Vet Telemedicine for Chickens
When I was a kid growing up on the farm, the rules were simple: if a pig or cow got sick, you called the vet. But if a chicken fell ill, there was no phone call and no treatment—the chicken was culled. Chickens weren’t worth the expense. Lose one hen, and there were plenty more. That was the way it was back then, and, in most large commercial poultry operations, it’s still the way things are done.
We backyard chicken keepers live in a whole different world. We regard the chickens in our coop as very special birds. Each hen has a name and we know her personality and her life story. Our chickens are our pets in every sense of the word and when one gets sick, we worry. We want the same thing any pet owner wants: care that’s accessible, affordable, and timely.
Vet medicine has not kept up with this shift in attitude. There is still the residual belief among certain veterinarians that chickens just don’t matter as much as other animals. Canadian veterinarian and author David Waltner-Toews has described his attitude in the early days of his practice before he became a backyard chicken enthusiast. “We never learned much about treating diseases in individual chickens. Who in their right mind would bring a chicken into an expensive vet clinic? Our training was mostly in how to diagnose and prevent or treat depression and disease in large groups.” He recounts how during his first year as a vet someone brought a pet chicken with bumblefoot into his clinic. “I felt awkward about spending a client’s money on a bird of so little value.”
This attitude persists. Many vet clinics simply will not see chickens. There are vast swaths of the country where vets for chickens are rare or completely unavailable. And many vets who do see chickens don’t have any solid experience with avian medicine. Veterinarian Mike Petrik explains, “Chickens are weird. They…have a wildly different biology than other [mammalian] pet animals. It means that a small animal vet cannot apply what he/she knows in other areas to the chicken. A chinchilla is not that different from a dog or cat, and you can logically adapt treatments if one is brought into your clinic, but a chicken does not fit the model.” Thus, when it comes to medical care, chickens are left out in the cold. There are a lot of folks with pet chickens who are still working out exactly what they’re supposed to do with a sick bird.
A Sick Hen
My most recent frustration with the unavailability of vet care involved Persey, one of my Speckled Sussex hens. On Good Friday this past Spring, I found Persey holed up in a nest box and obviously ill. She had seemed completely healthy the day before, but now her comb was pale, her face was swollen, there was discharge coming out of her nostrils, and she rattled when she breathed. Classic pneumonia.
I moved her out of the coop to a crate. This poor girl needed vet care and antibiotics. Not all pneumonias are bacterial, but if they are bacterial, getting an antibiotic started immediately is critical. It's the difference between quick recovery and death.
A few years ago, you could go to your local farm store and pick up off-the-shelf antibiotics for your animals. Not anymore. Selling unregulated antibiotics like popcorn on a street corner was a bad practice. People were using antibiotics indiscriminately. Consequently, bacteria were developing antibiotic resistance. So, laws were passed and now you have to get antibiotics through a vet.
There’s downside to this necessary change in antibiotic regulations, of course. I knew exactly what my little hen needed but I couldn't get it. I needed a prescription. Most vet clinics are not open on the weekend. No vet clinics were open on Easter Sunday weekend. There are emergency vet clinics of course. But not for chickens. As I’ve already said, chickens get left out in the cold.
I held my breath, crossed my fingers and waited until Monday morning to call my local vet who sees chickens. Persey was still hanging on, but perhaps only by a thread. The person who took my call at the clinic explained that they were swamped. She thought they could get Persey in by Wednesday. Then, I called every clinic within a thirty-mile radius that saw chickens. I write this chicken blog, so I happened to have a list. But no dice. Nobody could see my sick hen.
That’s when I called a neighbor who is a small animal vet—not an option open to most people. This nice neighbor was willing to deal with Persey and ultimately prescribed an antibiotic. With antibiotics, oral fluids that I administered with an eyedropper at first, and soft foods that I hand-fed, Persey slowly recovered. It took weeks, but she eventually was able to rejoin the flock. I’m sure that had the meds been delayed by even one more day, Persey would have died. We’ve got a huge chicken health care problem and Persey’s dilemma is a perfect example of that problem.
A recovering Persey the Speckled Sussex hangs out with her friend, Toby the Labrador Retriever
Vet Telemedicine
When I told Persey’s story to Christine Long, founder of TelaVets, she offered a very different scenario to how Persey’s medical experience could have played out. “If you had contacted us, you could’ve spoken with a licensed chicken vet that day—even on Easter. We would’ve reviewed Persey’s symptoms, possibly diagnosed respiratory disease—a common issue in backyard flocks, and, if appropriate, prescribed a broad-spectrum antibiotic like doxycycline. The prescription would’ve shipped that same day. In some areas, we can arrange local pharmacy pickup. We’d follow up in a day or two to ensure she was improving. We can’t guarantee outcomes, but we can provide fast, expert help when every hour counts.”
I suspect that Persey’s outcome would have been significantly improved had the antibiotics not been delayed by days—it probably would have prevented her from getting as sick as she did, and would have shortened her recovery. Persey’s situation, Ms. Long declares, is exactly the sort of situation TelaVets was built for. “We were hearing the same thing over and over: ‘My vet won’t see chickens,’ or ‘I can’t get a prescription in time.’ Chickens are beloved pets and important backyard animals for so many people, but they’re often invisible to the larger vet system. That gap felt urgent—and solvable with telemedicine.”
The Evolution of Telemedicine for Humans and Animals
Telemedicine may seem like a recent innovation, but the idea has been around for a long time. Whenever new technology emerges—or existing tools improve—there’s always somebody thinking up ways to use it to make life better. And this has been the case with communication technology and medicine.
As early as the 1860s, during the Civil War, doctors far from the front lines were using the newly-invented telegraph to get information about wounded soldiers on the battlefields. In 1879, the British medical journal, The Lancet, reported of a woman phoning her doctor about her baby’s croup. The article suggested that patients could routinely phone in with questions rather than traveling all the way to the doctor’s office. This was a novel idea—Alexander Graham Bell had invented the phone a mere three years before.
With the rise of smartphones and the internet, telemedicine expanded and improved. But it was the global shutdown during the long months of the COVID pandemic that really moved it forward. According to a national study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, telemedicine encounters increased by 766% in the first three months of the pandemic—rising from 0.3% of all medical visits in March–June 2019 to 23.6% in the same period of 2020.
Telemedicine for animals developed on a similar but slower path. A few tech-savvy vets experimented with it in the early 1990s, but most veterinarians resisted, often because of their limited computer skills or a lack of familiarity with the technology – a common problem in the 1990’s. Thus, vet telemedicine remained more of an idea than a common practice.
As with human medicine, the COVID lockdowns forced change. To continue caring for their patients, many veterinarians turned to telemedicine as a practical and effective solution. The pandemic made remote veterinary care a common and convenient option for many pet owners—a shift that is unlikely to disappear. In a 2021 survey on pet telemedicine, taken just as the pandemic was easing, found that most pet owners felt it worked well or very well and nearly half planned to keep using it even as in-person vet visits became possible again.
Looking ahead, more pet owners will belong to a generation that has grown up entirely in the digital age. This younger generation has fully embraced technology and expects online options in every part of life—including veterinary care.
And now, even though only a handful of online veterinary services currently offer it, telemedicine for chickens has arrived. For backyard chicken keepers, this is an important breakthrough. When a hen falls ill, it adds another possibility to the checklist of options for diagnosis and treatment. And for those living in areas without access to local poultry vets, it provides something even more valuable—an option where there were no options at all.
How Does Veterinary Telemedicine Work?
How easy is it to connect with an online vet? To find out, I asked TelaVets’ Christine Long to walk me through a scenario. “Imagine my hen, Hennifer, is under the weather.” I suggested. “Imagine that I’ve contacted TelaVets. Walk me through how the interaction might play out from beginning to end.” (Full disclosure: Hennifer is entirely imaginary—but wouldn’t that be a great chicken name?)
“Sure thing.” she answered. “Here’s how it would go.” And then she outlined five following steps that started with my initial contact with TelaVets went through post-treatment follow-up care.
1. You log into TelaVets.com (or our app) and select “Chicken” as the patient.
2. Book an appointment—often within the hour. You’ll answer a few quick questions about Hennifer’s symptoms, recent changes, and can send a photo or video if you have one.
3. You meet with a licensed vet by video. They’ll review symptoms, ask clarifying questions, and suggest a treatment plan.
4. If a prescription is needed, the vet sends it to you for in person pick up or electronically and it ships same-day via our pharmacy partner.
5. Follow-up support is included—if Hennifer doesn’t improve, you can check back in at no extra charge.
What strikes me about this five-step process is that it’s exactly the scenario you would go through with your local vet—if you’re lucky enough to have one nearby and available. The difference? No sad, sick Hennifer stuffed into a carrier and driven miles from home. That’s one reason telemedicine makes sense. Here are a few more:
Why Vet Telemedicine Makes Sense for Your Flock
Convenience and Flexibility: Local chicken vets are often scarce, and if you do have one, they may not be open evenings, weekends, or holidays (because that’s when Hennifer gets sick, right?). For a telemedicine visit you grab your phone—not your pet carrier and car keys.
Less Stress for Your Chicken: Picture it: You remove sick Hennifer from her flock, shove her into a carrier, and drive her to a noisy, chaotic clinic. This is nothing like a spa day for Hennifer. Do you think this might worsen her condition? I do. A virtual visit allows her to be examined in the comfort of her own coop.
Lower Cost: Online vet services usually charge less than traditional clinics—partly because they don’t have the same overhead. I can’t think of any downside to keeping more money in my pocket.
Easier Follow-ups: Many rechecks—like wound healing or monitoring chronic conditions—can be managed virtually. A quick photo or video update saves you (and Hennifer) a trip to the clinic.
Vet Telemedicine – the Limitations
Back in the dark ages, a medical exam could have gone something like this: The sick patient extends a hand through a curtain and the doctor on the other side takes a pulse, consults his astrological charts, and determines the best time to let blood and apply the leeches. Medical science for both humans and animals has made great strides since those dark days. One of the biggest leaps forward was when doctors (and vets) started actually examining their patients hands-on.
Is vet telemedicine a return to those dark times? Telemedicine, by its very definition (tele: at a distance) means the doctor is not in the same room with the patient. It is unquestionably true that modern science has created a whole toolbox of tech to make consulting a vet from afar possible. It is equally true that there are times when Hennifer, for an accurate diagnosis, really does need a hands-on exam. The vet needs to actually touch her; maybe draw some blood or collect other specimens for lab testing; or administer vaccinations.
TelaVets’ Christine Long agrees that there are situations where telemedicine isn’t advisable. “Telemedicine has its limits—if a hen needs hands-on diagnostics like an X-ray or lab work, or is experiencing a life-threatening emergency (e.g., profuse bleeding, broken limbs, or collapse), an in-person visit is necessary. But in many cases—especially when you need quick advice or a prescription to stabilize things—telemedicine can be an incredibly practical, even life-saving, option.”
Perhaps the biggest limitation that could prevent Hennifer from seeing a virtual vet in her hour of need is a legal one. The technology is here, and the demand is sky-high (thanks in part to the lessons learned during the pandemic), but the laws around veterinary telemedicine haven’t caught up. The biggest sticking point is something called the VCPR. It’s at the heart of what vets are legally allowed to do through telemedicine. What is this VCPR thing that most people have never heard of and why is it an issue? Let’s take a closer look.
What’s This VCPR Thing Anyway?
The Veterinarian-Client-Patient Relationship is the term used to describe the relationship that exists between a vet, an animal and the animal’s owner. The expression essentially describes the initial “getting to know you” session between the vet and sick Hennifer. Vets have shortened the term to its initials: VCPR.
Why is the VCPR a big deal? Because the law says a vet can’t legally diagnose, treat, or prescribe meds for your chicken until a VCPR has been established. And here’s the tricky part: Prety much every state seems to have its own version of what “established” means. According to The Veterinary Virtual Care Association:
19 states flat-out state, “Nope. You CAN NOT set up a VCPR with a virtual visit.”
1 state (that would be New York) doesn’t mention VCPR at all—thus has no rules around it.
22 states say a vet has to “see” or “get acquainted with” your animal, but they don’t make it clear if that can happen through a virtual exam.
8 states clearly say that you can establish a VCPR virtually.
Does this sound like a confusing hodge-podge? Just wait. The rules keep changing as states catch up to the telemedicine boom that took off during the pandemic.
Here are a few recent updates:
Florida (July 1, 2024): Now lets vets establish a VCPR by video visit. Prescriptions are limited—up to a month of flea/tick meds or two weeks of other meds.
D.C. (July 19, 2024): Gave the green light to VCPRs via telehealth.
California (Nov. 17, 2023): Changed its law so a VCPR can be set up through live audio-video chats, though prescriptions are capped at certain lengths.
Those are just a few examples. I did consider posting a helpful state-by-state list of regulations here, but with the constant and ongoing regulation changes, such a list would be outdated almost as soon as I posted it.
So, what are you supposed to do? Hennifer is sick and you don’t know which state agency you’re supposed to contact to find out about the current legal status of vet telemedicine in your state. And having read this Randy’s Chicken Blog article to this point, to find out who to contact, you just read that I’m not going to tell you that!
It’s ok. Take a deep breath. You don’t have to figure it out yourself. Every legitimate virtual vet service keeps track of the laws. It’s their job to know exactly what’s allowed in your state. I asked Christine Long about her company’s business practice regarding VCPRs. “TelaVets operates in compliance with each state’s laws,” she explained. “In VCPR states, we focus on advice, triage, and follow-up—not prescribing. In non-VCPR states, we can offer full telemedicine services, including prescriptions. We’ve built internal tools to automatically route cases to vets licensed and authorized in each user’s state, so compliance is seamless for pet parents.”
Translation: You don’t need to stress about the rules. If you think the time has come for you and sick Hennifer to try a virtual vet visit, get in touch! The service will let you know what they can and can’t do based on your state’s current regulations—and then help you from there.
The Future
A paper published last year in The Open Veterinary Journal was entitled “Veterinary Telemedicine: A New Era for Animal Welfare.” It offered an optimistic vision for the future of telemedicine: “Veterinary telemedicine has a bright future and will impact veterinary medicine and animal welfare due to its low cost, availability, online payment, and effectiveness in many clinical scenarios.”
Pet owners’ expectations are changing. Advances in communication and information technology have created a new normal. Vet practices will have to adapt to meet those new expectations.
For backyard chicken folks, like me and you, who have been traditionally underserved by traditional vet medicine, telemedicine appears to be the path to better, more affordable, more available veterinary care.
Hennifer, sadly, will have nothing to gain from vet telemedicine. Because Hennifer is an imaginary chicken.
But for the real chickens in my real flock, I see vet telemedicine leading to a better, brighter, healthier future.
