Baby chicks with newborn infant in the house??

[DaggerD]

I will be getting 50 banty chicks at the end of Feb. We will have them on a different level of the house than our living area. We also have a two month old son and just want to make sure there are no health concerns with having the chicks in the house.

Do I need to worry about anything? He won't develop any allergies or anything will he?

We live on a ranch, so he'll be exposed to a lot of "ranch life", it's just having it in the house with us that I'm concerned about.

We could put them in an outbuilding instead of the house, but it wouldn't be as convenient or as warm (winter in Idaho mountains can be cold).

Thanks

Jesse

 

[Mahonri]

They make a ton of dust.

I'm just sayin'.

 

[jvls1942]

yup,, dust...

 

[azelgin]

Dust. Think Oklahoma. 1930s.

 

[tazcat70]

Well I can tell you from experience. I had chicks hatch less than a week after we brought home our newborn son from the hospital. I was about a week into the incubation when we were asked to adopt him. LONG story and crazy weeks! Anyway, they were in the basement, and he was no where near them. We didn't seem to have any problems, and he was a preemie. Can I mention again those were some CRAZY weeks.

 

[ghulst]

Chicks shouldn't be raised in the house.

 

[asher]

Dust.

Other than that, as long as baby doesn't lick the chicks (they say salmonella risk for young kids and chicks if they don't wash their hands good, etc.), it should be fine.

 

[HorseFeathers]

Quote:
Beg pardon? Where else would they be raised? Outside in the freezing cold? Bye bye, chickies.

 

[wjallen05]

It's better to have young kids raised around animals, it actually helps prevent allergies. I think it'd be just fine. We have lots of chicks in the house (computer room) and we have a 4 month old son.

 

[horsejody]

Quote:
Young chicks do much better in the house. And if they are dangerous to kids, then there are a lot of us that should be dead. Most of the people I know that have allergies to animals or plants were all raised as city kids and never exposed to them. I think that early exposure to such things helps the immune system develop. Just use common sense. Keep the brooder clean and wash your hands after handling the chicks.