The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: hughesy on February 19, 2012, 09:48:55 pm

Title: Chicken Vet Bill
Post by: hughesy on February 19, 2012, 09:48:55 pm
Anyone seen the article in country smallholding magazine about someone's ex batt hen having a rather complicated operation to fix a broken leg? £600 apparently ;D. I have to say it'd be a case of another bone being broken before I'd be spending like that on a chicken, it's neck.
Title: Re: Chicken Vet Bill
Post by: Mammyshaz on February 19, 2012, 10:23:07 pm
Awww it's obviously a much loved family pet. :love:

It deserves somebody who cares after the life it previously had.
Good on them  I say, taking on the role of animal owning as a full responsibility and of course having the dosh to do it.
 ( tho I'm sure a lollypop stick bandaged to it's leg would do the same trick  ;) )
Title: Re: Chicken Vet Bill
Post by: princesspiggy on February 19, 2012, 10:58:52 pm
£600 could save alot of battery hens.

Title: Re: Chicken Vet Bill
Post by: robert waddell on February 19, 2012, 11:11:49 pm
i just cant understand some people :farmer:
Title: Re: Chicken Vet Bill
Post by: plumseverywhere on February 20, 2012, 07:43:23 am
Do you know what  this reminds me of taking my daughters' cockerel to the vet with bumblefoot!  I had to take him twice and got a combined bill of £60 which I had to hide from hubby  ;D   Daughters much loved pet and the replacement for her xmas present cockerel who dropped dead 'on the job' so I felt i had to try !
Title: Re: Chicken Vet Bill
Post by: Bramblecot on February 20, 2012, 02:13:08 pm
We all choose to spend our money in different ways.  I can't believe what some people spend on cars/ restaurants/nail extensions /hair dye/new clothes/lottery tickets - then go and buy untraceable meat or eggs from caged birds - but that is their choice.  However, I think their vet probably saw them coming...
Title: Re: Chicken Vet Bill
Post by: deepinthewoods on February 20, 2012, 02:15:03 pm
how daft will they feel when its built in obsolescence kicks in next week, will they payout for a pm?

i wonder, can you get pet insurance for a chicken? :D
Title: Re: Chicken Vet Bill
Post by: plumseverywhere on February 20, 2012, 04:23:14 pm
when i took the cochin cockerel in, even the veternary nurses at the desk said "woah, its a chicken" when they saw in the box!! I don't think even in rural area's its common practise  ;D
i bet the insurance companies would jump to insure hens  ;)
Title: Re: Chicken Vet Bill
Post by: Womble on February 20, 2012, 07:07:26 pm
It might even be worth it. After all, if you have a flock of 500 Isa Browns, you surely only need to insure one of them!  ;D
Title: Re: Chicken Vet Bill
Post by: LouiseG on February 20, 2012, 07:24:52 pm
I like your thinking womble  ;D :D ;D
Title: Re: Chicken Vet Bill
Post by: plumseverywhere on February 20, 2012, 07:25:53 pm
I like your thinking womble  ;D :D ;D
so do I that's brilliant  ;D
Title: Re: Chicken Vet Bill
Post by: doganjo on February 20, 2012, 07:30:41 pm
What's teh betting they want them microchipped!  ::)
Title: Re: Chicken Vet Bill
Post by: chrismahon on February 20, 2012, 08:51:58 pm
Have friends who spent £2000 fixing up their run-over cat which died 3 months later. £600 for a pet is acceptable in my book, if you have the money. We used to waste that amount every month in the pub, before we stopped drinking completely. If our pet cockerel (who lives in the house) was ill we'd throw everything we had at him to fix it. Unfortunately we haven't got a lot to throw at the moment.

I'll enquire about pet insurance with the vet.
Title: Re: Chicken Vet Bill
Post by: JEP on February 20, 2012, 08:52:21 pm
we were given a hen that's had a broken leg
runs OK with a limp
 
Title: Re: Chicken Vet Bill
Post by: allyb on February 20, 2012, 08:56:05 pm
outright madness if you ask me and regards to the vet at least Dick Turpin wore a mask  :)
Title: Re: Chicken Vet Bill
Post by: funkyfish on February 22, 2012, 03:06:51 pm
Wow it must have had some kind of external fixator job etc. A cat leg would cost that much!
Not saying I'd do it to my hens - I see them as livestock and also sometimes just because you can , doesn't mean you should- wot about arthritis? Realistically what's the longterm benefit to the hen having ton of metal work, and stress of anaesthetic and confinement and physio after? Not fair to the ben me thinks.

But saying that I'm fed up of peoPle saying " but it's only a hamster,rabbit, gerbil" i can get another one for a fiver" are we as vets and nurses ment to give substandard medical care and bodge job stuff just because it's a lesser thought of species? We can't pick and choose what species we treat to a high standard, they all have to be treated he same. Birds need more specialist care pre during and post op. They use approximate 3x the amount of anaesthetic to keep them asleep. So that is reflectednin the price.

I'm also appalled at some large animal vets and the lack of pain relief farm animals get. Local anaesthetic takes 20min to work- and it stings like, a lot. So stabbing a calf in the testical and cutting straight away is seriously not on! Has to take a vet casualty who got kicked in the head after trying to cut a calf. Served him right I say.

Sorry for rambling post....

Not saying some vets don't add extras on... My boss is a sod. We spent our lives fighting her to keep prices
 fair.
Title: Re: Chicken Vet Bill
Post by: landroverroy on February 29, 2012, 10:31:29 pm
outright madness if you ask me and regards to the vet at least Dick Turpin wore a mask  :)

 I agree - it only cost me £40 last year at our vets to have a lamb with a broken leg splinted.
Title: Re: Chicken Vet Bill
Post by: princesspiggy on March 04, 2012, 07:18:48 pm
If our pet cockerel (who lives in the house)
does he really?  :D :D

£600 could be run up pretty quickly tho.