The Old Folks Home

[ChickenCanoe]

Shame about the chicken, but it brings some comfort to know you did the right thing, and it's nice to not have to worry about what caused it.

*Edit*And thanks

Yes, it was a relief. I've been watching so closely for symptoms.

Just a cautionary tale for old folks, but especially young folks. Don't be so quick to worm or use antibiotics.

It's also a good idea to know where your state lab/s are located, their phone #s, how they want birds delivered and their hours. Write the information down where you'll have it when needed.

Or get a good microscope and perhaps go to vet school.

 

[vehve]

Quote: My understanding is that vet schools don't focus that much on poultry. In commercial operations it's seldom cost effective to administer costly treatments that are time consuming, and I don't think back yard keepers are the very best customer base (I've seen a lot of posts which seem to focus on how the horrible vet can take advantage of someones pretty little pets at their time of need and have the nerves to actually charge money for this). If you have many birds, necropsy is probably a pretty smart way to go about it, even though you need a certain attitude towards your flock to be able to do that.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

You're right. 30 years ago there were about 20 vet schools in the states with poultry programs. I think there are about 5 now as the centers of poultry production continue to centralize in a few areas; DelMarVa, the Southeast, TexArOkMo. There are a handful of vets that service those areas and visit farms with hundreds of thousands of birds. Other than extremely rare breeds like pita pinta and penedesenca, chickens are a dime a dozen. A good avian vet that normally services extremely valuable cage birds don't seem to think chickens are worth their time.
I'm sure the same holds true for the rest of the world. There has been a lot more poultry nutrition and disease research at universities around the world in the last 20 years though. Much of that in Africa, the Middle East, China and to a lesser extent, Europe as poultry and eggs become an ever more important source of animal protein.

 

[ronott1]

Yes, it was a relief. I've been watching so closely for symptoms.

Just a cautionary tale for old folks, but especially young folks. Don't be so quick to worm or use antibiotics.

It's also a good idea to know where your state lab/s are located, their phone #s, how they want birds delivered and their hours. Write the information down where you'll have it when needed.

Or get a good microscope and perhaps go to vet school.

I am sitting a couple of miles from my closest State Lab. I use it often.

The retro virus cancer is becoming very common now. There is also mareks cancer that is a Herpes type of virus.

My understanding is that vet schools don't focus that much on poultry. In commercial operations it's seldom cost effective to administer costly treatments that are time consuming, and I don't think back yard keepers are the very best customer base (I've seen a lot of posts which seem to focus on how the horrible vet can take advantage of someones pretty little pets at their time of need and have the nerves to actually charge money for this). If you have many birds, necropsy is probably a pretty smart way to go about it, even though you need a certain attitude towards your flock to be able to do that.

Necropsy if free to back yard flocks of less than 1000 here in California. It is a great way to go. None of the things that have killed my chickens would have been helped by anti biotics or worming. I do what Guy did and bring them it to a Pet crate in the garage kennel, give them vitamins, yogurt, water and soft feed.

I had one recover from something last year that seemed like a cancer. No symptoms but lethargic. I was going to cull but gave her one more day. She was better the next day and is still going strong now.

 

[vehve]

You're right. 30 years ago there were about 20 vet schools in the states with poultry programs. I think there are about 5 now as the centers of poultry production continue to centralize in a few areas; DelMarVa, the Southeast, TexArOkMo. I'm sure the same holds true for the rest of the world. There has been a lot more poultry nutrition and disease research at universities around the world in the last 20 years though. Much of that in Africa, the Middle East, China and to a lesser extent, Europe as poultry and eggs become an ever more important source of animal protein.

One thing to remember though, when taking an animal to a vet, is to not judge the vet if he or she starts googling something or looking things up in a book. Even though they might not be used to treating a certain animal, it doesn't mean that they are completely clueless. And if the person is refreshing his or her memory, that is usually a good sign. Much better than going off of 40 year old treatment recommendations, that in many cases are obsolete. Also, when a vet looks something up, he or she is equipped with a much different skill set than most people, and can probably utilize the available information much more efficiently than a layman. So even if the vet you're seeing isn't a specialist, it might be worth taking in the animal if it is in need of care.

This wasn't really aimed to be a response to you, just something for people to think of.

 

[vehve]

Quote: One of the bigger risks to commercial livestock keeping is careless amateurs, so I think they happily take care of the bill for something like that.

I was about to start on one of my rants about the dangers of using antibiotics unnecessarily, but I think I'll go to bed instead. Also, the power will probably go out soon. The fusebox just switched off for a second. Maybe we'll get that much needed rain soon.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

One thing to remember though, when taking an animal to a vet, is to not judge the vet if he or she starts googling something or looking things up in a book. Even though they might not be used to treating a certain animal, it doesn't mean that they are completely clueless. And if the person is refreshing his or her memory, that is usually a good sign. Much better than going off of 40 year old treatment recommendations, that in many cases are obsolete. Also, when a vet looks something up, he or she is equipped with a much different skill set than most people, and can probably utilize the available information much more efficiently than a layman. So even if the vet you're seeing isn't a specialist, it might be worth taking in the animal if it is in need of care.

This wasn't really aimed to be a response to you, just something for people to think of.

So true. The vet that did the fecal sample pulled some books off of the shelf to reinforce what he thought he knew. I called close to 20 vets before I found one that would read a fecal without seeing the 'patient'. I asked some of them if they wanted me to bring in all 50 chickens. Even though he was 40 miles away, he knew as much about poultry as the other two poultry vets that are at least as far away in the other direction.

I was once getting a mole removed when I was in the army. It was to be an in office surgery. I'm sitting there at the desk of our post's main doctor. After the consultation, I was a bit concerned when he pulled a book off the shelf to study how to proceed. I was 20 at the time.

Can anyone say, "practicing medicine"?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

....

I was about to start on one of my rants about the dangers of using antibiotics unnecessarily, but I think I'll go to bed instead. ...

You'd probably be preaching to the choir to many here.

 

[ronott1]

Quote:

One of the bigger risks to commercial livestock keeping is careless amateurs, so I think they happily take care of the bill for something like that.

I was about to start on one of my rants about the dangers of using antibiotics unnecessarily, but I think I'll go to bed instead. Also, the power will probably go out soon. The fusebox just switched off for a second. Maybe we'll get that much needed rain soon.

oops, should have said Dog Kennel crate in the Garage....

 

[ChickenCanoe]

oops, should have said Dog Kennel crate in the Garage....

I understood.

I've had to be careful where I put those. Right now the cellar or one of the secure coops is the only safe place. Even my enclosed back porch isn't safe. Story for another day.