Afraid to Touch my Chicks

[cackydoodledoo]

Quote:
Can you borrow a shop vac from anyone until yours arrives? My husband dumps the brooder for me, it's light enough that he can lift it over the trash can.

Or is there someone that clean it for you just this once until the shopvac arrives? Sorry your sick and hope you get to feeling better soon!

 

[Anianna]

I'm adding clean litter until the vac arrives, so it shouldn't be an issue. I do appreciate all of the concern.

I think my meds are finally kicking in. I don't feel so wracked with illness today and touching the chicks doesn't seem as frightening as it did yesterday, though I am still hesitant. I hope I can move past this entirely soon and get over it.

I can't stress enough, though, good hand washing practices after handling chickens or their bedding is really important. I know I am more prone to infection than most, but anybody can get this and there is nothing irrational about making sure you practice good hygiene.

 

[mcf3kids]

Thank you for posting this - we have had our chicks for a week and I feel like we are washing our hands well after handling them but there is probably room for improvement. I have been drying my hands on a towel vs. paper towel and I think I am going to switch so that any germs are tossed out in the trash vs. accumulating on a towel to possibly cross contaminate us. Hope you feel better really soon!

 

[Mandymooligan]

Quote:
I got Salmonella also, I have never felt so sick in my life. Finally I started to get better and after 4 days I got it again!! Talk about feeling like death!! I think it was from handling the chicks which I was brooding in the bathroom. When the second round hit hubby said no more chicks in the house and moved them and their heat lamp out to the coop. I was washing my hands and trying to be careful. I have mild lupus so my immune systen can be whacked at times. Everything settled down after the chicks got moved out. I will never brood chicks inside my house again. On the good side, I lost 15 pounds. I rarely handle my chicks but I will spend a lot of time in the coop just watching them play and sometimes they will sit on my shoe or jump into my lap. I let them do that but still rarely touch them with my hands. Just thought I would share my story so you would know you are not alone. You will feel better soon.

 

[Wildflower_VA]

I have a defunct immune system, too, and I have had an ongoing bladder/kidney infection since I got my chicks 11 weeks ago. Chickens carry e coli, which causes bladder infections. Normally, I handle all raw meat, etc., with food handling gloves, and while the chicks were in the brooder I used the gloves when I was changing bedding or handling the waterer and food dishes, but I still got an infection. Since the chicken graduated to the coop and run it is too much trouble to don gloves, so I make sure not to touch my face or other susceptible body part until I have scrubbed up, but it doesn't seem to help. I'm not giving up my chickens, so I don't know what the answer is right now.

 

[JerseyHen]

Make sure that shop vac has a high quality HEPA filter and wear a mask if you are genuinely immune compromised. Salmonella poisoning is fecal oral in transmission, so be sure not to touch your mouth with anything that has been contaminated with dust or inhaling the dust (because that often finds its way to the gut via post nasal secretions). From what I have read, it is generally not seen in a small, well maintained, home flock, but I suppose anything is possible.

EColi infections are also fecal oral and while most urinary infections are caused by ecoli, the ecoli has to enter the urinary tract at the urethral opening (so it is unlikely that this is caused by your chicks unless you wiped with hands that had the ecoli on them). Most urinary track infections are caused by your own ecoli... If the ecoli from a chick got into your intestinal tract, and was in sufficient numbers and virulence to cause disease, the symptoms would be primarily intestinal in nature. Both salmonella and ecoli can be treated with antibiotics in both the chick and the human. Additional modes of transmission are from improperly washed vegetables in a garden that utilized chicken (or cattle for that matter) manure.

All of that said, most people will not catch a zoonotic disease from their livestock or pets and there is some research that links too sterile environments with weaker immune systems. Afterall, in years past farm kids only washed up just before dinner. HOWEVER, if a person is immune compromised they cannot be too careful (cancer, autoimmune disease, the very old, the very young, those recovering from other illnesses, etc).

Here is are some links to zoonotic diseases and their prevention (some are a little extreme in my opinion, but if you want to be as safe as possible...):

http://depts.washington.edu/rubelab...ASE PREVENTION WHEN WORKING WITH POULTRY.html

http://www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/InfectiousDiseases/InfectionsAZ/Zoonoses/TableZoonoticDiseases/

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps019

http://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/animals/birds.htm

http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/ehs/zoonotics/diseases.aspx

A special note on listeriosis...pregnant women are 20% more likely to get this than non-pregnant persons and are also more likely to die from the infection (the fetus is especially susceptable as well). They are, however, more likely to catch this from eating deli meat or fresh cheeses than from a chicken...

I am not a chicken disease expert, but a people disease expert... I hope everyone gets healthy and is cautious without becoming neurotic (and unable to enjoy your chickens).

 

[Bengalcats1]

there is some research that links too sterile environments with weaker immune systems


Then I have Nothing to worry about

 

[Pele]

Quote:
Um, please don't take this the wrong way, but you get bladder infections from direct contact of bacteria to your urethra. You're more likely to get it from your husband/boyfriend than your chickens....

moderators please don't killz me

 

[Wildflower_VA]

Quote:
Um, please don't take this the wrong way, but you get bladder infections from direct contact of bacteria to your urethra. You're more likely to get it from your husband/boyfriend than your chickens....

moderators please don't killz me

LOL That's what I meant by 'other susceptible body part.' I live alone and don't have a hubby or boyfriend, so I am probably not washing my hands clean enough before using the bathroom. I even have a nail scrub brush, but sometimes I am in too big of a hurry due to the bladder infection to wash well enough, I'm afraid. I have had a severely compromised immune system since a child and have always had to forgo things in life that I enjoy for health reasons, but I'm tired of missing out, so this is the price I am willing to pay. I am just trying to find ways to avoid as much infection as possible, while still enjoying my chickens.