered by their popularity since she launched hers in Malton, North Yorkshire, three months ago.

‘My hens are small and fuzzy looking – people who come to classes spend the first 15 minutes playing with them, which calms them and the hens,’ she says.

‘For the next 40 minutes they do yoga led by a trained teacher, with the hens scratching around in the same room. I put nappies on all the birds before the class to avoid mess.’

Everyone gets a shot glass of chicken feed if they want to draw a hen to their mat. Sometimes they sit on the

person’s shoulder or arm, but they’re not allowed on heads as most people don’t like their scalp being scratched.

Thalia, whose daughter Merry, 28, is also involved in Zen Hens, says people are soothed by her bantam hens’ gentle clucking – and those with mental health issues reap the most benefit.

‘They feel special when the hens “choose” them to sit with,’ she says. ‘People with special needs also respond well, as they have to remain calm for the birds, and this helps them to manage their emotions.’

Studies have shown the benefits of yoga extend beyond improved flexibility to better bone strength and improved joint pain – and research, including one study in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease in 2023, suggests it may help with memory, too.

There may also be benefits for the heart, with research establishing that it can help cut raised blood pressure. For example, in a 2023 study published in Harvard Health Publishing, 60 people with high blood pressure were assigned a three-month aerobic exercise regimen.

Those who did 15 minutes of yoga at the end of each session lowered their blood pressure by significantly more than those who did standard cool-down stretches.

Another study found that yoga can lower excessive blood sugar levels in some people with diabetes, reducing their reliance on medication. And adding animals – even a humble chicken – into the equation can enhance these benefits, says Clare Thomas-Pino, a lecturer in human-animal interaction at Hartpury University in Gloucestershire.

Just being around chickens or other animals, she says, ‘can have significant calming benefits’.

She adds: ‘Chickens are a way to get people involved in yoga, and as a former chicken owner I can say that they are amazing, intelligent and very understated creatures. We are on our phones constantly, working on computer screens and indoors a lot.

‘Many now work from home and we crave being in nature with animals around us.’

Animals have long been known to have therapeutic benefits for humans.

The first known reference to animals being used in this way was in 1792, when rabbits and poultry were employed to relax visitors to a Quaker Retreat in York. Florence Nightingale reportedly noted that having animals on the ward calmed patients with psychiatric problems.

And there’s a reason for that. Interacting with animals releases feel-good hormones such as serotonin. Research suggests it can also reduce loneliness, lower blood pressure and may help with anxiety. A 2011 study by the University of Skovde in Sweden found that dog owners’ levels of cortisol (a stress hormone) decreased after petting their animals – and their heart rates also reduced significantly.

Animal visits – from therapy dogs to horses and donkeys – in hospitals and care homes are becoming more common, and chickens are being added to the mix here, too.

A project based in Newcastle called Equal Arts operates HenPower, which involves taking hens into care homes while encouraging those living independently to keep hens. Equal Arts says that hens can promote health and wellbeing, reduce loneliness and increase zest for life.

Dr Roger Mugford, an animal behaviour expert who lives and farms in Surrey, says: ‘Chickens are a very calming influence. I talk to mine, and they make such wonderful sounds.

‘Chickens are always happy, or at least they appear to be. When they have laid, they make a special call to spread the news, and when they find a delicious new insect they want to share their joy, so anyone in their orbit will hear another happy sound.

‘Chickens treat humans as family. We are their food source so let’s not get too romantic about it, but they do like us. They want to be around us and engage with us.

‘There is a particular kind of Bantam hen called a Barnevelder, which are bred to be cute and fluffy, but also to be human-oriented and calm, so ideal for chicken yoga. My only warning would be never to let them near your face because they could peck your eyes.’

Chicken yoga is, however, not for everyone: anyone with a bird phobia or allergy, for instance, won’t experience the benefit.

According to The Countryside Alliance, a campaigning body that promotes rural life, chicken yoga could also become more widely available as farmers seek to diversify their livelihoods.

The Alliance’s external affairs officer Johnnie Furse says: ‘Pairing yoga with the soft feathers and gentle clucking of hens is doubtless a soothing experience. We hope schemes like these will help family farms weather the current storm.’

But animal behaviour experts have some concerns. A study published last month by the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment in France, which assessed the impact of human contact on chickens, found that although chickens were calmer around humans, their empathetic natures meant they could also be distressed by spending time with upset people.

And Anne McBride, a companion animal expert and lecturer at Southampton University, is cautious about the therapy use.

She told Good Health: ‘People think it’s good for us, and perhaps it is, but how good are we to them [animals]? Putting nappies on chickens for yoga sessions is protecting our concerns, not the animals’ welfare.’