TAKE TO VET or TAKE OUT PET INSURANCE!

[speckledhen]

In most areas, it would be useless. Vets either do not know about chickens or refuse to treat chickens, period. I am not going to own another dog after mine passes on because of the cost of veterinary care and living on a lone military pension-she will be cared for well while she's here (she's almost 15), but we are realistic. We can barely afford our own health insurance and costs.

Avian vets charge astronomical prices, IF you can even find one within 200 miles of you. Regular vets may treat the bird, blindly, and still charge you, never telling you they are clueless, when you'd have been better off coming to BYC and asking one of the long time chicken keepers what to do and doing it yourself. It's simply not feasible for most people to vet a chicken.

Chicken keepers have been dealing with their chicken's illnesses and injuries for centuries in basically one way and it's still the best way-euthanasia. I say this because of the serious nature of respiratory illness in chickens, which usually leaves them carriers. Chickens heal well from minor injuries, it's easy to worm them and maintain them, with a little common sense and knowledge. I would daresay that many here know much more about chickens than their vet does.

If someone wants to take their chicken to a vet and have a vet who actually knows what he/she is doing, that's fine. We cannot do so. We have educated ourselves and have dealt with many issues. If there is a serious contagion, the state vet is a service available to everyone in their state. JMHO.

 

[kellysmall87]

I am shocked at how little vets know or care about chickens over in America/Canada. Over here, there is a vet always within walking distance.

What my main concern is people on posts who have put, "I'm not taking it to a vet. Can't afford it." These people are saying that they could. And most vets do know how to treat birds - surely?! Especially when it concerns bones, feet, prolapses as these occur in every animal.

I can't believe that "how to care for birds" was left out of the curriculum when the vet did seven years at vet school.

You can't surely say that the vets in America and Canada don't know anything about birds. If they don't, then I'm glad I live in England! What a joke.

 

[sourland]

Most vets here dont know squat about chickens and still charge an arm and a leg. Pet insurance for a chicken...dogs and cats maybe if anyone can afford it. Most vets including avian vets wont look at a chicken, they are considered expendable and easily replaceable.
Your statement, "If you cant afford to look after chickens properly- ie take them to a vet when ill...- then dont have chickens." I would say judging from almost all the posts here, that 99% of the posts in this section ....people are taking care of their chickens properly simply by asking a question how to treat their sick bird(s)...otherwise they wouldnt post and not give a crap.
You obviously dont know the history of chickens...they have survived without vets for a very long time.
Edited to add: I trust the knowledgable folks here in BYC, rather than any vet on any given day...and that's a fact.

dawg speaks the common sense truth!

 

[speckledhen]

I know of a vet who even owns chickens but refuses to treat them, so this is what you're dealing with here. Sure, they learn about avian species in vet school, but if they lower themselves to treat one, it's an exotic, like a pricey parrot or a macaw, certainly not a chicken, which is considered a food animal. They just do not see a chicken in the same way as they do a parrot, but if they do see one, they're perfectly willing to charge you $300+ just the same.

Avians cannot take the same meds as mammalian species -they must be treated differently; it's a whole other ball of wax for a vet and they are unwilling, in most cases, to even look at a chicken, which is what they're probably having for dinner that night.


I rather doubt most pet insurances would cover a chicken. Most don't even cover exotic birds, only dogs and cats.

 

[Zigmont]

I wish chicken vets were affordable. I did find one who specializes in birds and had chickens of his own. I had to take my chicken twice in a month and she ended up having to be put down for an impacted crop that he could clear, even putting her under anesthesia I ended up spending $500 for my $5.00 chicken and she is buried in the backyard.

 

[speckledhen]

And that is what we usually hear, Zigmont--vet does something, messes up because doesn't know what the heck he's doing, kills bird, charges big bucks anyway. No thanks.

 

[klmclain1]

Heck...on the SINGLE occasion when I took one of my girls to the vet - I had printed out the info from BYC so he could read it to treat her! He showed me how to give her a proper injection, sent me home with the rest of the syringes of penicillin to do myself. I bought my own syringes and penicillin after that. The vets here, for the most part, dont know much if ANYTHING about chickens. I suspect that with the recent boom in backyard chickens many will be learning more - but honestly, for now, the advice I've seen people here getting from vets and the resulting death rate - I trust the advice from the experienced chicken owners more! I have my vet on Facebook (we know him socially as well) and he has cheered my efforts on several times!

I should add that on that single occasion that I took a chicken in - he charged me only for supplies and meds because he relied on my information and expertise if the BYC forum members. That's probably only because he's an acquaintance. I do not want to abuse his generousity and willingness to offer an opinion on the rare occasion I ask him for one.

 

[EweSheep]

I agree our American vets are sadly educated in Avian veterinary and we are lucky to have one just a few block from me but he does charge ALOT. Not only birds he will treat but he will deal the zoo animals too.

When I was learning to be a vet, chicken were "glossed" over, not giving much details as we did for cattle, sheep, pigs and horses. Sad, isn't it?

Is it practical? No. Even my birds are worth $15 dollars a piece, I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on vet care knowingly the bird will die. I've taken three of my chickens to the vet, only to lose one to egg impactation (he didn't charge me) and the other one for bumblefoot (she recovered nicely and still alive to this date, she is my valuable hen), and the other one, unexplanible they could not figure out (nervous disease). Would I do it again? Realistically, no. I will do my best to treat them but if anything like Marek's, Spitzhauben disease, egg impactation, it would be be best to put the hen down.

It is up to US, as chicken owners, to practice the BEST we can, use BYC our tool in diagnosing our bird's illness and be prepared to put it down when it is suffering.

Its the mind set we all have, how much we value our pets and chickens are not the top animal in our household.

Don't be too quick to judge us harshly. We make do what's best, and how much are we willing to sacrifice. The pet insurance we have does NOT cover poultry. Just parrots, cockatoos, and finches.

 

[Habibs Hens]

i do feel for the eamrican population for it lack of avian vets

as kelly mentions here in UK Vets see all animals right down to pet finches

and there are now vet surgeries inside of feedstores

one being pets at home

got one 5 mins walk from me and a vert surgery at the back of the store

they will even see gold fish there

 

[kellysmall87]

i do feel for the eamrican population for it lack of avian vets

as kelly mentions here in UK Vets see all animals right down to pet finches

and there are now vet surgeries inside of feedstores

one being pets at home

got one 5 mins walk from me and a vert surgery at the back of the store

they will even see gold fish there

Exactly, SilverFox. Maybe I was quick to judge not knowing the full extent of the problem over in America. As for pet insurance, then maybe save some quid a month if you can't get the insurance. I know they're a foodstuff, but I am just so shocked. They really do see every animal here in the UK. Well... thanks for the lively discussion. Not judging you all.. Just didn't realise how dire the situation was over there. Regards, Kelly. Over and out!