Posted on 08/27/2010 7:50:12 AM PDT by stillafreemind
"This is a very good article. And, btw, free range and organic chicken eggs can STILL harbor salmonella. I have always known that and have treated eggs carefully. Cooking will kill the organisms. And I never use an egg that is already cracked (I check them when I buy them, but sometimes one gets thru my inspection). http://news.discovery.com/human/egg-salmonella-bacteria.html"
Corn, Oyster Shells and Chickens LOVE bugs(They REALLY like Grasshoppers) and Fine Gravel(almost sand).
One route is through the insides of a chicken, said Kevin Keener, a food process engineer at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. On average, he said, one out of every 20,000 chicken eggs contains a small amount of salmonella that is deposited into the sac by the hen.
Chickens get doses of salmonella bacteria (of which there are 2,300 kinds) from their environment, which is easily contaminated by rodents, birds and flies. These carriers deliver the bacteria to all types of farms — regardless of whether they’re conventional, organic or free-range.
Once the bacteria get in the chicken, the microorganisms thrive under ideal conditions, with internal temperatures of about 102 degrees Fahrenheit. Yet chickens harbor salmonella without any signs of illness, making it impossible to know which animals are infected.
“Literally,” Keener said, “it’s a needle in a haystack.”
Those few contaminated eggs that come out of a hen usually contain a very low levels of bacteria, Keener said, totaling between two and five microorganisms. It takes a level of at least 100 bacteria to make a person sick.
But multiplication happens fast if the eggs aren’t cooled quickly. And if there’s a lapse in cleaning practices or an undetected outbreak among the chickens, the percentage of infected animals — and tainted eggs — can also increase rapidly.
“Salmonella doubles every 20 minutes under ideal conditions,” Keener said. “When sitting there for an hour, two could become 32. At two hours, there would be 1,000 organisms. At eight hours, it would be in the range of millions. In one egg.”
Even if chickens remain salmonella-free, their eggs can become contaminated from the outside in.
Every egg has about 9,000 pores that salmonella can essentially climb into from say, a bacteria-tainted belt in the processing plant or a vat of egg-cleaning liquid that isn’t kept at just the right temperature and pH.
http://news.discovery.com/human/egg-salmonella-bacteria.html
“Chickens get doses of salmonella bacteria (of which there are 2,300 kinds) from their environment, which is easily contaminated by rodents, birds and flies. These carriers deliver the bacteria to all types of farms — regardless of whether they’re conventional, organic or free-range.”
I have a friend who raises a few chickens for herself. I remember her complaining about how difficult it was to get chicken feed without antibiotics. I’m not sure how she ever resolved that problem (she lives in a different state and we don’t generally talk chickens when we talk).
I’m sorry, I guess you didn’t go to the link. I was commenting on something in the link about not using cracked eggs (which I think pretty much goes without saying). I was unclear. The link has very good information in it.
Thank you for being a voice of sanity here.
It’s amazing how many people fall for the pathetic crap that is “journalism” these days.
Wild birds also carry salmonella. Everyone should always assume their eggs AND CHICKEN harbor salmonella and treat it accordingly. If they are willing to take the small risk, do it with open eyes. Otherwise, cook eggs and chicken (there is nothing more gross than undercooked chicken!)
Don’t know about the nutrien aspect, but grass fed beaf sure is much more tasty!
‘Specially when they’re running around noshing on ramps, sage, etc.
It tens to be less tender, but for roasts, g-meat, etc, it sure if delicuous!
At least when you've got your chickens under cover you can protect them from most of those overhead diseases ~ and maybe with a little work you can keep them from acquiring salmonella.
France forced all free range chickens indoors not too long ago ~ after they finally figured out after literally centuries of delay that poop carries disease.
Let's hear it for the French.
Next, baths!
It tens to be less tender, but for roasts, g-meat, etc,
Try cooking it over lower heat and don’t rush it. Also, some people tend to butcher their grass fed beef too soon.
We feed our “free range” chickens hen scratch which is plain maize and chopped corn. They get their calcium requirements from whatever they pick up (pen raised get oyster shells which is not necessary for free range). Our eggs are very hard. Hard to crack which is good.
I always chuckle at the term “free range”. To us, it’s just chickens. We never pen them. Just have a hen house in the barn for egg laying and roosting.
100% gras fed beef? Yuck. Corn fed baby!!
Free range chickens (most chickens/animals) eat anything they can fit in their mouths dead or alive.
Sometimes animals even roll in unhealthy stuff. /s
Just curious, how do you keep the predators away? I know my friend loses some to foxes or maybe coyotes.
Exactly!
This is a good article about how/why salmonella develops:
http://news.discovery.com/human/egg-salmonella-bacteria.html
Unfortunately, it’s only advice is to cook eggs “well.”
This site is very comprehensive in its discussion of buying, storing and cooking eggs to minimize salmonella risk:
http://www.eggsafety.org/consumers/egg-safety
You appear to be correct the pasteurization brings eggs to a temperature similar to cooking but doesn’t cook them, for reasons I can’t claim to understand. I’m a social scientist, not a “real” scientist. :-)
I’m gonna buy me some a them brown cows fer out in my back yard. That way I can get fresh chocolate milk any time I want.
Remember... it’s the brown cows that give chocolate milk.
As a lover of light Silk Soy beverage I’m almost afraid to ask, why soy?
Or should I say...”please lie to me”?
Soy helps me in many ways. Soothes my tummy, takes the place of milk/cholesterol. Makes a pretend Starbucks drink and helps hormonally.
That’s true, if you leave the bucket behind too long.
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