Can I Go To A Vet?

[starwarsgrl]

Do vets take chickens? Perhaps that seems like a silly question, but I've never raised chicks before. A big concern of mine is not getting them care if they need it. I also worry it must be horribly expensive, because they aren't animals people typically take in. Anyone with experience with sick chickens, please chime in! I am a planner, so it helps me to know what I might need to expect.

 

[Ms Clucky]

We don't have a chicken vet in Salem, Illinois or in the surrounding area. We just asked a vet in a nearby town to see one of our chickens and he said he would. There needs to be more chicken vets. Chickens are part of a farm too. They deserve the same respect and love as any other pet/farm animal. Don't you agree? I would just call your local vet and ask them if they could look at your chickens. Cry if you have too, I kind of did.

 

[lilmillefleur]

There are vets who treat chickens, typically avian or livestock vets. However like most vets it will be expensive. BYC is always a great place to ask questions on care if your bird is sick too!

 

[Ms Clucky]

There are vets who treat chickens, typically avian or livestock vets. However like most vets it will be expensive. BYC is always a great place to ask questions on care if your bird is sick too!

I didn't know about BYC until this year.

 

[danceswithronin]

Just Google "livestock vet -insert your town and state-" and it should pull up all the local animal hospitals that also treat livestock. Then I'd call them up one by one and see which ones treat chickens. You can also Google "avian vet -insert your town and state-" and it'll pull up which local vets are listed as treating birds, and call them.

I don't know that getting a chicken treated at the vet is terribly expensive - it just seems expensive because the cost of a chicken is only a few dollars usually, whereas a vet bill is usually a few hundred dollars. That's equivalent to what someone would spend on a dog or cat.

People don't feel bad about spending that on a traditional pet animal for whatever reason, but because chickens are a "cheap" animal, they don't want to spend it on a chicken.

 

[Ms Clucky]

Just Google "livestock vet -insert your town and state-" and it should pull up all the local animal hospitals that also treat livestock. Then I'd call them up one by one and see which ones treat chickens. You can also Google "avian vet -insert your town and state-" and it'll pull up which local vets are listed as treating birds, and call them.

I don't know that getting a chicken treated at the vet is terribly expensive - it just seems expensive because the cost of a chicken is only a few dollars usually, whereas a vet bill is usually a few hundred dollars. That's equivalent to what someone would spend on a dog or cat.

People don't feel bad about spending that on a traditional pet animal for whatever reason, but because chickens are a "cheap" animal, they don't want to spend it on a chicken.

You think they would spend some money on a vet bill beings they spent money on a pen,coop, feed, bedding and other things they need and the feed and bedding is a reoccurring thing. But if one gets sick, that's where they cut their budget?

 

[nightowl223]

The biggest problem for a lot of us is that there might not be a vet to take chickens for dozens or more miles away. For example, unless there's been new ones move in (and I check about once a year) there are no vets currently within 60 miles of me that actually examine chickens. There has been one that would hand out antibiotics once I described symptoms, but they didn't actually examine chickens. There was one, over a dozen years ago, that I found, but he retired about 9 years ago, and then that particular vet office closed. Which means I am vet-less unless I drive over an hour away to someone that claims they know chickens, yet I've never actually seen before, while a chicken is bleeding or suffering, while I could at least stop the bleeding, potentially suture up whatever is torn open, or splint something up, and THEN deal with whether or not I go meet this vet. And vets don't really seem thrilled with the idea of you maybe dropping by with a favorite chicken just to meet them and see how they deal with a chicken, LOL!

So, that's why this particular forum exists. We try to share our knowledge, our ideas, and our sympathy with others who are going through something we have gone through before, or have learned about from others.

 

[rosemarythyme]

As others have mentioned most vets don't handle chickens (so many of us handle medical care at home), so if you really want to have a livestock, avian or exotics vet on call you should start looking around now. Some specialty vets can be more expensive than general pet vets so don't be surprised if that's the case.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

Do vets take chickens? Perhaps that seems like a silly question, but I've never raised chicks before. A big concern of mine is not getting them care if they need it. I also worry it must be horribly expensive, because they aren't animals people typically take in. Anyone with experience with sick chickens, please chime in! I am a planner, so it helps me to know what I might need to expect.

A lot of vets don’t see chickens, luckily the vet that I take my dogs to is also an aviary vet, so one time one of my chickens needed some antibiotics because her eye was infected and my vet was able to take care of her.