4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Tara123]

If you had to take one of your chickens to the vets how much are you prepared to spend on them? Or what's the most you have spent?

 

The reason I'm asking is because ginger swallowed a long piece of thread which got itself tangled in her throat today. The vets, so far have been brill and saw her straight away as an emergency admittance and didn't hesitate to tell me that she would need an anesthetic to be able to get the thread out, which is what I suspected would happen. The vet advised me that is was going to cost between £50-£100 which I had no problem with what so ever even though I'm on a very low budget.

 

Now the thing is my gran is from a farming background and a bit old fashioned and she thinks that I should have just had her put down instead, as she's not worth the money (Or knowing my gran she would have willingly rung her neck for me ). I explained to her that in my eyes it wasn't the chickens fault that the thread was on the lawn so why should she suffer for it by losing her life when the vets have dealt with it with no problems what so ever.

 

I need to collect ginger at 5.20pm, so I will let you all know how she is. Luckily I noticed the problem very quickly as she was gasping, coughing and sneezing as soon as it happened and she was in the vets within half an hour after

 

So what do you think your chickens are worth?

[Jennyhenny]

Thats a difficult one . I would have paid the £50 to £100 not sure if my husband would have agreed though. The thing is the girls now feel like pets, like one of the family and I couldn't bear to see one suffer and I dont think I would have the heart to put one to sleep if she could be saved for £100.

 

I hope everything is ok, keep us informed

 

Jennyhenny

[Cooks]

how can you put a price on it?? I would pay whatever was needed to be paid to make them well again.

 

Get well soon Ginger!

Edited May 22, 2009 by Guest

[debbier]

No chickens yet (coming June), so I'm maybe not the best person to answer this, but I have been wondering about such things.

 

It depends how you see your chickens, I suppose. You obviously see them as pets, so have a completely different perpective to your Gran's, who maybe just sees them as productive animals? I doubt that the posters on here who rear chickens for meat would pay bills of such amount?

 

I'd spend hundreds on my dog, if it was warranted, but I'm not sure that I'd be entirely comfortable shelling out similar amounts in vet's bills on my propective chickens. I may want to (as I'm pretty soft!), but wouldn't be entirely comfortable with it, as I happily eat (free-range) chicken meat. I know for a fact my OH wouldn't want me to, but my daughter would.

[Griffin]

I recently spent £30 on my poorly 12 week old cockerel at the vets. Mr Griffin was furious but as Wally was never going to be a meat bird, he had a home lined up, I felt that I had to take him just incase there was something that could be done to save him because he had a life to look forward to. As it happened, there wasn't, but I don't feel it was a waste of money, it brought me peace of mind.

[*mummy_hen*]

My girls to me are 100% priceless. Our ex-batts have very low immune systems and we have spent hundreds of pounds on medication and vets bills. I would gladly go without to pay for anything my babies needed. I would only ever make the decision to strop if it was cruel to them or they would have a poor way of life!!

[Guest]

I've taken my girls to the vets several times over the last cple of years and each visit has probably cost in the region of £20-£30. I haven't added them all up and I don't want to to be honest.

 

I try and weigh up the chicken's chance of survival/quality of life together with the cost, I don't just look at the cost alone.

 

From experience, a consultation and a course of baytril is going to come in around the £20 mark and I can live with that.

 

It's really difficult to say what I would do in the future if the treatment were more expensive than that.

 

It's only a decision you can make really based on your situation. You should go with what YOU feel is right, it's "Ooops, word censored!"ody else's business.

 

all the best for ginger's recovery xxx

[Egg Lou]

I think this is a tough one but really down to your own choice I guess.. When I was deciding on going ahead with my hens I had a few choices to make and how much to spend if they ever needed attention was one of them due to my own personal circumstances.

 

I have two horses who give my huge vet bills, in the last two years one has had 2 operations which totalled £6000.. so in the decision to have my girls I concluded that I would have to make a sad decision if ever faced with your dilema as it just wasn't practical to run up huge bills in another area as just don't have the income.

 

I'm not saying the hens are less worthy and I spend whatever money needed for the cube/run as the best for them, however if ever in a bad way I would not see them suffer but would not be able to spend endless money on vets either. I worm and feed and give them the best of everything else needed so dont shoot me.. I just have to draw the line somewhere.

 

I believe its a case of each to their own decisions and circumstances as long as their is no suffering involved.

 

Well done to you for saving your little girl!

[Cooks]

it is definately a personal thing

[Space Chick]

My OH and I made an agreement before we had the girls that there would be no vets bills. Its a hard decision to make. My OH sees them as entertaining egg producers. I see them as pets with an egg bonus.

 

I think he would be cross though if I did take them to the vet, as he reckons they should be golden eggs already for the amount we've paid already (cube, putting down a permanent area, now the Walk in Run, the grapes I buy that he doesn't like, the extra bit that I get them because its the girls, the chicken wire he's just bought to protect the veg patch etc etc. He worked out that at present an egg costs approximately £22!!!!!!! That will go up significantly when the WIR is built. He reckons he should have stuck with the Free Range ones from our Butchers which sell at just over 20p and egg!!!)

[tidygirlsuk]

I've only been once and it cost me a total of £50 for consultation and antibiotics (the antibiotics where £5 on there own) It saved my beloved cockerel but i was a little miffed about paying so much for the consultation because the vet couldn't tell me if he had scally leg mite. However i would try and avoid the vet if possible and seek advise from here first but if the vet was needed i would go, and pay whatever,(If I could afford it). I can understand and wouldn't judge people that have your grans point of view, maybe it's their livelyhood.

[Peaches]

Interesting question. I hadn't thought of it like that, but I guess since I took the girls on I probably also took on to pay out what it took to keep them safe, healthy and happy. We paid out at the vets for Samosa, then she died, just paid out for Priscilla, but she's fine.

 

Then there's the cost of the WIR, coop, feed, feeders, straw plus, plus. plus. Er, actually each egg works out at about £50 so far.

 

Still, I love them, and I don't spend much on clothes (if you ever met me you would be able to see this quite clearly ), my only other big vice is Sauvignon Blanc and Tunnocks chocolate teacakes. Err, and books from Amazon .... Oh, and 2 springer spaniels.....

[Tara123]

Thank you so much for the best wishes to Ginger. Well she's home and all seems well at the mo although she has to stay separate from the other girls over night which I'm a bit worried about as she can hear them and is wanting to go back with them. I thought I might try putting her back in with the others tonight as she seems quite distressed that she can't join them now.

 

Anyway the vet managed to cut the thread as far back down her throat as possible but apart from the tangled bit around her tongue (not sure what that bit is called), the rest of the thread is still in her as he couldn't pull it out. Having said that I've now got to keep a close eye on her to make sure it doesn't cause her a blockage, although when she got home she started eating loads of grit so that should help her brake the thread up. She needs to go back on Tuesday for a check up but hopefully all will be well by then.

 

The total bill in the end was £75, but I think she is worth every penny despite what my dear old gran thinks

 

Thank you again for your views on how much you would spend. YES at the end of the day it is a personal choice that can only be made by the chicken mummy's and daddy's all around the world

[kelschooks]

It is difficult and it does depend on how you view your chickens as others have said. Before we got our chickens we had rabbits and ended up taking them to specialist vets when they got poorly and it did cost rather a lot but they were insured. Despite the money neither of them survived. I hesitated before getting the chooks because I find it hard not to treat an animal no matter how much it costs but my dh said he was not prepared for us to spend lots of money (if any!) on vets bills for chickens. Speaking to a friend who already has chickens, she said that they tend to get better on their own or die anyway and there is perhaps not often a lot a vet can do anyway.

 

That said I did take one of my 4 ex-batts to the vets a few weeks ago when she was clearly very poorly because I am not prepared to see any creature suffer and was not prepared to finish her off myself!! Armed with great advice from this forum I was able to tell the vet more about what was wrong with Maisy than they were and so it cost me £14 to have her PTS, something I am quite happy to pay. I am certain it was the right decision. If recovery is certain then treating a chicken may be reasonable but they are not the sort of animals that cope with the stress of lots of intervention well IMHO. My ex-batts have had a wonderful year with us behaving as chickens should and ranging free so I feel pretty philosophical about it all. Maisy had suffered so much before we took her in I just couldn't bear to see her suffer further.

 

I have waffled but in short, if there appears to be something serious wrong with my hens and it can't be cured quickly and easily without stress to the bird and a great deal of money on my part then I would have them PTS.

 

Kelly

x

[Barkisland]

Interesting question. For me, my girls are my pets, and I treat them with the same care as I would treat any other pet. If poorly, I would treat myself if possible with over the counter medications. But if they needed veterinary attention, they would have it. If they were suffering, they would be humanely put out of their misery. It is a cost I have accounted for in the bigger scheme of things.

[Redwing]

Glad your hen is on the mend

 

I always thought I would spend limitless money on vets bills for rmy hens but now I don't feel the same way...

 

As Poet says you have to weigh up quality of life and time and time again I have read that many hens don't show that they are ill until its too late

 

I might take an ill chook to the vets once but don't think I would go further than that to be honest

 

I think its a little different for injuries and especially if it was my fault (if I stood on a hens foot for example) I might spend more on my 'pet' hens to get it sorted out but certainly one of my table birds would make it to the pot before they made it to a vet, sorry

 

Apart from anything I wouldnt want to put a hen through the stress of repeated vets visits

 

*ducks and hides*

[Griffin]

 

I might take an ill chook to the vets once but don't think I would go further than that to be honest

 

Apart from anything I wouldnt want to put a hen through the stress of repeated vets visits

 

*ducks and hides*

That's how I feel too. I took Wally to a very very good avian specialist, I wouldn't waste money at my usual vets because they're useless with chickens. I wouldn't have gone back time and time again with him. I had a lengthy discussion with the vet, covering a number of topics and I really do feel I got my monies worth, even though Wally still couldn't be helped. I would have always wondered 'what if' if I hadn't taken him that once, so like I said earlier, that £30 bought me peace of mind. Wally was a good traveller and seemed to enjoy his day out but I doubt most of mine would feel the same.

[meezers]

When I got my chooks just over a year ago I told myself that they wouldn't be going to the vets, I'd spent enough money on their coop and WIR and on the chooks themselves, they would pay their way with eggs and I wouldn't be adding to the expense with vets bills . So, when Elsie got the sniffles last year I browsed all the forums, dosed her up with citricidal and worried endlessly - but no vets, she got better.

Now a few weeks ago Welly wasn't well, again back on the net and it looked like she had a respiratory infection, ummed and arred but decided she'd probably need antibiotics, so went back on my word and took her to the vets. He diagnosed sour crop and I was rather annoyed with myself as I didn't really agree with him and already knew how to treat sour crop thanks to this forum. So I paid £13.50 to be confused ! Welly is still not right, I'm sure it's respiratory and not sour crop , she's still got noisy breathing and she's stopped laying but she is eating , drinking and looks healthy so I won't be going back to the vets, I'll dose her up withACV and citricidal and hope she'll improve on her own .

If one of my chooks was injured and in distress then I wouldn't think twice about going to the vets, but for illnesses I really don't think it's worth it.

[Lewis]

Wanting to be a vet I know quite a few of them and when Babs was dying we made an emergency consult with one I know. Mom was on the way back from work to take her but it was too late.

 

I think I'd pay (well, my parents would ) up to a certain amount, but depending on the situation and illness. I think for example I knew what it was I'd just ask for a prescription and pay the £6 or whatever and do it that way.

If it was more serious I think I'd have a consultation then if it was a we can make her more comfortable for a few weeks, I'm not sure what I'd do (well I know what I'd want to do).

 

It all depends on what it is and what the vet says.

[chelsea]

At the beginning of the year we spent £100 on Ella's bowel operation and then a further £35-40 a week on baytril injections for 6 weeks so she was very expensive. She is our original hen and very much loved and I never really gave the cost a second thought at the time. (until I saw the bank statement )

[Valkyrie]

Our trip to the vets was £11+, so luckily it didn't break the bank. Our rats were much more costly - and so much smaller and didn't give us nice edible presents. I would have done the same as you Tara and glad the birdie is better.

[Woodcat]

hey

 

 

I think it depends on what your chooks are for, mine are pets and so i take them to the vets if they get ill or are suffering in anyway. They have cost me a fortune but when i lost my first chicken i cried for what felt like days so if i can do anything to save them i will. If one was ill i would pay for the vet faster than i'd pay for almost anything else. I'm very lucky in that i have a very good local vet who is totally honest with me.