Luvmypets Journal: A New Season

I'm really sorry that you lost your necklace I sure hope you find it, such a thing is emotionally precious no matter what its $ value.

@luvmypets you would be a God send to people who have sheep, goats, alpacas, pigs and other livestock. Vets these days want to take care of froo-froo dogs and charge big money for it. What the rural areas need is vets that can take care of the farm from cows down to the chickens. Our vet did all he could for the lambs that I lost, then a few days later he diagnosed my ewe and put her down as gently as he could. He admitted not knowing much about sheep, but he is willing to learn and I appreciate him for that.

A neighbor called a couple of weeks ago to ask if I would come look at his chicken. He tried to take her to the vet, but was refused treatment because the vet didn't treat chickens. I politely refrained from pointing out to him that it would be silly to spend $100 on a $20 chicken We went to see his chicken. A band on her leg had grown into her leg. He had already taken it off, but was worried over the wound on the leg. I cautioned him not to use any ointment with "caine" in it as lidocaine is poison to chickens. We rubbed in some antibiotic ointment and I told him the chicken would be ok. But the vet wouldn't even look at her.

We NEED veterinarians just like YOU!

@luvmypets you are needed in Seward AK, I have searched all the vets in Seward and none of them do livestock.

I took a chicken to the vet once. She was pretty sure that the chicken had Marek's and a few weeks later it was confirmed by a necropsy. But that was when I had 7 chickens and a few had died in the last week. Now I have about 40 chickens and no way we are going to a vet. Priorities change

I THINK our vet said he would look at a chicken in an emergency. I don't think he is trained in poultry. When I found Echo with her 'growth', DD1 wanted to take her to the vet. I said no.
- First, I don't think he would be able to do anything and it would cost a lot to find that out.
- Second, though she is my favorite chicken, she cost $3.25 four years earlier and had laid only no shell eggs last spring prior to this 'growth' being found. On any real farm she would have been culled months earlier. Sorry.

Nutri Drench and Duramycin from TSC was as far as I was willing to go.

Yes, you have to balance the cost of treatment against the value of the animal. But if you have a LOT of low value animals and disease strikes, the dollar amount adds up quickly. We NEED vets that can care for ALL of our animals as needed. I wouldn't seek treatment for a single chicken, but if disease struck and I had thousands of chickens, I would want to know what to do or what to do to prevent the same disease on the next batch of chickens.

It doesn't make economic sense to spend thousands on a $100 animal. I once had a gelding with a large abscess on his jaw. The vet wanted me to take him to Texas A&M and spend $2000 on treatment. I refused because he was a $400 horse. I found another vet. He prescribed antibiotics, which I gave him until the abscess went away. Then I sold him for $400. "Pet" vets can get a little stupid over treatment.

@luvmypets the farm animal world NEEDS YOU!!!!

I love my vet because she'll tell me what can be done, but gives me prices up front and helps me evaluate whether it's worth the expense. As for a chicken, totally agree. I won't bring a chicken to the vet until it's one after multiple other losses. I keep some rare breeds of poultry so they're pricey to replace a large number of them.

Rosie is such a brat I let her out in the hallway to get some exercise as it has been so yucky and and the little stinker figured out how to get into the grain bin Its like a mini trashcan you use to store bird seed. She has rarely if not ever seen me open the darn thing but within a minute of finding it she lifted the lid up with her nose and let her kids have a buffet. Guess now we have to be even extra careful. She has figured out gates and feed bins, what's next?!

Sounds like "Toy" time to me. Ya just need to find something that gets her attention and she can play with, or mess with. It could be a ball or a handless cheap bucket, if you have a soda bottle just put some pellets in it and let them rattle it. I caught up on your thread and am behind ya 100% on being a Vet...and if ya come down this way I promise ya, I'd gladly Welcome you as my Vet.

Forgot to post this

Buster is my buddy