Re: Sick Black Rock

Amy Blankenship wrote:
" Jill" <news@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:6bc2uoF3aritrU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Amy Blankenship wrote:

Which area are you defining within "here" ?
I know of plenty who pay much more within the USA for breed lines
they are interested in -- for utility and otherwise.
I have had offer after offer from people prepared to pay hundreds of
dollars worth of blood testing to get eggs exported from here to
there, with the chances of getting a few stock birds.
I'm sure those people have enough birds to make it worth the while of
the vets in everyone's local area to know poultry really well ;-)
surprisingly they were folks with 10 - 20 birds mostly, looking to improve their bloodlines.

Which is not enough to support a vet.

I'm talking about birds that are livestock, not pets. If your
birds are pets, it's a whole different story.
Who is "your"?
I am talking, and was clear I was talking, about the growing domestic
market.
I was talking about in general.
But there is no "general"
There are folks who have had a few chickens around their back yard for donkeys years, and may have a low value for them
There are those who are running a commercial unit and have strict health plans and biosecurity
There are those who are new who are looking to improve their connection to the food they eat
There are those who are aiming to win at shows, and breed and raise accordingly.
There are those who want to improve the pure breed productive qualities
There are those who are raising and selling some birds
There are those who raise and sell thousands of birds.

Most of those would appreciate access to good veterinary advice and knowledge.

So they should go to vet school, since the economics just aren't there right now for a vet to learn about chickens in most areas.

These are people who are having birds in their backgarden,
smallholding, orchard, allotment etc for eggs, and increasingly
meat, for their own consumption and some neighbourly sales.
People who have between 2 - 25 birds probably. Pure breeds, rehomed
battery, and commercial birds included.
Sure, and if you have that many birds and you're calling the vet out
enough to make it worth his while to know something about poultry,
you're doing something VERY VERY wrong!
Who said anything about calling a vet out?
People take animals TO vets.

In my area, it costs exactly the same to have the livestock vet come out as to go to him. It was cheaper before gas prices went up. And I guarantee you if you take your chicken to the vet he won't get the whole story about what is going on with the flock.

And any health issue that affects one can affect others, or indicate management issues that can help others.
And I am talking about the vets accessing the knowledge that they can already, and that the demand from the thousands of similar poultry people create.
Not that ONE person is going to trigger this.

That is my point. If you have one person in each area who is constantly dragging his birds to the vet every 5 minutes, that is STILL not going to be enough for it to make it worth the vet's while to study up on poultry. Or even two. Or ten. The vet has limited time and needs to keep up to date on many species, particularly livestock vets. They need to know cows, horses, and dogs. Depending on the area, they may need to know about sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas, rabbits, and who knows what. If they get one call a month for poultry and 100 calls a month for horses, where do you think they will concentrate their time?

You're right. I took my rabbit to the vet because he had abscesses from an attack by a - wait for it - guinea pig! Cavie, for US readers. She gave us the appropriate treatment but told me that because of the way rabbits have abcesses no matter what you do about 50% die. Sure enough the treatment was successful, then the abscess would break out again. I did my own googling, got information on work done my Marcy Rosenfeld, was cheeky enough to write to her and got the most wonderful detailed reply which I printed off and took to my vet, also emailed to the local vet-nurse training chief at the local polytech. Marcy's method took a long time of twice daily sub-cut injections but IT WORKED!!!!!

Long way of saying, if you find out something print it out and take it to your vet(s) in the district and circulate it around others who may be having the same problem. That's one of the things this group does. No, Jill's way and my much more limited experience and everyone else's varied take on poultry management probably aren't the One And Only *Truth* but we have to work on education, and not exclude vets because if they're not included they won't even *know* there are this many of us out here who need more help with bird diseases. And let the vet know that you're willing to help newbies, if you are, and supply the practice with a few handouts - computer printer - of useful sites and helpful people.

No, we can't expect vets to go on post-drag chook courses at their own expense while the practice falls apart and all the dog and cattle owners go to the opposition, but we can politely and without demands or aggression encourage more poultry knowledge among vets and in the community, including in pet shops which is where people sometimes go in search of a medicine of supplement to help their sick bird.

A L P
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Bird Flu Controls
    ... approval and the birds would need to be kept under surveillance, ... presiding over repeated human health disasters and being repeatedly ... Veterinary Service abdicates responsibility to commercial interests. ... Can you imagine Bernard Matthews' regular vet ...
    (uk.business.agriculture)
  • Re: Sick Black Rock
    ... with the chances of getting a few stock birds. ... Which is not enough to support a vet. ... Pure breeds, rehomed ... enough to make it worth his while to know something about poultry, ...
    (sci.agriculture.poultry)
  • Re: Bird Flu - Norfolk
    ... that have a vet on a retainer. ... These viruses are in populations of birds around the world. ... They also claim that there is a vaccine for HPAI ...
    (uk.business.agriculture)
  • Re: Bird Flu Controls
    ... poultry or farmed feathered game could be moved out of surveillance ... zones 15 days after an outbreak. ... the birds would need to be kept under surveillance, ... Can you imagine Bernard Matthews' regular vet ...
    (uk.business.agriculture)
  • Lack of Vets near me, pammy
    ... Why have you left this poor bloody duck with what appears to be a painful ... tried to get my dog vet to help, ... The poultry farmers I've spoken to are aghast that I'd even WANT a vet for ... my birds: they prefer to kill them if there's a problem. ...
    (sci.agriculture.poultry)