Can I hug my chickens?

[Jessicanesh]

Hug away...just don’t kiss and wash your hands thoroughly afterward. My 9 year old daughter holds our Easter Egger hen (Sally) and sits on the swing with her. That chicken loves to cuddle and swing with my daughter so much so that Sally will fall asleep in my daughter’s arms and stay there for a half hour or more. My 3 year old daughter carries around our Australorp hen (Darth Vader) any time they are outside together and they both love the attention. As soon as the chicken’s feet hit the ground the girls wash their hands. That’s the rule!

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Sorry we took over your thread!

 

[rosemarythyme]

I've never kissed my chickens - closest I've gotten was a nuzzle. I've kissed everything else under the sun though (that sounds terrible, on second thought...) Hmm, actually I've never kissed a fish before either.

 

[Mraya]

I only bathe by Silkies if they get a poo bumm or something.

And I do what I wanna do... hugging or whatever. It might not be wise if your immune system is weakened by anything.

I think bathing strips natural oils from the feathers... Dirt baths are awesome sauce though!

I do find videos of people wrecking their cars and other stupid stuff.. doesn't make we wanna go do it!

But huggin' a Silkie?

I do have a few pet girls... same reason you hug and kiss a dog!

I hug my dogs but I don't kiss. They trail behind my chickens eating their poop.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I hug my dogs but I don't kiss. They trail behind my chickens eating their poop.

Ah yes... tasty treats!

Mine do the same thing. I don't kiss their mouths. Usually the top of their head or their ears. And my one dog, always puts her booty towards us. She is very uncomfortable face to face... but only sit next too and always turns her big duke-a- munga and makes it get in contact with the person she loves and is sitting next to... So I do like to kiss the top of her booty. Also on occasion they find something special they like to roll in... so I don't get to close to the shoulder/neck area. But the top of her booty hardly ever touches the ground. And I don't let them lick me cuz it's gross.

But still some people have cats that use litter boxes then walk all over their couches and counters. In all the years I have raised chickens... there has never been a salmonella recall on my eggs, yet! And that is in fact the reason I started raising chickens about 9 years ago. We use them raw in mayo and I don't "wash" them, not even before use. (I will admit, my son a gf were appalled when they heard I didn't wash but then shocked that my unwashed eggs were cleaner than washed they usually got) Come on, is rinsing water over gonna change anything for real?

Is salmonella a possibility... YES... EVEN if you don't kiss the birds.

My take... things happen but too many fear mongers... spreading GOOD advice! If I worried about every poisonous plant on my pasture I would never have chickens. Do your best, what makes sense to you. If you come down with Salmonella... you probably won't do it anymore.

But to the person claiming we can get other diseases from our chickens... SHOW me the science, please.

Farm kids grow up eating dirt just like others who might have served their siblings a mud pie a time or two. Absolute exclusion of exposure is a BAD thing. That's how the immune system builds resistance to things, exposure. E coli is everywhere in our environment... If your immune system is working well... NO problem. If you are compromised... EVERY thing is a problem in my opinion. Please note I have dogs, rats, raccoon and many other wild animals. My lettuce also has never poisoned anyone yet.... Oh but wait even my dead raw chickens will last at least two WHOLE weeks after processing in the fridge without getting slimy or stinky like grocery store birds. And ALL we do is rinse and refrigerate them after processing. Something to be said about keeping it small.

I do agree that extra risk might not be worth it, in many instances. But like SOOO many other things on BYC and in life... what works for some may not work for others and that's OK.

Thanks for giving us the chance to share our thoughts and to reconsider our own choices.

 

[featherhead007]

I hug mine all the time, feed them by hand, sometimes cheek to cheek with them.
Never have they caught any germs from me!

 

[pitbullmomma]

Ah yes... tasty treats!

Mine do the same thing. I don't kiss their mouths. Usually the top of their head or their ears. And my one dog, always puts her booty towards us. She is very uncomfortable face to face... but only sit next too and always turns her big duke-a- munga and makes it get in contact with the person she loves and is sitting next to... So I do like to kiss the top of her booty. Also on occasion they find something special they like to roll in... so I don't get to close to the shoulder/neck area. But the top of her booty hardly ever touches the ground. And I don't let them lick me cuz it's gross.

But still some people have cats that use litter boxes then walk all over their couches and counters. In all the years I have raised chickens... there has never been a salmonella recall on my eggs, yet! And that is in fact the reason I started raising chickens about 9 years ago. We use them raw in mayo and I don't "wash" them, not even before use. (I will admit, my son a gf were appalled when they heard I didn't wash but then shocked that my unwashed eggs were cleaner than washed they usually got) Come on, is rinsing water over gonna change anything for real?

Is salmonella a possibility... YES... EVEN if you don't kiss the birds.

My take... things happen but too many fear mongers... spreading GOOD advice! If I worried about every poisonous plant on my pasture I would never have chickens. Do your best, what makes sense to you. If you come down with Salmonella... you probably won't do it anymore.

But to the person claiming we can get other diseases from our chickens... SHOW me the science, please.

Farm kids grow up eating dirt just like others who might have served their siblings a mud pie a time or two. Absolute exclusion of exposure is a BAD thing. That's how the immune system builds resistance to things, exposure. E coli is everywhere in our environment... If your immune system is working well... NO problem. If you are compromised... EVERY thing is a problem in my opinion. Please note I have dogs, rats, raccoon and many other wild animals. My lettuce also has never poisoned anyone yet.... Oh but wait even my dead raw chickens will last at least two WHOLE weeks after processing in the fridge without getting slimy or stinky like grocery store birds. And ALL we do is rinse and refrigerate them after processing. Something to be said about keeping it small.

I do agree that extra risk might not be worth it, in many instances. But like SOOO many other things on BYC and in life... what works for some may not work for others and that's OK.

Thanks for giving us the chance to share our thoughts and to reconsider our own choices.

 

[JedJackson]

I was reading that the CDC said not to hug your chickens because they can carry salmonella, but I keep finding videos of people hugging and kissing their chickens. Is it a major deal to hug your chickens?
P.S.- I have 2 silkies and they are super fluffy, I can’t resist hugging them. I know I bathe my silkies and fluff them up every month or so. Does bathing them get rid of some diseases?

You can hug your chickens. It's not a whole lot different than picking them up to inspect for lice, mites or what have you, and we all do that. When I was a kid I was always picking up chickens and honestly I never washed afterward, never even thought of it, and no harm befell me or any of my friends that did the same thing. But I do wash after handling them now, just to be on the safe side, and I think everyone should, especially those that are around kids a lot. Salmonella is a reality but it's very unlikely one would be infected by a backyard flock just like it's very unlikely that lettuce from your garden will infect you with E. coli. It's mainly the large scale, industrial operations that spread these bacteria through food products. Just be smart and practice good hygiene for yourself and your flock and you will be fine. Kissing is out, though, for many reasons. Just don't do it. Stroke their wattles instead. Most birds like that.

 

[thewatsonfarm]

Ah yes... tasty treats!

Mine do the same thing. I don't kiss their mouths. Usually the top of their head or their ears. And my one dog, always puts her booty towards us. She is very uncomfortable face to face... but only sit next too and always turns her big duke-a- munga and makes it get in contact with the person she loves and is sitting next to... So I do like to kiss the top of her booty. Also on occasion they find something special they like to roll in... so I don't get to close to the shoulder/neck area. But the top of her booty hardly ever touches the ground. And I don't let them lick me cuz it's gross.

But still some people have cats that use litter boxes then walk all over their couches and counters. In all the years I have raised chickens... there has never been a salmonella recall on my eggs, yet! And that is in fact the reason I started raising chickens about 9 years ago. We use them raw in mayo and I don't "wash" them, not even before use. (I will admit, my son a gf were appalled when they heard I didn't wash but then shocked that my unwashed eggs were cleaner than washed they usually got) Come on, is rinsing water over gonna change anything for real?

Is salmonella a possibility... YES... EVEN if you don't kiss the birds.

My take... things happen but too many fear mongers... spreading GOOD advice! If I worried about every poisonous plant on my pasture I would never have chickens. Do your best, what makes sense to you. If you come down with Salmonella... you probably won't do it anymore.

But to the person claiming we can get other diseases from our chickens... SHOW me the science, please.

Farm kids grow up eating dirt just like others who might have served their siblings a mud pie a time or two. Absolute exclusion of exposure is a BAD thing. That's how the immune system builds resistance to things, exposure. E coli is everywhere in our environment... If your immune system is working well... NO problem. If you are compromised... EVERY thing is a problem in my opinion. Please note I have dogs, rats, raccoon and many other wild animals. My lettuce also has never poisoned anyone yet.... Oh but wait even my dead raw chickens will last at least two WHOLE weeks after processing in the fridge without getting slimy or stinky like grocery store birds. And ALL we do is rinse and refrigerate them after processing. Something to be said about keeping it small.

I do agree that extra risk might not be worth it, in many instances. But like SOOO many other things on BYC and in life... what works for some may not work for others and that's OK.

Thanks for giving us the chance to share our thoughts and to reconsider our own choices.

Totally agree with you, EggSighted4Life. I'm of the let-them-eat-dirt philosophy. We are all healthy around here, and I think the exposure to dirt and germs and whatnot is part of building a healthy immune system.

Maybe the chicken kissing is taken a bit too literally? I mean, I don't know how you'd kiss a chicken on the beak -- they'd squirm like crazy, I'd think. But I suspect most of us crazy chicken-kissers are kissing them on the back somewhere, while holding our feathered sweetie-pies. I'd think their feet, vents & beaks would be what gets most exposure to any germs, right? And I'm all about kissing everyone I love: human, cat, dog, chicken, goat, pig.... But not on their dirty parts!

Why kiss my chickens? Because I adore them!!! They fill my whole heart with delight. And when they jump up into my lap (or the chicks right now keep jumping onto my shoulders), I kiss them three times! I'm not sure what they think about that, but they are used to it. I assume they know it's a gesture of caring, since they keep coming back to me.

 

[tuesdaylove]

I'm a total germaphobe, so I never kiss the chickens. I will pick them up and hug them, but I try not to rub my face on them or anything, and if I do I go straight inside and wash my face. I always wash my hands after being in their runs, whether I've actually touched a bird or not. I have gotten sick before from kissing them, which I used to do in my early chicken-keeping days -- I'd rather not specify what illness it was, but it was definitely not worth kissing the birds to have that happen!