Hi all, I'd appreciate any feedback you have time to give. I live in Austin, TX, where there are a healthy number of people keeping a flock in their backyards. I've had chickens for 4 years now, and have run into a few of the more common health problems (bumble-foot surgery, worms, birds with respiratory infections etc). This forum has been a great guide. Dealing with these health issues, especially the urgent ones, can be really stressful for any owner (seems like they always happen before a vacation!?). I feel like I've earned my stripes, but I'm not excited to do another bumble-foot surgery (or have to do impacted crop surgery...yikes). With that in mind, I've been throwing around the idea of a house-call based service for people with chickens in their back yards. Services could range from checking in on them while you're out of town, health checkups, grooming, to even these dreaded surgeries, and post-op advice. Maybe its a crazy idea, but I was wondering what, if anything, YOU'D be willing to pay for someone to provide any of the above services, or maybe some others (suggestions welcome)? I know that I did the surgeries myself because I didn't want to spend $400 on a chicken, but also because it was tough to find an avian vet willing to work on a chicken on short notice. The service probably only is remotely feasible if offered in areas with high flock density. Thanks for your thoughts, whatever they may be. - Dave
I suspect you might get into trouble offering medical services/surgery without a license to practice, might look into that. The other issue would be biosecurity. You'd have to be awfully careful about wearing coverups, changing after each call, sanitizing everything including yourself after each visit etc. etc. It would be complicated to do it right. Then there's evenutally going to be that disgruntled owner who goes after you when their bird that you did surgery on dies, that's where the practicing without a license comes into play. Just something to think about Offering general care/pet sitting type services minus the medical stuff would be one thing and probably something plenty of folks might be interested in provided you had excellent biosecurity practices. Even then people may be leary of someone traveling from farm to farm, that's a huge potential for spreading disease in poultry.
I totally agree, I think the service would hire a vet to do any of the surgeries...sorry to give the impression that it would be ME doing it..ha. On the issue of bio-security, you'd have to take necessary precautions (shoe covers, etc) for sure. I had considered this, but just didn't include it in my first post. Thanks
hmm. I think you could definitely find people interested but I am not sure you could charge enough to cover the expensive of a vet and insurance and supplies. One of the things that I really enjoy about chickens is that I can do most of it myself. Also, I am not going to pay a lot for medical expenses of something that I will likely eat in the future or can replace cheaply. That might sound a bit harsh but it's just the truth. However I do see people from time to time on the forums frustrated that they can not find a knowledgable vet.
