Boy, the cost of a "chicken vet" is outragious...

[Omran]

can you try to see the agreecalture department, they are ver helpful around here in KY and they will do tests for free.

 

[NYREDS]

Didn't read the whole thread so if I'm repearing something already posted I apologize. If all you saw was a little of what might have been blood in a dropping one time then I wouldn't even worry about it.
Personally I've never seen the wisdom in taking a $5 chicken to a $50 [or more] Vet appointment. Bad economics from my point of view.

 

[Akane]

Depends if your raising chickens for eggs/meat/money or pets. I'd take a free dog to the vet for a several $100 if not $1000s vet bill if needed. My registered akita rang up more than it cost to buy her in the first place with her first vet bill and she'll never make me a dime. The kitten I found laying on the middle of the highway cost me $300 for a pet I didn't want and will probably have for the next 8+ years.

 

[Beekissed]

A new chick costs $1.24, a laying hen anywhere from $5-$15. Paying anything more than that for vet care for a chicken doesn't make much sense. If you have plenty of money, then I would say to go ahead and pay it. If you don't, I would say cull the bird and replace it.

 

[Akane]

I'm gonna repeat.. If I got a free dog I would pay money for it's vet care. I wouldn't just kill it and get a new dog. All my cats are free but they get vet care. I don't kill them and get new cats. It all depends if your looking at chickens as pets or income of some sort.

 

[NancyDz]

Quote:
Your right it doesnt make sense to you but it does for some. What you pay for something doesnt determine its worth. Obviously to you hens are disposable, but to others they arent.
THe OP asked what vet rates were, not if you thought she should pay it. Definitely a personal decision.

 

[dturren]

Thank you, everyone, for your thoughts and comments. I am one of those who look at the animals that live with me (2 dogs, 2 cats, and 3 chickens) as my responsibility to care for. I don't have alot of money...but I do try to give the dogs/cats their annual physical and fix what I can afford to fix. One of my Corgies has a slipped disk which is making her paralized in her hips. The cost for surgery would be $6000 to $8000. I don't have that kind of money so I am trying the various other things my "doggie" vet is recommending. I feel the same about the chickens. If I find out one just has worms, then I can afford to treat her for that. I sure wouldn't want to kill one of my lovely Wyandotte girls just over worms...Luckily I called the Sonoma County Humane Society (as recommended by Nancy) and got an appointment for tomorrow morning.

Maybe I can learn how to check for worms on my own and save the vet for special emergencies. Anything I can do on my own I want to learn. Thanks, again, to everyone. Donna

 

[lakeshorenc]

I had a hen that had blood in her pooh, but I just kept a watch on her and she is doing fine now. That was this past fall. The blood lasted about 2 weeks or so. It went away and she is a great layer now, an egg a day!

 

[ghulst]

Raised chickens for 50 years and never went to a vet yet. They almost always get better.

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
Your right it doesnt make sense to you but it does for some. What you pay for something doesnt determine its worth. Obviously to you hens are disposable, but to others they arent.

THe OP asked what vet rates were, not if you thought she should pay it. Definitely a personal decision.
​

The OP asked what vet rates were because she obviously is weighing costs. You are correct, it is a personal decision. But this question was asked on a public forum. The fact that she is trying to save money on the vet costs suggests that she may not wish to spend as much as the vets are asking.

If money is then to be an issue, then other money saving alternatives might be an option(which I have helpfully offered). Chickens being primarily, and traditionally, a food source, and costs being a concern for the OP, it generally makes more sense to forego costly vet care for a not so costly animal. The OP did not indicate in her post if this animal were considered a pet, therefore, I did not gear my response towards that consideration. If she had I might not have offered a solution alternative at all.

THe OP asked what vet rates were, not if you thought she should pay it.

AS the OP described the vet rates as "outrageous" I felt I could properly assume that she felt in a quandary about paying for these high quotes. I was merely trying to help her in her quandary, not tell her I didn't think she should pay them. If she did not want help in this matter, maybe she should have not posted her opinion on the rates as being "outrageous", nor asked questions regarding their appropriate costs.

You are correct in assuming that I find chickens disposable, and anyone who has ever eaten chicken in this world must agree. You must "dispose" of them before they can be converted into food.​