Should we create a BYC "EMT" crew?

[dlhunicorn]

I will put my two cents in here for what it is worth...

...although the idea is well intentioned and I totally understand the problems from which the idea arose, I must admit I winced/cringed when I read

.and once they've completed the course become a BYC EDI Specialist - much like the courses I took to become an herbalist or those taken to be a Master Gardener. We would not exist to replace the vet but to help each other with health problems "until the vet" is needed or available. ..

...and must say if this group had initiated this proposal I would have felt the need to retract my support from this forum...to put it bluntly I feel this is a terrible idea and dangerous to the health of the birds... let me explain why:

1) even though I have collected many articles from veterinary and university sources, interpretation of that information is dependent on the level of knowledge and experience of the reader... and truth be told only a certified vet is truly capable of doing so and keep in mind that many (non-avian)vets refuse to treat birds as they feel they simply do not have the experience to properly do so! (despite their access to much more specialized information than is listed for instance at my little "chicken library"!) There is good reason for this hesitation!
(the more you learn the more you realize how little you know!!!)

That being said, it is also recognized and well established that it is realistically impossible to run to the vet (if there even is one in your area!) for every little sniffle and sneeze.... because of this there are articles written by poultry and veterinary specialists to help the poultry owner to recognize and "diganose" problems >specific considerations necessary to better understand the disease specific articles...
If you have visited the Disease section at my library you will see a FAQ stickied at the top with these articles... I strongly urge you to read it as I have three threads there specifically written from specialists for the nonveterinary poultry owner to help you understand and interpret any problems you may be having :
http://dlhunicorn.conforums.com/index.cgi?board=diseasefaq

... spend some time reading up and educating yourselves on the basics (and from there to more specialistic info) of the animals you have in your care
... some basic level info is found here:
http://dlhunicorn.conforums.com/index.cgi?board=FAQ

...some easy to find emergency info here:
http://dlhunicorn.conforums.com/index.cgi?board=emergencies

..articles and info to help you interpret/"diagnose" poo
http://dlhunicorn.conforums.com/index.cgi?board=poos

...Index to all sections here:
http://dlhunicorn.conforums.com/index.cgi
(you will find an extensive disease and treatment section from this page)

...There is no way possible to achieve the stated goal of this well intentioned post and to try to do so would be a grave error IMHO.​

 

[Scrambled Egg]

Since others are offering their two cents I will as well..OMHO. I think we should leave well enough alone. It didn't take me but a few weeks to start to put personality and expertise with many of the folks on this forum so even now I feel pretty confident that I know who I would ask certain questions and would get a reliable answer. If, however a brand new person got on the board seeking an answer to an urgent question, I am also confident that many, many people will answer (some with questionable expertise and less chicken experience than even I have! --but, trying to be helpful) but most with alot of great chicken knowledge and the person seeking advice will get what they paid for- free help - they can use what they need and what is applicable to their situation. I think, again, just MHO, that an EMT chicken squad would limit the info. given out and also move those folks on the squad into the category of a "job" where they feel obligated to respond (and have ya'll seen some of the limited info they would have to work with? I mean folks ask questions sometimes and provide extremely limited background info)...which makes the liability for a wrong call extremely high. My vote is for "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Darlene

 

[bantymum]

Yes, I agree with Diana and Darlene on this.
You had a great idea and your intentions were admirable
but once you sit down and have a think about this you will see how cumbersome and dangerous it could turn out to be.
So now you just have to put your creative energies to work and think of another idea!!!!
Hugs
Helen.

 

[SeaChick]

OK, my two cents, having been through several "emergencies" with our new chickens, is to leave it the way it is. I found it very helpful to hear several different people's experiences.

It seems, with many chicken ailments, that diagnosis is the really tricky thing. So hearing first-hand accounts from other chicken owners really helps sort things out. You get to hear more in-depth and personal descriptions rather than the more clinical descriptions aimed at high-output chicken farmers on many other web sites. I personally found this very helpful if figuring out my girl's crop problem. And then, reading how people treated is also helpful (to me, atleast) in that you can look at the array of different treatments and make a choice that seems to resonate with your particluar situation. On another chicken forum, after much googling, I found a post from someone mentioning that they had called their local Co-Op Extension and gotten advice from an avian vet that way (for free). I had not even thought of that, and it turned out to be perfect in my case!!!

By having many people following an emergency thread and adding their little bits of knowledge, you wind up with a greater amount of information that if just one, or a few, were answering. For example, the advice might be "force feed". But then you go, "How do I do that? I know its possible to choke a hen that way, how do I do it?" ... and someone else, maybe not an "expert" but someone who's done that, can walk you though how to do it.

In addition, using the SEARCH feature on this board (as well as on a search engine like Google) yields lots of results, normally. It is up to the member to do the research and sort through it and then come back and ask for advice.

If I had one suggestion on a minor change, it would be to incorporate a message -like a pop-up or something that cannot be ignored- whenever someone goes to post on the "Emergencies & Diseases" forum. It could say something like "Before posting here, please use the SEARCH feature to find previious threads that pertain to your problem. There is a wealth of information archived here on the BYC forum." At least, this could be incorporated into TerrieLacy's sticky there. Some people don't know that they can find all that info with just a few clicks.

Personally I think BYC works pretty wonderfully just the way it is. If nothing else, having people watching and answering the "Emergencies" forum helps in that you don't feel so horribly alone and helpless. If only a few "experts" were answering the emergencies, you might have to wait a long time for advice, and I can tell you from experience, when you;re watching your girl decline before your eyes, helpless to do anything, any contact helps!

In the "old days", you could just go ask any one of your neighbors, who probably all had chickens..... now many of us are isolated by dozens of miles from other chicken-owners. This board provides the type of community we're missing.

Stacey

 

[speckledhen]

I am in complete agreement with Diana on this one, folks.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Quote:
Me too! If this were to happen I would be done here.

 

[patandchickens]

And you KNOW that for many of the problems posted here, if you asked 10 different Actual Vets (via the internet) you would still get 10 different sets of advice on how to proceed

Hopefully it wouldn't contain any catastrophically bad advice but still if you tried to follow all of it you'd likely get into trouble.

It would be nice to think there is One Guaranteed Way of fixing an ailing animal, but often there isn't (especially when all that's available is fragmentary panicky paragraphs)... we just have to use our best judgement.

It is too bad that the 'post a new topic' window can't be customized for the Emergency topic (only) with big red letters saying 'Calm Down, Breathe, And Write Down All Available Info'. Then after you hit 'submit' there should be a popup saying, 'Okay, now remember it's up to you to do further reading on the subject and to sift thru replies. Do what you think is responsible, which may or may not agree with all the advice you're given. Good luck!'

Pat

 

[LoneCowboy]

How about a BYC Emergency Psychologist, to help treat us OCD chickenaholics? I think that is what is really needed here. I need one that's for sure. How about group therapy you know you can divide us up into chickenaholics and the really sever cases those Hatchaholics? Hi, my name is Deniece, and I'm a chickenaholic.

 

[DuckLady]

Quote:
I am sorry, there is no cure for that.

 

[speckledhen]

I agree with Terrie. It's terminal.