They're cute before they grow up.
Posted on 09/10/2016 9:26:15 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
If you’re an urban or suburban chicken farmer, there's a chance you may consider your egg-producing, feathered friends family. You may have even given your chickens names, and you certainly care about them deeply. But do you cuddle and kiss them?
As of July 2016, there are 611 people in 45 states with salmonella poisoning from contact with backyard chickens, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). At least 138 people were hospitalized. “These outbreaks are expected to continue for the next several months since flock owners might be unaware of the risk of salmonella infection from live poultry or participate in risky behaviors that can result in infection,” according to the CDC.
The outbreak of salmonella can be traced back to chicks, ducklings and other poultry from multiple hatcheries in several states. People who have gotten birds that began life in these hatcheries are getting sick after close contact with the birds. However, the CDC notes, all live poultry can carry salmonella bacteria, regardless of where they were purchased and even if they look healthy and clean.
Of course, not all of those who have gotten ill have kissed their chickens. Any human contact with an infected bird can lead to illness. The CDC explains how:
People become infected with Salmonella when they put their hands or other things that have been in contact with feces in or around their mouth. Young children are especially at risk for illness because their immune systems are still developing and because they are more likely than others to put their fingers or other items into their mouths. It is important to wash hands immediately after touching poultry or anything in the area where they live and roam, because the germs on your hands can easily spread to other people or things.
To minimize the risk of salmonella poisoning from live poultry, the CDC recommends always assuming that contamination can happen and recommends the following.
After touching live poultry or an area where they've been, wash your hands with soap and water. If none is available, use hand sanitizer. Don't let children under age 5 handle or touch live poultry without adult supervision. If you have clothes and shoes soiled from being around poultry, wash your hands after removing them. Cook eggs that you’ve collected from backyard hens thoroughly since salmonella can pass to the interior eggs. Clean equipment and materials associated with the birds. Don’t bring live poultry inside your house.
And, while the CDC page doesn’t mention it specifically, I think it’s safe to say the agency would recommend NOT kissing or cuddling your backyard chickens.
Do not choke your chicken.
Am I on the right thread?
5.56mm
Maybe people’s immune systems are weak these days, due to a lack of fresh air and sunshine?
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I think it’s because those of us that have been around farm animals for years are somewhat immune.
My kids were raised on our goat’s raw milk. However, I still get very nervous when friends and family want to drink our milk.
It’s the people that live in sanitize environments who always seem to get sick.
You always hear about the one poor kid that got deathly ill from some petting zoo, when hundreds of other kids were just fine.
It’s funny that they re saying that the people are getting sick from birds that came from a hatchery, but no mention of the people that work at the hatcheries getting sick.
I can handle the random ‘choke the chicken’ joke. If it’s in good taste, of course.
Which might be hard to pull off, LOL!
Never fear. B’ar Camp starts in EARNEST on September 12th. Beau will shoot a few b’ars for ya! ;)
Have you ever watched, ‘The Natural History of the Chicken’? It’s a DVD and really interesting.
There’s a woman who has a Silkie that she keeps as a house pet. She lets it swim in her pool, then the thing lets her blow-dry it with a hair dryer! Insane.
Other parts deal with rooster issues, Big Ag chicken production and how to do it yourself. Not for the squeamish, but I thought it was well done, and I learned a few things. :)
Go get ‘em! :)
“I refuse to milk a cow named ‘Hamburger’”.
My neighbor says her cow is French. She named it “La Leche.”
YIKES! LOL! :)
Hey Muslims,forget the goats
When I was a kid, we had a rooster who thought he was a cat. He hang out with our cat, Amos-Moses, and ate cat food, hunted lizards and never crowed. He was a big Rhode Island Red, and he lived longer than any other rooster I can remember.
No pun intended!
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