6 May
Need some ideas for your coop? Whether you’re planning to raise chickens at home in Asheville, NC, Eugene, OR, or Burlington, VT, check out this Redfin article featuring Home to Roost and other chicken experts: 5 Chicken Coop Ideas for a Thriving Flock.
3 Feb
If you have a cat or a dog, it’s easy to find a vet, even in a pinch. But it’s harder to find a vet who’ll treat a chicken. You’ll want to find a vet who is a member of the Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV), and there are not as many avian vets as there are cat and dog vets. Avian vets understand the anatomy and physiology of birds, which are different from those of mammals.
If you’re able to take your chicken to a vet, it’s important to establish a relationship with an avian vet before your bird needs their services. Because there are fewer avian vets, they are often overbooked: it may be easier to get an appointment as an existing or long-term patient.
Home to Roost LLC, while not a veterinary service, offers troubleshooting and advice in emergencies, and vet referrals for chickens and other birds. We endorse the following avian vet practices in the Chicagoland area.
Address: 1195 S Frontenac Street, Aurora, IL 60504
Phone Number: (630) 820-6999
Website: Indian Prairie Animal Hospital
Certified Avian Vet: None; AAV members
Indian Prairie Animal Hospital has been providing veterinary care for birds, including chickens, since 1984. While they do not have a board-certified avian veterinarian on staff, their veterinarians are members of the Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV) and have extensive experience treating a wide range of avian species.
The practice offers general wellness care, diagnostics, and treatment for common avian health concerns. They do not provide in-house emergency services but refer after-hours and urgent cases to Veterinary Emergency Group (VEG) or Midwest Animal Hospital.
Address: 2752 W Lawrence Ave Suite 3, Chicago, IL 60625
Phone Number: (773) 878-8002
Website: Animal House of Chicago
Certified Avian Vet: Dr. Byron de la Navarre
Dr. Byron de la Navarre is the chief of staff at Animal House of Chicago. The practice, established in 2003, treats a variety of pets including birds. Dr. de la Navarre is an active member of the Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV) and serves as the Illinois State Liaison.
The practice offers comprehensive veterinary care including preventative care, nutritional advice, and emergency services for birds and other exotic pets. In-house diagnostic capabilities include full blood and chemistry work, cytology, radiology, endoscopy, and ultrasound.
Veterinary Emergency Group, Lincoln Park
Address: 755 W. North Avenue, Chicago IL 60610
Phone Number: (312) 757-5444
Website: Veterinary Emergency Group, Lincoln Park
VEG provides emergency care only. While they do not have an avian vet on staff, they can stabilize a chicken and treat symptoms until the bird can be seen by an avian vet at another practice. There are additional locations in Oak Brook, Naperville, the South Loop, and Buffalo Grove.
Address: 555 Glenwood-Lansing Rd, Glenwood, IL 60425
Phone Number: (708) 758-2400
Website: Glenwood Village Pet Hospital
Certified Avian Vets: Dr. Katy Parr, Dr. Amanda Hernandez
Glenwood Village Pet Hospital sees chickens, and they offers surgeries, necropsies, X-rays, and ultrasounds (usually available with a one-week notice). The practice performs some lab work in house and may send out other fecals, cultures, and bloodwork. They can hospitalize critically ill patients, though there is no overnight staff for monitoring. Hospitalized patients still benefit from treatments like injections, fluids, and gavage feeding, which are typically impractical at home.
Address: 1007 Maple Ave, Lisle, IL 60532
Phone Number: (630) 737-1281
Website: Ness Exotic Wellness Center
Certified Avian Vets: Dr. Robert Ness, Dr. Richard Nye
Ness Exotic Wellness Center has a team of certified avian veterinarians, including Dr. Robert Ness and Dr. Richard Nye. They offer comprehensive care for birds, including diagnostics, emergency services, and holistic and specialized treatments.
The clinic is well equipped with an in-house lab and advanced medical technology to ensure prompt and effective care for avian patients. Ness Exotics provides emergency services during office hours and various specialized treatments for avian species.
Address: 244 E St Charles Rd, Lombard, IL 60148
Phone Number: (630) 627-7090
Website: Lombard Veterinary Hospital
Dr. Zachary Kline at Lombard Veterinary Hospital, while not an AAV certified vet, provides quality veterinary services for birds. The hospital offers a range of services including emergency care, urgent care, surgeries, and in-house lab diagnostics. Problems they commonly see in birds like chickens, quail, and turkeys include upper respiratory infection, bumblefoot, gastrointestinal bacterial or fungal overgrowth, egg binding, feather mites, and worms/protozoans in the GI tract.
Address: 7278 N. Milwaukee Ave., Niles, IL 60714
Phone: (847) 647-9325
Website: Niles Animal Hospital and Bird Medical Center
Certified avian vets: Dr. Jamie Abete
Dr. Abete, the practice owner, is interested in all avian species, as well as exotics and cats and dogs. She was involved in wildlife rehibilitation at Ross University through the school’s chapter of AAV (Association of Avian Veterinarians). The practice provides a wide variety of services, including in-house laboratory services, surgical care, screening tests, and specialist referrals.
Address: 356 N Randall Rd, North Aurora, IL 60542
Phone Number: (630) 701-1372
Website: Animal House Veterinary Hospital
Certified Avian Vet: Dr. Mary Grabowski
Dr. Mary Grabowski at Animal House Veterinary Hospital in St. Charles provides veterinary care for birds, including chickens. The hospital offers various services such as surgeries, diagnostic imaging, and emergency care.
Address: 3735 Dempster St., Skokie, IL 60076
Phone Number: (847) 673-9110
Website: Blue Pearl
This emergency group works in conjunction with Chicago Exotics and can stabilize a bird until it can be transferred to an avian veterinary practice. There is an additional location in Northfield.
Address: 3757 W. Dempster St., Skokie, IL 60076
Phone Number: (847) 329-8709
Website: Chicago Exotics Animal Hospital
Certified Avian Vets: Dr. Susan Horton, Dr. Ellen Boyd
The whole Chicago Exotics team treats chickens and poultry, and Dr. Ellen Boyd did her graduate work on chickens and poultry. The practice offers many in-house labs and other services. As an exotics-exclusive practice, they understand the need for immediate lab results. Their in-house diagnostic capability includes full blood and chemistry work, cytology, radiology, endoscopy, ultrasound, and surgery. The warm exotic ICU features avian incubators, avian nebulizer units, and inline oxygen for all cages. Chicago Exotics is especially bird friendly! They can do home visits for large flocks, surgery, CT, acupuncture, chiropractic care, cold laser treatments, and many others. The practice also offers 24-hour critical care services in association with their emergency partners, including Blue Pearl Skokie.
Address: 9330 Waldemar Rd, Indianapolis, IN 46268
Phone Number: (317) 879-8633
Website: Avian Exotic Animal Clinic of Indianapolis
Certified Avian Vet: Dr. Angela Lennox
Dr. Angela Lennox at Avian Exotic Animal Clinic of Indianapolis specializes in the care of exotic animals, including birds. The clinic provides a wide range of services, including diagnostics, surgeries, and emergency care and employs the state’s only board-certified avian and exotic mammal specialists.
14 Jun
Contact Suzanne at suzannebavichai@gmail.com or (847) 421-3865 or Sam at (773) 255-7341.
From Suzanne: The kids hatched chicks in their 6th grade science class, and their teacher had a family emergency so we’re trying to help with rehoming six straight-run chicks (meaning there is a 50% chance of getting males). They would like them to go to good, no-kill homes. The birds have been hand raised and are quite tame. They think two are roosters. The family is in Evanston.
The school’s kindergarten teacher also has an additional 5 chicks who are just shy of 3 weeks old and hopes to find good, no-kill homes for them.
Contact Suzanne at suzannebavichai@gmail.com or (847) 421-3865 or Sam at (773) 255-7341.
23 May
Are you looking to integrate engaging and educational programs into your library that promote sustainable living? Look no further than the book 25 Ready-to-Use Sustainable Living Programs for Libraries. This comprehensive resource provides a diverse range of ready-to-implement programs designed to educate and inspire library patrons of all ages about sustainable practices. Purchase online at Amazon or the ALA Store.
About the Book
25 Ready-to-Use Sustainable Living Programs for Libraries is a must-have for public and school libraries aiming to enhance their programming with sustainability-focused content. Each program is carefully crafted to be engaging, informative, and easy to implement, requiring minimal cost and preparation. From gardening and recycling to renewable energy and eco-friendly crafts, the book covers a broad spectrum of topics suitable for various age groups.
Featured Program: “All About Chickens!”
One of the standout programs in this collection is “All About Chickens!” a hands-on, educational program designed for children ages 3–7 and tweens ages 8–12. “All About Chickens!” invites young participants to explore the fascinating world of chickens through a variety of interactive stations.
The program begins with a brief lesson where kids learn about chickens’ physical characteristics, the differences between male and female chickens, the various types of feathers, and the parts of an egg. If time permits, children can also view a picture of a developing embryo inside an egg. Kids then move to stations where they compare and color or draw different breeds of chickens, explore the intricacies of feathers, examine eggs, and meet a live chicken (optional). Each station is supervised by an adult to ensure a smooth educational experience, and the program can host up to 15 participants with three stations, or 20 participants with four stations. Cost is minimal ($0–$50).
Contact Home to Roost if you’re interested in hosting “All About Chickens!” at your library or school!
23 Aug
Help your chickens beat this crazy hot and humid weather!
As the temperatures and humidity soar, you’ll want to help your hens keep cool. A few tips for helping your hens beat the heat. When temperatures reach the mid-80s, your birds will probably start panting. In temperatures above 100, your birds may suffer heatstroke. Here are some tips, excerpted from my class on chickens and heat, to prevent that.
1) Provide fresh, clean water – and lots of it.
2) Freeze 2-liter bottles and put them in the coop to cool it down.
3) Remove excess bedding, which traps heat.
4) Feed a crumble feed, rather than a whole-grain food. Grains generate heat as they are metabolized.
5) Provide shade.
25 Jul
Help your chickens beat this crazy hot and humid weather!
As the temperatures and humidity soar, you’ll want to help your hens keep cool. A few tips for helping your hens beat the heat. When temperatures reach the mid-80s, your birds will probably start panting. In temperatures above 100, your birds may suffer heatstroke. Here are some tips, excerpted from my class on chickens and heat, to prevent that.
1) Provide fresh, clean water – and lots of it.
2) Freeze 2-liter bottles and put them in the coop to cool it down.
3) Remove excess bedding, which traps heat.
4) Feed a crumble feed, rather than a whole-grain food. Grains generate heat as they are metabolized.
5) Provide shade.
12 Jan
We’re due for some VERY cold temps here in Chicago (in the negative degrees F, and windchills even lower), and a number of questions have come up about chickens and cold temps.
Here’s a list of ideas I’ve compiled. If you have suggestions, feel free to post.
Bedding
Coop
Roosts
Supplemental heat
Frostbite
Food and Water
Laying
12 Jan
If you got chicks this spring, you probably asked the question, “How do I take care of the hens over the winter?” Bringing them into the house is not a great idea, and unlike dogs, chickens generally aren’t given to wearing sweaters and booties. Nor are they given to fluid replacement.
Here are some tips for helping your chickens ride out the winter.
Contact Home to Roost if you’d like an in-home winterizing consultation.
16 Jul
As the temperatures and humidity soar, you’ll want to help your hens keep cool. A few tips for helping your hens beat the heat!
As the temperatures hit the mid-80s, your birds will probably start panting. If temperatures hit above 100, your birds may suffer heatstroke. Here are some tips, excerpted from my class on chickens and heat, to prevent that.
1) Provide fresh, clean water – and lots of it.
2) Freeze 2-liter bottles and put them in the coop to cool it down.
3) Remove excess bedding, which traps heat.
4) Feed a crumble feed, rather than a whole-grain food. Grains generate heat as they are metabolized.
5) Provide shade.
6) Mist their favorite dustbath areas so that the soil is damp (but not muddy).
7) Provide shallow pans of cool water that they can stand in.
8) Create air movement.
If you notice that the birds are listless and lethargic (signs of heat stress), consider bringing them into a cool basement or to an airconditioned mudroom (in a dog crate or portable cage). Make the transition gradually (don’t bring them directly in to a room that is 20 degrees cooler). Help cool birds down by applying cool (not cold) compresses to comb, wattles, and feet.
As always, keep an eye on your birds and know what’s normal for them. This will help you catch problems before they become life threatening.
28 Jan
A legal clause prohibits people in Canton, NY, from raising chickens. But the townspeople are interested in changing that. For more on this story, check out this article.
When building a coop for your hens, it is important to choose a design with the right dimensions, features, and materials. Get all this information on the Chicken Coop Spec Sheet, now available from Home to Roost! Purchase on PayPal using the button below.
NOTE: I will e-mail you the spec sheet after I receive your payment. Your e-mail address will automatically be included in the notification I receive from PayPal.
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