After having had three extremely ill chickens in urgent need of medical care recently, it has become painfully apparent to me that finding trained medical professionals who treat backyard chickens is difficult at best. If and when we are able to find any veterinarian willing to treat chickens, we consider ourselves lucky. Once past that hurdle, we just hope that they do the right thing from a treatment perspective, knowing that most vets do not have any significant formal training in poultry care. A 2013 study published by the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Animal Health Monitoring System projecting an increase in urban backyard flocks of over 400% in the next 5 years, it is time to discuss our expectations for medical care of our chickens among ourselves and with our veterinarians.  I have had chicken-care conversations with nearly a dozen vets over the past year, one of whom emailed me last autumn with some questions about starting her own backyard flock. I mentioned the dire need for chicken veterinarians across the United States and she indicated that she “...would like to feel educated on the basics of chicken medicine.” I encouraged her to seek formal education in the field not only for her own future flock, but to help bridge the gap between sick or injured chickens and caregivers. I was heartened to know that she completed some online education this past winter.

I have had chicken-care conversations with nearly a dozen vets over the past year, one of whom emailed me last autumn with some questions about starting her own backyard flock. I mentioned the dire need for chicken veterinarians across the United States and she indicated that she “…would like to feel educated on the basics of chicken medicine.”  I encouraged her to seek formal education in the field not only for her own future flock, but to help bridge the gap between sick or injured chickens and caregivers. I was heartened to know that she completed some online education this past winter.

Esther had ovarian cancer, a very common condition in older laying hens, which required putting her down. Stella was also euthanized when it was discovered that she had a severe case of egg yolk peritonitis. Both conditions were confirmed by necropsies.

Esther had ovarian cancer, a very common condition in older laying hens, which required putting her down. Stella was also euthanized when it was discovered that she had a severe case of egg yolk peritonitis. Both conditions were confirmed by necropsies.

This subject hit the front page of The Wall Street Journal after reporter Jon Kamp contacted me to discuss an different topic, piquing his interest in the lack of trained, experienced poultry vets for backyard chickens.

After having participated in a public forum on backyard chicken-keeping recently, this particular veterinarian’s feelings were that: “chicken people complain that vets don’t know anything but they also are willing to pay nothing to have their animals taken care of properly.  It’s a bad cycle of bad feelings. I hate for (animals) to suffer with a treatable problem. I could use some guidance regarding charging for treatment and an approach to dealing with the notion that vets don’t know anything about chickens.” She and I have had several discussions about veterinary care for backyard chickens. I admire her candor and willingness to discuss these issues and while I am happy to share my opinions with her, I believe these important topics ought to be discussed within and between the chicken-keeping and veterinary healthcare communities generally.  Only by fleshing out these issues collaboratively, nation-wide can we eventually come to a place where we are comfortable discussing our birds’ health with our vets, comfortable with the care our chickens receive and where vets are comfortable including chicken-care as a component of their practice.

Some of my flock members on 9/14/13. photo credit: Jon Kamp, The Wall Street Journal
Some of my flock members on 9/14/13. photo credit: Jon Kamp, The Wall Street Journal

Edited to add: This subject hit the front page of The Wall Street Journal after reporter Jon Kamp contacted me to discuss an different topic, piquing his interest in the lack of trained, experienced poultry vets for backyard chickens.

 DO feel free to share that you view your chickens as livestock and if they are sick, you cull them. DO NOT share that you believe anyone who takes their chicken to a vet is wasting their money.
 DO feel free to share that you view your chickens as livestock and if they are sick, you cull them. DO NOT share that you believe anyone who takes their chicken to a vet is wasting their money.

I invite you to share your thoughts on some, any or all of the questions below. Please limit your comments to constructive input regarding your own thoughts, feelings and decisions you would make for your flock. Please refrain from passing judgment on the decisions another chicken-keeper may make for their flock or engaging in debate with another reader. Comments will be moderated to ensure compliance with this request for a judgment-free dialogue. 

For example: 
DO feel free to share that you view your chickens as livestock and if they are sick, you cull them. 
DO NOT share that you believe anyone who takes their chicken to a vet is wasting their money.
Some of the issues you may wish to address are:

  • Do you view your backyard chickens as livestock, pets or something else?
  • Is it important to you to know that there is a veterinarian available who will treat your chicken(s)?
  • Would you bring a chicken to see a vet if they did not have chicken training/experience?
  • If a chicken vet practiced medicine in your community, would you bring your chickens to them for well-patient visits?
  • Are you willing to pay the same exam and treatment fees for your chickens that you would pay for your cat or dog?
  • Do you believe that the negligible cost of purchasing a chicken means that vets should discount their fees?  If so, is that fair to the practitioner?

Please feel free to share any other thoughts you may have on the subject of chicken medical care in the comments below.

Kathy Shea Mormino

Affectionately known internationally as The Chicken Chick®, Kathy Shea Mormino shares a fun-loving, informative style to raising backyard chickens. …Read on

shop my SPONSORS

After having had three extremely ill chickens in urgent need of medical care recently, it has become painfully apparent to me that finding trained medical professionals who treat backyard chickens is difficult at best. If and when we are able to find any veterinarian willing to treat chickens, we consider ourselves lucky. Once past that hurdle, we just hope that they do the right thing from a treatment perspective, knowing that most vets do not have any significant formal training in poultry care. A 2013 study published by the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Animal Health Monitoring System projecting an increase in urban backyard flocks of over 400% in the next 5 years, it is time to discuss our expectations for medical care of our chickens among ourselves and with our veterinarians.  I have had chicken-care conversations with nearly a dozen vets over the past year, one of whom emailed me last autumn with some questions about starting her own backyard flock. I mentioned the dire need for chicken veterinarians across the United States and she indicated that she “...would like to feel educated on the basics of chicken medicine.” I encouraged her to seek formal education in the field not only for her own future flock, but to help bridge the gap between sick or injured chickens and caregivers. I was heartened to know that she completed some online education this past winter.

I have had chicken-care conversations with nearly a dozen vets over the past year, one of whom emailed me last autumn with some questions about starting her own backyard flock. I mentioned the dire need for chicken veterinarians across the United States and she indicated that she “…would like to feel educated on the basics of chicken medicine.”  I encouraged her to seek formal education in the field not only for her own future flock, but to help bridge the gap between sick or injured chickens and caregivers. I was heartened to know that she completed some online education this past winter.

Esther had ovarian cancer, a very common condition in older laying hens, which required putting her down. Stella was also euthanized when it was discovered that she had a severe case of egg yolk peritonitis. Both conditions were confirmed by necropsies.

Esther had ovarian cancer, a very common condition in older laying hens, which required putting her down. Stella was also euthanized when it was discovered that she had a severe case of egg yolk peritonitis. Both conditions were confirmed by necropsies.

This subject hit the front page of The Wall Street Journal after reporter Jon Kamp contacted me to discuss an different topic, piquing his interest in the lack of trained, experienced poultry vets for backyard chickens.

After having participated in a public forum on backyard chicken-keeping recently, this particular veterinarian’s feelings were that: “chicken people complain that vets don’t know anything but they also are willing to pay nothing to have their animals taken care of properly.  It’s a bad cycle of bad feelings. I hate for (animals) to suffer with a treatable problem. I could use some guidance regarding charging for treatment and an approach to dealing with the notion that vets don’t know anything about chickens.” She and I have had several discussions about veterinary care for backyard chickens. I admire her candor and willingness to discuss these issues and while I am happy to share my opinions with her, I believe these important topics ought to be discussed within and between the chicken-keeping and veterinary healthcare communities generally.  Only by fleshing out these issues collaboratively, nation-wide can we eventually come to a place where we are comfortable discussing our birds’ health with our vets, comfortable with the care our chickens receive and where vets are comfortable including chicken-care as a component of their practice.

Some of my flock members on 9/14/13. photo credit: Jon Kamp, The Wall Street Journal
Some of my flock members on 9/14/13. photo credit: Jon Kamp, The Wall Street Journal

Edited to add: This subject hit the front page of The Wall Street Journal after reporter Jon Kamp contacted me to discuss an different topic, piquing his interest in the lack of trained, experienced poultry vets for backyard chickens.

 DO feel free to share that you view your chickens as livestock and if they are sick, you cull them. DO NOT share that you believe anyone who takes their chicken to a vet is wasting their money.
 DO feel free to share that you view your chickens as livestock and if they are sick, you cull them. DO NOT share that you believe anyone who takes their chicken to a vet is wasting their money.

I invite you to share your thoughts on some, any or all of the questions below. Please limit your comments to constructive input regarding your own thoughts, feelings and decisions you would make for your flock. Please refrain from passing judgment on the decisions another chicken-keeper may make for their flock or engaging in debate with another reader. Comments will be moderated to ensure compliance with this request for a judgment-free dialogue. 

For example: 
DO feel free to share that you view your chickens as livestock and if they are sick, you cull them. 
DO NOT share that you believe anyone who takes their chicken to a vet is wasting their money.
Some of the issues you may wish to address are:

  • Do you view your backyard chickens as livestock, pets or something else?
  • Is it important to you to know that there is a veterinarian available who will treat your chicken(s)?
  • Would you bring a chicken to see a vet if they did not have chicken training/experience?
  • If a chicken vet practiced medicine in your community, would you bring your chickens to them for well-patient visits?
  • Are you willing to pay the same exam and treatment fees for your chickens that you would pay for your cat or dog?
  • Do you believe that the negligible cost of purchasing a chicken means that vets should discount their fees?  If so, is that fair to the practitioner?

Please feel free to share any other thoughts you may have on the subject of chicken medical care in the comments below.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
244 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Stacey Mohammed
Stacey Mohammed
4 years ago

We view our chickens as pets! With shipping we paid over $75/each for 6 week old hand raised birds. We also spent a week building a coop that cost well over 1k.. We’ll be investing a lot of time caring for our little flock and I would absolutely pay for yearly vet exams & sick visits as needed.

Pat Allen
Pat Allen
5 years ago

I got my rooster Lewis home from an ‘exotic’ vet yesterday and he’s doing well. Silly boy didn’t go into the coop one night and it went into the 20’s. I found him the next afternoon all bloody and black!!! Broke my heart. I brought him into the house and warmed his face, comb, and waddle. His eyes were shut and he didn’t look good. I called my dog vet, he didn’t do birds, then I called my goat vet, they offered me a recipe. Soooooo, I was on my own. On On a lark I Searched Avian Vets in… Read more »

Karrie
Karrie
6 years ago

I agree completely that we need poultry vets and they should be reasonable in service fees. There are none in my area and the avian vet is expensive. I took Martha in knowing her problem, you could see and feel the egg bound. After several warm baths and dark quiet place and 28 hrs later I feared she would prolapse her vent so I took her to the the exotic animal vet so she wouldn’t. He changed me 180, to look at my bird, 80 for x ray and 80 for blood work. He herniated her vent, Then she dies… Read more »

Connie Hall
Connie Hall
2025 years ago

I agree with everything that Alex said. We have a small flock of nine chickens, which my teenage daughter considers her babies. We gather their eggs, but we’re not going to slaughter them. Medical care for them is a concern for both of us. Yesterday, we had to take one of our cats in to see the vet, and my daughter asked him if he cared for chickens. Imagine her horror when he told her that he did not, and that it’s not worth it to spend $100.00 worth of treatment on a bird only worth a few dollars. I… Read more »

Alex
Alex
2025 years ago

I really wish I had access to a chicken vet. We have a secure coop and run, but we let them free range during the day, so pretty much anything can happen. Most recently, our sweetest chicken (a Speckled Sussex) started limping. There’s no external injury and no paralysis–she can use it but it clearly hurts–and this is exactly the sort of thing I’d go to a vet for. To answer some of the questions you’ve listed: 1) We don’t slaughter our chickens and we’re pretty attached, so I think that means we view them as pets. (It’s funny–I’ve never… Read more »