Professor needed a temporary beak prosthesis from a local avian veterinarian

When a pet dog or cat gets sick, it's easy for an owner to call any local vet. Pet chicken owners will find that it may be more difficult to access medical care for their feathered friend.

The way to go about accessing care once one has determined their pet is ill enough to need a professional is to first seek an avian specialist. The next thing to do is contact that office and ask if they will treat your bird, asking secondly if they will still treat it if it is a chicken. The nuances of bird care are not all that different for a chicken versus a parrot, but some vets simply won't treat poultry anyway.

There are many things one can do to treat at home, and lots of resources are at your fingertips if you know where to look. Pet chicken forums are very popular, and many have a vast user base; some even contain vets and vet technicians. First State Vet Supply has a vet on staff that will consult (for a fee) over email or the phone and then make appropriate recommendations. Another gigantic resource is the local chicken-keeping community. Because of its burgeoning popularity, may communities have urban chickenkeeping organizations, sometimes as part of a locavore movement or an extension office.

The best plan is to know in advance what your choices are prior to an injury or illness. One major difference between other domestic house pets and chickens is that other domestic housepets are often a chicken's potential predator. Injuries are often the result of a neighbor's dog or urban wildlife. Chickens aren't any more susceptible to disease than any other animal, but if you will encounter difficulties once your pet is sick, you want to be prepared.

Also very important is the chicken first aid kit. Keeping a few items on hand will make a huge difference if something happens. Chickens can go into shock easily and benefit from electrolytes. Find these in powder form at any feed store, but also in liquid form for humans at the pharmacy- most end in 'lyte.' Infant vitamin drops, also found at the pharmacy or grocery store, go far in staving off a shock, as well- just be certain to get the kind without iron. Yogurt is very beneficial while a bird is healing, so long as it has live cultures. Antibiotic ointments can be applied to surface injuries, provided it doesn't contain a pain relief medicine ending in 'caine.'

Informed chicken owners will contact vets in the area prior to needing one and have items on hand, just as any pet owner or parent would.