This won’t make headlines. But if you’ve ever loved a pet, you understand: their lives matter.

We are calling on the FDA to create a pathway that allows veterinarians to prescribe Deslorelin implants for pet chickens—birds who will never enter the food chain, yet are suffering due to outdated regulations.

🐓 The Problem:
Americans across the country have taken the government’s advice and turned to backyard chickens as a way to combat high egg prices and ensure food security. But many didn’t realize that modern hens have been selectively bred to lay 250–300 eggs per year, compared to the 10–15 a wild jungle fowl might lay naturally.

This intense reproductive load leads to devastating illnesses like:

- Egg yolk peritonitis
- Reproductive tumors
- Oviductal infections

Veterinarians know how to help—but they’re banned by the FDA from using Deslorelin, a safe hormone treatment that can stop egg laying and extend a hen’s life.

Deslorelin is allowed in pet parrots, falcons, and ferrets, but not in chickens—just because chickens are classified as "food animals."

In countries such as Australia and the UK, Deslorelin implants are already used effectively to manage such conditions in hens. These implants work by reducing egg production, thereby decreasing the incidence and severity of related diseases. Unfortunately, in the United States, chickens fall under the category of "food birds," which subjects them to stricter regulations and limits the availability of treatments that could greatly improve their well-being.  

The FDA has the power to reconsider its stance and create a pathway that specifically allows veterinarians to prescribe deslorelin implants for chickens that will never enter the food chain. By updating these regulations, the FDA would enable compassionate care for countless pet chickens suffering silently across the nation.

✅ We request:
That the FDA establish a clear and compassionate policy that allows deslorelin to be used in pet chickens, under veterinary supervision. This could include:

-A signed affidavit from the pet owner or veterinarian confirming the bird is not for consumption
- A minor-use/minor-species exemption for pet poultry
- Inclusion of chickens in the same extralabel-use frameworks as other non-food birds

❤️ These Are Not Food—They’re Family
Today’s backyard hens are pets: They have names, personalities, and follow us around like dogs. If we can legally spay and neuter a guinea pig, why can’t we stop a hen from laying herself to death?

This policy is outdated, unscientific, and inhumane. Let’s fix it.

✍️While this may seem like a small issue in the grand scheme of things, the suffering of any creature—especially those we’ve welcomed into our homes as pets—deserves compassion and a solution.  We may not be able to fix every problem in the world, but we can choose to ease suffering where we see it.  Making this simple change could bring comfort and dignity to animals who depend on us.