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I'm sorry, but that's really harsh. Most people who keep chickens must learn to take care of most of their needs themselves. It's not possible, feasible, practical, or necessary to run every sick or injured chicken to a veterinarian. That's one reason for these forums, for us to learn the best ways to care for our chickens by ourselves. This used to be common knowledge in our culture. How many homesteaders hitched up the team to carry a sick chicken into town for professional attention?
For many of us new to keeping chickens there is a lot of things we need to learn about every aspect of their care. Including all the very unpleasant but necessary tasks such as suturing, splinting, and efficient culling. In many situations that call for culling it would be more barbaric & inhumane to make the animal wait while you made an appointment with a vet, confined it to a container, drove it across town, and waited your turn in the office before it was put out of its misery.
Chihuahuamom,
and best wishes for a happy & healthy flock.
I agree. I think it behooves us to become as learned as we can and to handle our own business as much as we can - within reason of course. There is a time to seek professional help, but to be dependent on professional help is ...... well, it seems to me a little irresponsible. Sick chickens don't really have time to wait for veterinarians.
And please, Chihuahuamom, i hope you won't take offense. I think everyone here, including you, wants to do the very best thing for their chickens. But i feel it is a common and dangerous modern misconception that the only responsible thing to do for our animals and ourselves when it comes to healthcare - is to go running to "professionals." IMO we give professionals way too much authority and decision making ability over issues that we should have the common sense to become educated on and make decisions ourselves.
