$80 to put a chicken down?

[Ponyiqandhens2]

You knew the chicken was dying when you took it to the vet ? I really feel for people that cant do it themselves. Vets are making a killing sounds like to me. (no pun intended) I love my chickens as much as the next one but dont think I have one that I would pay that much for and if they didnt tell you the prices before the deed was done shame on them. I would find a different vet and tell them why.
Sorry for your loss

The regulations related to euthasol are extensive,it is exceedingly expensive..because the drugs were being used in lethal injection ( pentobarbital and only made by two european companies) combined with phenytoin..it was in very short supply for last 2 years not sure about now...

Vets overhead is exceedingly expensive and finally they do actually have to make something..very few vets are going into livestock because most livestock vets make less than $50,000 a year the first 10 years in practice ( net) equipment is expensive, see fewer clients etcand massive school loans..there are very few straight avian vets..

$80 is reasonable ..thats what the actual shot cost me for horses plus sedation and farm call and usually emergency call as well.. ,$60 for cats. Not including all the rest that goes with it..
$80 for office visit,euthanasia and possibly disposal isnt bad ( yes vets have to pay to dispose of bodies if the owner does not take them

 

[BKOwen]

Sorry for your loss.
And iI do agree that 700 $ is extreme and evil. I probably would have walked right out of that door with my suffering chicken.

Not sure if that’s meant to be mocking or not.

Again, not really even about the amount.

What is evil is that they let her continue to suffer horrifically as leverage to assure payment.

This creature was literally torn in two with her organs outside of her body. I was not too squeamish to do it myself but was afraid I’d cause her even more suffering, and she deserved better that’s that as it was my fault she was in that condition.

Walking out was not a viable option for me, and it was clear they knew that.

If I were a vet in this scenario and trained in how to do cervical separation, I would just say: “look away,” and would just wring her neck and end her suffering immediately. That is relatively quick and painless if done right… but very painful and awful for the bird if done wrong. I am not trained how to do it right.

A while ago my dad brought his Doberman to the vet, with an appointment to put him down.
My dad loved this dog like his own child and was blubbering like a baby. My dad could not carry him inside as he was too big and heavy. The vet said: “No problem,” and just walked out to the van and injected him where he lay.” It was over in a few seconds. My dad was sobbing, as I have been when putting down beloved pets.

The vet never even sent him a bill.

 

[BKOwen]

And it's a good idea to know how to kill a chicken humanely if you need to. The broomstick method is often recommended by folks on BYC. You might also find another vet now before you need one again, because you will need one again.

Idk why they charged so much. It's likely for the emergency visit, euthanasia, and disposal.

The chicken vets were all closed for a hundred miles around. I am prepared for next time: it will be with my axe; it will be almost instantaneous and painless. But I could not explain to my girlfriend after letting the dogs kill her beloved pet that I then cut her head off.

There was no disposal fee. I took her home.
There is nothing that justifies $700. They simply knew they could get it.

But again, the evil is not the amount but the extortion of letting her suffer until they were paid.

 

[BKOwen]

@BKOwen , I'm really sorry you had to go through all that with your hen.
If you took her to an after-hours animal emergency clinic, my past experience has been that they demand payment before performing any services. Emergency clinics flat just won't perform Any services without up-front payment, not even an initial exam. And the charges are at least 4x more than what a "day vet" charges. Again, I'm really sorry for the tragedy of losing your hen and then the huge fee too.

Once again: not the price. I took my dog in years ago because he was looking very much like my other dog had recently looked when dying from heatstroke. Turns out the dog was stoned . He had found my (kids) secret stash of pot. That vet charged me $700 for a ten second exam, said :”he’s stoned, “ gave him some charcoal. Put him in a kennel and observed him overnight. So that was ridiculously expensive, but I get it, and didn’t complain (much).

I would have paid afterward for my hen’s euthanasiaI whatever I promised because I am an honorable person. But that is irrelevant. A decent human being would not let her continue to suffer horrifically like that whether they got paid or not.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Once again: not the price. I took my dog in years ago because he was looking very much like my other dog had recently looked when dying from heatstroke. Turns out the dog was stoned . He had found my (kids) secret stash of pot. That vet charged me $700 for a ten second exam, said :”he’s stoned, “ gave him some charcoal. Put him in a kennel and observed him overnight. So that was ridiculously expensive, but I get it, and didn’t complain (much).

I would have paid afterward for my hen’s euthanasiaI whatever I promised because I am an honorable person. But that is irrelevant. A decent human being would not let her continue to suffer horrifically like that whether they got paid or not.

I would probably feel similarly (outside of the evil/sociopath thing) but I see the other side of it, too. I know from working with student internships and externships that vets must have payment up front. If they don't, folks walk away, especially someone who they have no history with. If they have an established relationship with you, they might work with you regarding payment.

I hope your gf is ok.

 

[Chicken poppy]

No, I don’t think I do understand what you’re saying, and I’m fairly certain I don’t want to. I described very clearly that these people, who’s job it is to ease the suffering of animals, refused to do anything to relieve the animals suffering unless and until they extracted $700 from me,
And that if I did not or could not get this money on a moments notice the were absolutely unambiguous they they would leave her to continue her slow agonizing death. This is not about me, and it’s not about the money: it’s about these people standing by and letting her suffer horrifically.

And from that your take away is that they might have their feelings hurt by my harsh criticism of a horrific act? And that I should get a ticket from the politeness police?

Ok. Let me try my best to say what im trying to clearly.
I am not talking about this vet, not at all. I am quoting what you said in a post of “one hate comment doesn’t matter”
Because they do. I hope this is clear. You cannot say that one hate comment will make no difference because in general one can make the world of one.

Again, NOT referring to this vet because if you read what i said, no matter if you‘re right or the vet is right, and no matter how wrong they are, it‘s just, in my opinion, a strange thing to say because its untrue.

 

[ShrekDawg]

None of the vets I’ve been to have charged upfront. They do the exam, shots, whatever, first and then you pay before you leave. But that’s for dogs and cats. Maybe it’s different with birds. I don’t really see how anyone can really charge upfront though because they don’t know how much it’s going to cost or what services you’re going to get. It doesn’t make sense to me. We’ll see with Brew’s neuter if they make us pay upfront or not.

 

[Chicken poppy]

Not sure if that’s meant to be mocking or not.

Again, not really even about the amount.

What is evil is that they let her continue to suffer horrifically as leverage to assure payment.

This creature was literally torn in two with her organs outside of her body. I was not too squeamish to do it myself but was afraid I’d cause her even more suffering, and she deserved better that’s that as it was my fault she was in that condition.

Walking out was not a viable option for me, and it was clear they knew that.

If I were a vet in this scenario and trained in how to do cervical separation, I would just say: “look away,” and would just wring her neck and end her suffering immediately. That is relatively quick and painless if done right… but very painful and awful for the bird if done wrong. I am not trained how to do it right.

A while ago my dad brought his Doberman to the vet, with an appointment to put him down.
My dad loved this dog like his own child and was blubbering like a baby. My dad could not carry him inside as he was too big and heavy. The vet said: “No problem,” and just walked out to the van and injected him where he lay.” It was over in a few seconds. My dad was sobbing, as I have been when putting down beloved pets.

The vet never even sent him a bill.

No one is mocking you. They were being literal. This thread is about 5 years old and i would really recommend making a thread about this to talk about it elsewhere if you want to continue to discuss it.

 

[Byrd gal]

Then why did you go to that vet?

Just FYI - I just dropped $800 one of my ducks last week, and I've spent over $1k on one of my chickens. Very reputable vets. Vets are just expensive, even if they aren't sociopathic.

What in the world was wrong with your chicken? Did it survive? Not cosmetic feather implants was it? No really, I am asking seriously. I had too many biscuits this morning and on a carb high. Sorry.

 

[Aunt Angus]

What in the world was wrong with your chicken? Did it survive? Not cosmetic feather implants was it? No really, I am asking seriously. I had too many biscuits this morning and on a carb high. Sorry.

She had a severe eye infection. Two emergency trips, two rounds of antibiotics, and a surgical draining of the massive abscess behind her eye. She is alive and laying eggs! She lost use of her eye, but she is fabulous!