Salmonella Outbreak From Baby Chicks

[Ridgerunner]

I read that it was Mt. Healthy. One member of this forum was contacting them directly for information, such as dates that chicks were infected and what were the current conditions. I have not seen the update on that.

This is a link to the reported Salmonella outbreaks in the US over the last few years. I don't know what qualifies as a CDC outbreak. I's guess it is not every reported case of Salmonella in the US, but you can get an idea of how serious the problem is. To me, I'll take standard normal precautions, whether the food is from the store, my garden, or my flock and not worry about it. I can find plenty of other things that I can better spend my time worrying about.

http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/outbreaks.html

 

[kemclaughlin]

Quote:
I would spray doorknobs, toilet handles, and faucet knobs a couple of times a day with Lysol. Practice good hand washing and keep some sanitizer next to the brooder. All of this combined may sound like overkill, but two year olds are not exactly reliable at maintaining cleanliness.

 

[gale65]

Quote:
I would spray doorknobs, toilet handles, and faucet knobs a couple of times a day with Lysol. Practice good hand washing and keep some sanitizer next to the brooder. All of this combined may sound like overkill, but two year olds are not exactly reliable at maintaining cleanliness.

Luckily I don't have a 2 year old-my youngest is 12 and my oldest is 15. Still, we are pretty strict about washing hands before eating and when coming in from outside, and my kids are supposed to turn the faucet with a clean hand, elbow, etc rather than their dirty hands. We do keep hand sanitizer in the coop and use it after handling the chicks or handling anything in the brooder/coop. Lysol spray actually irritates my oldest (asthma) so we don't use it a lot but I use the wipes sometimes.

 

[chickenbarn-gal]

Yes, it can happen. But out of all the chicken Lovers/Owners that I know, they've never got any poisoning of whatsoever by their chicks. (they take very good care of their chickens and their environment is Always kept clean) So I believe that good and clean habits should take care of this problem.

 

[gale65]

I was reading a UK chicken blog recently and there was mention of some kind of probiotics that may reduce (not eliminate of course) risk of salmonella. I looked up the product and it was sold in the UK only but it was basically just various probiotics like there are in yogurt, probiotic supplements, etc. I had already bought probios which is also various probiotics that I give ours. I wouldn't count on it (I'd still take normal precautions) but it is interesting and I'm all for any reduction of risk. Here are some articles:

http://www.worldpoultry.net/news/probiotics-to-fight-salmonella-in-poultry-id2217.html
http://researchfrontiers.uark.edu/13581.php
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/poult...safer-healthier-chickens-researchers-discover
http://www.salmonellablog.com/salmonella-watch/good-bacteria-reduce-pathogens-in-chickens/

 

[ChickyLoo]

Quote:
I like this idea of giving them yogurt on a regular basis. They love it anyway and if it cuts down the risk of salmonella seems well worth it along with good hygiene.

 

[Tracyree]

So I'm getting more and more worried about this. I have my chicks in our house and my 2 year had two days of horrible diarrhea and has had loose stool for 2 weeks now.

I want the chicks out of the house NOW, but they aren't old enough and the garage is too hot.

 

[gale65]

Quote:
I was wondering today how your child is doing. You can move them out of the house if you have something to put them in. Do you have an enclosed coop with electricity or an extension cord? We have kept our chicks in the coop from day 1. They aren't in the house and dh didn't even want them in the yard but I didn't want to go clear out to the barn every night to check on them. Or can you open the garage door or put up a fan in there? I don't blame you for being worried.

 

[Hark]

Quote:
Jeez I hope not. That's where I got my chicks.

Anyway...baby chick outbreaks aren't all that uncommon. There were big outbreaks in 1995, 2006, and 2007. You just gotta wash up real good (http://www.cdc.gov/features/SalmonellaBabyBirds/). I just took a graduate class in food pathogens

.

 

[gale65]

Quote:
Jeez I hope not. That's where I got my chicks.

Anyway...baby chick outbreaks aren't all that uncommon. There were big outbreaks in 1995, 2006, and 2007. You just gotta wash up real good (http://www.cdc.gov/features/SalmonellaBabyBirds/). I just took a graduate class in food pathogens

.

That actually is where the outbreak was this time.