Do you have a vet for your chickens? How often do you take them?

[SmittenChickens]

I've kind of read conflicting info on this. Some people don't seem to have a vet for their chickens; if they get badly sick or injured, they slaughter them. But then others seem to go to great lengths for their chickens... taking them to the vet, bringing them inside to nurse them back to health, etc.

What is the "norm" for vet care on chickens? Is it hard to find a vet that will treat them? What kind of vet would a chicken need, would an avian vet be able to see them?

 

[chickenzoo]

Chickens are still seen as food animal....but that's slowly changing in some ways. Many vets my treat parrots or exotics but may know nothing about chickens... But they do know birds and their are similarities. Also avian vets tend to be more pricy than average vets, and not everybody is willing to pay fees for a $5 chicken....
I do have a vet that will see my chickens..he's not a bird vet, but an all around vet. He has been very good to me and is helpful. I also have a livestock vet who knows nothing about birds but is willing to help me when I need him too.
It is best to ask around ahead of time and know the vets in your area that will even see a chicken. Get an idea of fees for even seeing the chicken so you will know the best choice when you need them.
It can be very hard to find a vet that will look at a chicken..you'd think they were aliens.... That is why many have to treat them themselves .

 

[ChickensRDinos]

I do not have a vet for my chickens. (I live in a very urban area and am not sure I could even find one near me, although to be fair I have not tried) This started out a cost thing but after 2 years I have learned that I can do a lot of it on my own and have come to actually really enjoy that. I even did my first home chicken surgery about 4 months ago with great results. Chickens do not need anesthetic and after some very careful research and procressing a few birds I feel very confident in my own understanding of their bodies and how they work.

I will bring them inside and nurse them back to health lol but I am not going to pay someone to do what I can do at home. (in the end the truth is that I will probably eat the birds and they are very cheap to replace. But I do care about them and will give my own time and effort to make them well)

I only have 6 birds so they are not hard for one person to manage. Most of the common things are easy to handle and thoughtful prevention measures take care of a lot of things. I have euthanized one bird who became too ill to save, however I do not think a vet would have done anything different except saved the emotion of doing it myself I guess.

 

[dawg53]

I've kind of read conflicting info on this. Some people don't seem to have a vet for their chickens; if they get badly sick or injured, they slaughter them. But then others seem to go to great lengths for their chickens... taking them to the vet, bringing them inside to nurse them back to health, etc.

What is the "norm" for vet care on chickens? Is it hard to find a vet that will treat them? What kind of vet would a chicken need, would an avian vet be able to see them?

Most vets arnt knowledgable about chickens at all. Vets in my area only treat dogs and cats, 1 vet is also an equine vet as well. It's a personal choice one has to make whether or not to treat sick and/or injured birds. If you have the time and money to do it, go for it. I wont nursemaid a sick bird knowing full well it will infect the rest of the flock and I'll cull it in a heartbeat. As far as an injured bird goes... how severe the injury is, I may or may not treat the bird, it just depends. Again, a personal choice.

 

[SmittenChickens]

Thanks for the input guys! I do have an exotics vet (my bunny's vet) and I know they treat some birds, so I will have to ask them if they see chickens.

 

[ChickensRDinos]

Thanks for the input guys! I do have an exotics vet (my bunny's vet) and I know they treat some birds, so I will have to ask them if they see chickens.

Make sure you ask if they have EXPERIENCE with chickens and not just if they would be willing to see one. If you are going to pay for it you want to make sure it is someone who knows what they are doing. I have seem some general vets tell people odd things on here.