In recent years, backyard poultry flocks have be-come increasingly popular in urban areas through-out the United States. Results of a 2010 USDA study1of 4 US cities (Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York) indicated that 1% of households surveyed owned chickens and another 4% of households surveyed were planning on owning chickens within the next 5 years. The increase in the number of small poultry flocks in urban areas has led to an increase in the demand for veterinary services for those flocks, and veterinarians whose clientele is usually limited to companion animals now find themselves treating these food animals and shouldering the responsibilities that come with that.
