VETPARTNERS Vet of the Year Alistair Chilcott hopes winning the award will inspire others to consider a career as a poultry vet.
Alistair, who is lead vet at Poultry Health Services (PHS) in Devon, said he felt honoured to become the first poultry vet to win the award at our annual Congress in December.
Described as a shining example of the veterinary profession, judges said Alistair exemplified an outstanding work ethic and goes above and beyond to help clients, patients and colleagues.
Alistair, who was a farm vet after graduating five years ago from the Royal Veterinary College, is passionate about being a poultry vet and he hopes winning the award will help to encourage others to move into poultry medicine.
“Being a poultry vet is incredibly rewarding and has a high level of responsibility as you are asked to make big decisions on a flock with the farmer that impact everything, from profitability of the business to health and welfare,” he said.
“There is also a wide range of work as our practice works with free-range layer sector which is our bread-and-butter work. We deal with clinical problems, such as mortality investigations or reasons for poor production, as well as a lot of preventative healthcare and consultancy work. We work on vaccination programmes, health plan writing, certification and laboratory work.
“With back yard and pet chickens you see all the weird and wonderful stuff you don’t see in commercial poultry and there is seasonal game birds work and a small amount of work with broiler chickens.
“I went to vet school to become a farm vet but wanted to become a poultry vet since the third year of university. I had one hour’s teaching at vet school on poultry vetting and knew nothing about the poultry world until I joined a practice.
“Once I’d scratched the itch of being a farm vet, I felt poultry vetting would allow me to be more involved in the bigger picture on farms. I like the way being a poultry vet enables me to make big decisions on a flock level.”
After graduating, Alistair joined Mount Vets in Devon, working on farm and poultry. When Mount Vets became part of VetPartners in 2023, the practice became part of PHS, one of the largest specialist commercial poultry and game bird practices in the UK.
Alistair said: “Being part of VetPartners has also been extremely rewarding and opened up a lot of doors.
“There are more resources to draw upon and more people to collaborate with. PHS has 24 poultry vets, and we can call each other for advice or toe share ideas.
“There is an opportunity to connect with others I wouldn’t have otherwise met. I have done training, CPD and attended
Congresses in Italy, Croatia, Spain, France and Belgium, and I have worked with all the PHS sites and Parklands Vets poultry department.”
Alistair was the first poultry vet to win Vet of the Year at the VetPartners Congress and awards.
He feels passionate not only about being a poultry vet, but also about the wider veterinary profession.
“It is a challenging job, and a stressful one at times, but people should remember what they love about it and why they applied to vet school in the first place,” he said.
“I was thrilled to win VetPartners Vet of the Year. I am so thankful to those who nominated me and to everyone who has influenced my career.”
- If you’re interested in a career as a poultry vet, contact PHS at sheriffhutton@poultryhealthservices.co.uk
For media enquiries, please contact Amanda Little, VetPartners PR and Communications Director, at amanda.little@vetpartners.co.uk or 07970 198492