Please weigh in about a poultry veterinarian!!

[7&8]

Short answer: yes. I don't know what the larger scale commercial poultry farms in Maine do for veterinary care. I suspect the owner/ operators handle what they are legally able to. DVM's around here do not by and large have either the willingness or the experience to effectively treat poultry. They might have a basic knowledge, decades old from their veterinary schooling. I would say that if the backyard & urban poultry trend continues the direction it's going, it would be wise to have DVM's who are able to DX real, potentially serious, communicable diseases, as well as your garden variety chicken problems. If not for the sake of "pet care," then for the sake of keeping poultry diz's from "getting out of hand."

Perhaps your answer is found partially in the existence of this website. We are living in a chicken renaissance. People own birds, and when something goes wrong, they come here. There is a huge amount of great knowledge to be found here; but you have to know how to choose the right answer.

I am just learning about poultry. I rely on BYC, and growingly, on members of the local bird fanciers club which I joined, to help me dx & treat my flock issues.

This is just my $.02

! Best wishes to you in your studies at Cornell! Half a lifetime ago, I worked as an AHT to a large animal VMD, Cornell grad, (that's what Cornell grads are called, right?), and she was awesome!

 

[theoldchick]

Quote:
Thank you for your inquiry!

I'd say 'yes'! If you read through this site you'll see a number of people who despair at not being able to find help for an injured, sick bird. I'm especially interested in encouraging vet schools to teach their student how to caponize roosters for city folks who are attached to their feathered men but also desire to keep them.

Good luck with your endeavor!

 

[kbackel88]

I had always considered poultry medicine, but until recently the only need is in the large poultry corporations where veterinarians do research and are used to monitor flock health (sort of like inspectors). The field is very small, there are not many poultry veterinarians but it can be highly lucrative. This is NOT what I where I want to be working, I would prefer to work with people on a more personal level, and support the small flock revolution!

There is definitely a lot of great information on this page, and home remedies can sometimes work wonderfully. But I agree that multiple small poultry flocks become more common it will be exceedingly important to diagnose, manage and prevent the spread of highly pathogenic and infectious disease between small flocks, and throughout the country. Mismanagement of small poultry flocks could lead to a devastating outbreak (of things like avian flu!)

 

[kbackel88]

Oh also, on that note. I am hopefully starting a poultry club here at the school. If anyone has any input of things we can focus on throughout the year please let me know!! I like the idea of learning how to castrate roosters!

 

[shober]

Yes, there is a great need! I do believe more and more people are raising poultry in their backyards. I could certainly use a vet for my chickens!

Good luck in your studies!!

 

[corliss]

I think you'll find most people on BYC divided between those who think it ridiculous to pay an expensive vet bill and those who feel their chickens are pets and don't care what the cost is. There is one vet in my area (about 40 minutes away) who works in a practice with two other doctors but only she handles chickens. I haven't used him but supposedly there is a traveling chicken vet as well. If you settled in an area where people were fairly affluent (and Connecticut has a lot of those areas) I would think you might do very well, especially with the huge popularity of back yard chickens.

 

[galanie]

I personally find it ridiculous that in this day and age, chicken people have to diagnose their own birds because nearly all vets know nothing much about them. And most especially, that once diagnosed, we have to use things "off label" and depend on each other to learn the correct dosages. Same holds true for worming, unless you use Wazine, which only gets one type of worm. And lastly, that the most often advice a vet gives is to destroy the animal and disinfect the area. This would be unacceptable for any other creature we husband.

I would think it would be both beneficial and lucrative to specialize in birds such as parrots, etc. with true knowledge of poultry as well, though I realize those are probably considered two different areas of study. But they're all birds, after all, and subject to most of the same diseases and problems. I think it's the conditions they're kept in and their size that are the main differences. But more people have parrots and cockatiels and budgies than have chickens in the city. And it pays very well.

Just random thoughts.

 

[chisNchickens]

I personally will only use a vet for an emergency. I prefer my animals to be healthy and the average vet does not have a clue what that means. Sadly, vets make animals terribly unhealthy with all the toxins and artificial foods they advocate.
I would strongly urge you in the direction of natural care, as more and more people are realizing that their vets are slowly killing their pets.

 

[mamadukes5]

I live in Western Massachusetts and had an emergency with one of my dogs so had to try a new vet because my old vet had just retired. When I got to the new vet's office, there was a chicken in the treatment room who had been grabbed by a bear and the vet was working on her. My dog is fine, the hen survived with a bit of a limp and I now have a new vet. He's the only one in the area that works with poulty that I've been able to find, and he's 30 minutes from me. I'd say with the amount of people who are now starting backyard flocks, a few chicken vets are going to be necessary. My vet says since the word is getting out, he's seeing almost as many back yard animals of various kinds as he is dogs and cats. He also does a bit with exotics, so he's kind of a renaissance vet and I feel very lucky to have found him.

 

[RedDrgn]

I think it's a viable angle. My DH and I are lucky in being so close to northern VA and in the DC Metro area (even thought we're in a fairly rural area in WV); we have a lot greater variety of goods/services within an hour than most people in the country probably do. We have a TON of veterinarians in the area, too, in high density. We have access to plenty of vets specializing in cats, dogs, horses, goats, reptiles, camelids, and exotic birds. One thing we only have ONE of is a veterinary office that handles all livestock, and therefore chickens.