Coops for Troops
Providing Chickens and Serenity to Veterans and Their Families
Reading Time: 5 minutes
Coops for Troops provides chickens, a coop, a starter pack of feed and supplies to returning veterans and their families.
“Veterans and their families pay a high price for our freedom,” Brad Hauter says in his Coop Dreams video. Veterans may suffer emotionally or physically, and their families are also not immune. Chickens have been shown to be great companion animals and useful pets.
“The idea was born while the Coop Dreams team was on a field trip filming in Texas,” Hauter says. “Our hosts took us on their weekly visit to a local nursing home. The residents got such joy out of the experience of holding the chicks and chickens. Their eyes lit up —even the non-verbal residents — they cooed to the chickens and shared stories from their childhood.”
After that visit Hauter learned of a young girl in Australia who was using chickens to help the autistic community (she is autistic herself). A little more research turned up articles on therapy chickens.
“Turns out chickens are great for providing companionship and a sense of purpose — without being as emotionally needy or as commitment heavy as something like a dog or cat,” Hauter says. “So they are, in fact, great for those with depression, autism or PTSD. As a team, we decided to put together a presentation for a military family as a trial. The response was so great that we moved forward and adopted it as our own on-going outreach program.”
Deployment Locations of Recipients:
- Afghanistan
- Djibouti
- El Salvador
- Germany
- Iraq
- Kuwait
- Persian Gulf
- Qatar
Military Jobs Held by Recipients:
- Army Infantry
- Calvary Scout
- Civil Engineer
- Fighting Vehicle Commander
- Humvee Guner
- Intelligence Analyst
- Mechanic
- Medic
- Munitions Specialist
- Special Forces
- Tank Driver
Most common injuries/impacts suffered by recipients:
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- PTSD
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Mood swings
- Anger management issues
- Loss of limbs
- Loss of self-worth
- Lack of emotional affect
- Negative impact/withdrawal from spouse/family/other relationships
- Required Medical Board retirement
Today, Coops for Troops has made 16 presentations to branches of the armed services in nine states. Coops for Troops will provide chickens, a coop, a starter pack of feed and supplies to returning veterans, the families of deployed military personnel, military schools, and VA hospitals and retirement homes. Here are some of the recipients:
Michael Trost and Wife, Stephanie
Michael served 32 years in the Army. The last position heheld was as a Civil Affairs Specialist/Infantryman I Boldak, Afghanistan. Betrayed by an Afghani Police Officer that had been training with them, his unit was ambushed. He lost most of his right hand and his right leg was destroyed and eventually amputated. After amputation, Army surgeons used his big toe to fashion a new thumb for him and Mike named it “Toemas”. In the hospital for months upon months, it was touch and go. Since his recovery, he and his wife Stephanie have worked tirelessly to help veterans struggling with the after-effects of deployment.
You can learn more about this work at hopeforwarriors.org
Paul Caifa and Family
Paul joined the Army to help fund the cost of medical care and medications for his family. He served seven years in the Army in Djibouti, Africa. A traumatic brain injury and PTSD led to depression and mood swings. His wife has multiple sclerosis and both children have autism, as does Paul. Upon returning, he was depressed and disconnected from the family. Nominated by his 11 year old son, Nathan, who thought chickens would be a great way for him to reconnect with his father after his deployment.
Nathan’s strategy worked —since that time they have added additional chickens, turkeys and goats to their homestead.
Brian Doyne
Brian came from a military family with his cousins, father and grandfather all serving. Brian dropped out of college to enlist. He joined the Army Infantry, starting as Scout Sentry, and then to EOD (bomb squad). As an EOD Specialist and Army Sgt he went out to rescue a driver trapped in a tank. While processing the site, a secondary IED was triggered. Brian lost an arm, part of his jaw and some teeth, both legs shattered below knee, lost his left eye, broken skull and his left lung collapsed. After recovery and leaving the Army, he moved to the country to get away from loud noises and bright lights. He wanted to add chickens to his homestead. After the Coops for Troops presentation, he has added chickens into his life and is now looking into getting goats.
Bonnie Hoppa
Bonnie also comes from a military family, with one grandfather having been a Green Beret and the other a Marine. She joined the Navy as an Intelligence Analyst at 19 (she had a young child to support) and thought it would be a good, steady income with health benefits for the family. She served for 10 years in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom and was also stationed in Ft. Meade, Qatar, and on the USS George Washington off the coast of Japan during tensions with North Korea.
She came home from leave after one of her deployments to find that her husband had left with their child. She received legal custody from the courts and she and her mom set out to find her son. The search was successful, and Bonnie’s mom took in the child. From that point, Bonnie supported her child, her mom and her three younger siblings. Bonnie returned to the Navy from leave for her next assignment.
Eventually Bonnie received a medical discharge for PTSD and mental health issues due to depression and moved in with her mom, her siblings and her own son. Eventually her mom got back on her feet and moved out on her own — and nominated Bonnie for Coops for Troops.
You can nominate a veteran or military family by filling out a simple form on their website at https://coopdreams.tv/coops-for-troops. On the same page you can donate to this cause. You can see some episodes of Coops for Troops (including these recipients) on their Coop Dreams App (available free on the App Store or Google Play).
Originally published in the October/November 2022 issue of Backyard Poultry and regularly vetted for accuracy.
Thank you for all you are doing to help vets. I have twenty chickens and I like to watch them plus you get fresh eggs.