salmonella risks?

[Wifezilla]

Commercial egg production methods ENCOURAGE bacteria overgrowth. The best thing you can do as a small producer is NOT DO WHAT THEY DO.

• DON'T overcrowd your birds
• DON'T allow rat infestations
• DON'T confine them in warehouses - the lack of sunlight/vitamin D allows harmful bacteria to thrive
• DON'T only give them bagged feed - they also need greens and bugs

 

[Glenbogel06]

From what I have been able to read NPIP testing is for Salmonella Pullorum, not Salmonella enterditis (sp?) the kind that the hen passes on through the egg and is the subject of the big recall. Anyone else care to weight in on that?

 

[Gypsi]

I can't weigh in with anything useful, but I have really enjoyed this thread. And I ate 3 or 4 over easy eggs for breakfast this morning. I have to believe that my healthy birds are doing ok, and so am I. I do wash the eggs when I bring them in if they are dirty, and refrigerate immediately. I've beat the rodents down to a dull roar over the years, and I tempt them away from my birds quarters with wild bird food and water features. And while there is cover for rodents outside of my run until I get some sheet metal moved, there isn't any inside. I was diligent about that. Short of in the nest boxes. I don't do deep pile bedding.

The particular type of salmonella I was concerned about was the type that can infect the ovaries, and then pass to the interior of the egg, but I'm guessing that was media hype? The other kind of salmonella is a very common bacteria I am familiar with.

 

[theFox]

Quote:
Actually they can provide tests for several types, talk to the testers.

The kind that is being talked about is more frequently passed on the egg rather than through it, however the other mode while rare is possible.

No matter how it is passed, proper cooking and handling will kill it.

 

[key west chick]

Call me stupid but Im not doing a single thing different with my eggs. No one has gotten sick in 10 years of me having chickens. I still feed DS runny yolks, and still eat raw brownie mix. But, I only do it with MY eggs.

 

[theFox]

Quote:
Lucky would be one word that comes to mind, just like my mother and several other folks I know.

However you are in the running for a Darwin, just a few more bacteria and it is all she writes. It becomes a matter of bacterial load and exactly how healthy people are. A large enough load and it really won't matter how healthy you are, compromised health and a very small load will also do you in.

As always it is your call.

 

[HLAC]

Hmm.. I've been eating raw and undercooked eggs as long as I can remember. Store bought ones before I started raising laying hens. Never been sick from it.
I eat all sorts of raw and undercooked meats too.

I do avoid processed, sugary and starchy things tho'. That stuff will kill ya.

 

[Wifezilla]

Exactly HLAC

Carbohydrates from all those sugary starchy foods actually suppress your immune system. I eat raw duck eggs on occasion, usually in smoothies, and without fear. And when I do eat over easy eggs, I don't mop up the yolk with toast. That's what the sausage is for

 

[sillysister74]

I too believe that the conditions the commercial eggs have been produced with is the main contributor to the crisis. I have recently watched Food Inc. Truly it was an eye opener! I am going to work harder to become more self sufficient. Right now I cannot have chickens due to variance laws, but I did win my geese and a goat and believe me, I will work harder on a more productive garden this next year and for the winter crop.
You don't have so many reports of small operations having these types of issues.

 

[Wifezilla]

Food Inc was very educational. The female chicken rancher's story was eye-opening. She is now allergic to all antibiotics because of constant exposure to them. They are added to the chicken's water if I remember correctly. She was in trouble with her contract holder because her chicken houses had windows.