To vet or not to vet? Here's my 2 cents. I am not a vegetarian anymore, but my girls are strictly for eggs, pets and exhibition (poultry shows, outreach/education and demonstrations). The eggs & exhibition makes them "working chickens" in my eyes and as such, I believe they've earned the right to good medical care. In earlier days when I could not afford it, this meant buying antibiotics & other meds and treating them for whatever I thought they had, based on emailing Dr. Brown @ 1st State Vet, looking it up in Damerow's Chicken Health Handbook, checking the BYC & the classroom @ the Coop bulletin boards. I just did the best I could for them. Now however, I can afford to take them to the vet, and I usually do.
Part of that decision is based on the fact that there are so many things that can go wrong with a chicken. Mankind's been breeding them and inbreeding them for thousands of years, and there are so many diseases and ailments out there that they can get (in my poorer days I even bought some poultry science texts on medical problems of fowl & was surprised that the number of problems and illnesses far exceeds the long list with which most of are are already quite familiar (coryza, coccidosis, pneumonia, synovitis, etc.). I like knowing what the problem is, and when my diagnostic skills aren't up to the job, I like having someone else who can tell me, especially if it's something preventable, or something that my other chickens can get if not contained. And my own diagnostic skills are not that hot: the eye infection I thought might be coryza? Turned out to be e.coli. The CRD in the young hen my sister gave me? Bacterial pneumonia. The suspected case of canker? Cancer. Those first two could have resulted in me dosing the whole flock when treatment on only one bird was needed, and the last one could have had me buying medicine that would not have saved my chicken anyway. Taking my chickens to the vet has taught me that I am far from omniscient when it comes to what's ailing poultry, and sometimes there is a simple answer to the problem, but it's only simple to the person who knows what to look for. I also learned a lot about poultry health from my vet. If your chicken aren't just livestock to you, and it won't cripple you financially, I recommend the vet when a health problem stumps you.
That being said, if you choose a vet, try and get a good one. I live within driving distance of three vets who treat chickens (which amazes me). Two are country vets, and the other is an avian vet. I have taken birds to all three vets before I settled on one: I take my chickens to the avian vet because she actually examines them. Example: I brought my 7-year old favorite hen in for a suspicious lump & the bird got a full exam including tracheal and vent swabs, a test for worms, heart listened to, lungs & air sacs listened to, feet examined, skin examined, and the lump stuck with a needle and a cytology screen done. Cost me $70 (lump was fatty tumor & required no treatment). My vet knows avian skeletal and muscular structure way better than I do and she's experienced at finding problems in birdy bodies. She answers all my stupid questions, even about issues with birds I didn't take to see her. Sometimes it's more expensive if there are Rx, or two visits needed (seems to be about $70 a visit for her - which put her in the middle of the three vets). There is nothing wrong with using a country vet, and I applaud any vet who is willing to try to treat poultry b/c so many just don't. But if you can snag an avian vet who is willing to see your chickens as patients, using him/her for the occasional boo-boo or illness, or to have on hand when the yard-chicken-who-becomes-a-pet needs a doctor is a good idea.
And I always, always recommend learning as much as you can and doing as much as you can yourself. I don't run every chicken to the vet straightaway - I've sewn torn skin back together, set and repaired malformed/injured feet & joints, sprinkled sulfur and blood-stop on open wounds, and on and on. But when I get stumped, and I'm scratching my head, it's often time to let the vet put her experienced hands on my bird and help us find the answer. And for full disclosure: I was a vegetarian for 2009-2010, and while I'll eat my sister's birds, I'd no sooner cull and eat one of mine than I would my cat (who is not even as friendly as my most aloof chicken). These guys are my pets, even Freeloader, who doesn't even work (she's too unfriendly for events and as a mutt, can't be shown). Besides, if you did decide to cull & eat her, if you're girl's more than 8-12 months old, she'll be pretty durn chewy. Anyway, can't wait to see the pic. Hope my blahblahblah is helpful!
They are big girls but not overweight. We don't feed lots of treats but feed free choice layer feed and greens from the garden. Mine are not hatchery girls but were raised by my friend in the local Amish community. I think hatchery chicks get fatter and are more prone to problems. Just my opinion
