Patridge bantam chicken poorly foot?

[Fizzle Knit]

We have freecycle cafe in this area - basically a forum for people to post threads with a local interest/query. I posted a message asking for recommendations of chicken-friendly vets in Leicester and this was one of the responses I got!

"There is really no such thing! Given that a chicken costs between £3 and £20 and any vet bill for time alone is likely to exceed £30, it is not cost effective in the first instance. The second point is - there's no such thing as a poorly chicken - just a live chicken or a dead chicken! (I speak from bitter experience - you get up one morning and one's carked it for no apparent reason!)"

 

Wrong on 2 counts:-

1. People don't keep pets in order to be "cost-effective"

2. Not all hens get sick and instantly die - as is clear to me from many of the postings on Omlet.

 

I have written a response which I have tried to keep polite, and will post it here when it appears on freecycle.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Blimey, what a heartless creep . Pity any chickens he/she keeps . Look forward to seeing your response .

[Guest]

aaah cost effective pets. Let me see

 

My friend who is poor as a church mouse and frequently has to borrow to feed her kids during the last week of the month keeps rats. If she didn't have all those vet bills she mightn't need to borrow....

 

My cleaner just paid STUPID amounts of money for a Ginea Pig (sp) to have a ceasareian (sp!).

 

Then there are all those people who keep

 

fish

budgies

hamsters

rabbits

 

etc etc etc

 

ALL those animals can cost less than a vet visit - on any day of the week there will be someone at the vets with one of them...

 

Oh and I had to make that final trip to the vet with a chicken this week, I wanted her to go naturally but she laid down to die in the morning and come lunchtime was still with us. It cost me £8.50 - and I found a pound down the back of the chair in the waiting room!

 

Vets may not be expert on chickens but they are birds, most domestic vets see a fair few birds.

[Chicken Licken]

My dog was bought by a recovering alcoholic on a drunken bender for £10 almost 13 years, neglected then abandoned and ended up with me. Over the years she has cost probably hundrends of pounds and I do not begrudge her a penny. She and the hens are some of those precious things in life that cannot be attributed a financial value - in fact all of the best things in life cannot - some folk are just downright heartless!!

I always joke that the dog and chooks never go without and I would happily go without to make sure it remains this way!!

[Olly]

That's a very unhelpful reply from the freecycle cafe. If you want your chickens to be 'cost-effective', then you're a farmer (and even then they aren't always!)

 

Sorry I can't help with any vet recommendations, but there are a few members who live in Leicester - Snowy I believe, and Bertie McSquirty? (may have got that wrong). Maybe one of them can recommend a vet. My own vet isn't a chicken specialist, but as Pengy says, they know about birds.

 

I see from your other post that you live in Western Park, my best friend lives there - it's a lovely area, lucky you.

[Egluntyne]

What an eejit.

[Fizzle Knit]

Olly, Thanks, I've posted on the chicken clinic, and I notice on the fixed thread a vet in Oadby is mentioned. Your friend must live in the "posh" part of Western Park where the really lovely houses are

Still waiting to my response to appear on free-cycle cafe.

[keyhole kate]

My youngest daughters hamster had a sore eye we

spent weeks and weeks back and forth to the vet

for drops antibiotics etc final bill £56. Two weeks later Xmas eve

afternoon we found she had passes away

Bet they think I need committing to the funny farm

Would I do it again you betcha

 

Kitty

[Guest]

what a lot of uninformed tosh!

 

go to yell.com and put in 'vet' and your postcode and then ring around. If you don't have any joy then think of where your nearest rural area is and try a search there.

[clootie]

What an eejit.

 

Well said Egluntine!!

[The Dogmother]

How unnecessary of them - if they have thoughts like that, then they are best kept to themselves rather than hurting anyone's feelings. Report them to the board admin.

 

Try phoning around vet surgeries in your area and see if one of them has an avian specialist or a farm practice.

[Angels4]

I'm still waiting to read Fizzle Knits response. Anybody else curious?

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Noooo, not me

[Fizzle Knit]

This is my reply - brief and polite - actually I think what annoyed me most was the whole patronising attitude he (I assume it's a he) displayed towards me.

 

 

"Thank you for your replies.

DS - if cost-effectiveness was my motivation then I'd be buying

battery eggs from the supermarket and my children would have goldfish

for pets! However, these hens are our pets as much as egg-producers

and if it becomes necessary I will be consulting a vet, just as I would

for a sick dog or cat. Sorry you've had a bitter experience with

chickens. "

[The Dogmother]

Well done FK... short and to the point. It'll be interesting to see if they reply

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Well said . It'll be interesting to see if you get a reply!

[Angels4]

Good for you. Short and to the point. I'm sure you won't get a response as the poster is most likely embarrassed. As they should be!

[Clur]

What a prat. When we got our dog 11 years ago, she was in such a poor condition it cost us 100's to keep her going. DH and I ate beans on toast for a week so we could afford to give her the chicken breast and rice the vet recommended (we'd just moved into our first home).

 

Would do it again in an instant - she was with us for 11 years, despite us being her third home, her never having had a proper walk/bath/treatment for fleas etc.

 

Would do the same for our girls - pets, for us, are part of the family!