Can Keeping Backyard Chickens Kill you??

[otis7]

I've heard that called "farmers" lung, and yes, being around dusty conditions for long periods of time can kill you, but certainty not a backyard coop! I rescue pigeons, who are renowned for being horrible disease carriers. For the first few birds I religiously washed my hands and sanitized, now I don't even bother. Can they carry salmonela and ecoli? Yes, but you would literally have to consume their fecal matter.

If your worried wear a respirator when you clean your coop (I personally don't) and wash your hands after handling, but you're fine. I've had chickens march across my chicken counter and take sips of my beer cup! I believe people are far too concerned about bird related diseases. The people that get sick are generally those who are mentally unwell or not aware that there is some kind of fecal contamination, or under some sort of infestation (which is a way you could look at purdue style production, a concentrated filth.

 

[ChickenCurt]

Only dirty conditions on a whole can get you sick. Keep your birds tidy and don't over populate and you should have no worries. Barring chance most diseases that we here of run rampant in huge flocks that never leave the barn and are crammed together like sardines (Tyson). A mask during spring cleaning is recommended; my coops get a lot of dander built up over the winter from my birds staying in more.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I have been around chickens for over 50 years, horses for about the same amount of time. Slept with a dog when I was a kid, now I have two dogs sleeping with me every night.... and expect to live many more years.

The same here except that I only have one K9.

That said here is more food for thought.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histoplasmosis

As a young man I worked in both commercial laying and broiler houses. The smell of ammonia in chicken **** smells like... well.... it smells like napalm in the morning, I love the smell of napalm in the morning, it smells like victory. That is what I think of the ammonia small in chicken manure.

 

[donrae]

If he worked in a commercial facility a long time ago, I'm not at all surprised he has lung issues. I lived not far from some commercial places in high school and the ammonia fumes would make your eyes water from the property line...can't imagine how bad they were in the sealed buildings! Not sure how helpful it is to hear things like that my grandparents are in their mid80s & have had chickens for a good chunk of that time since people have the same stories about smokers

BUT what I would think about is how very very few people have gotten sick from having chickens relative to the number of people who haven't. Afterall, pretty much anything can make you sick under the right conditions...even drinking too much water! So you have to look at your odds. It looks like you have clean, well-ventilated facilities & healthy birds so I'm sure you'll be fine.

This.

I grew up in Foster Farms country, and yes the smell was horrible from quite a ways away. Plus, those commercial houses so crammed with birds, no ventilation, dead birds all over the place, no/minimal safety standards.....there's really no comparison between backyard birds and commercial operations.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

I've heard that called "farmers" lung, and yes, being around dusty conditions for long periods of time can kill you, but certainty not a backyard coop! I rescue pigeons, who are renowned for being horrible disease carriers. For the first few birds I religiously washed my hands and sanitized, now I don't even bother. Can they carry salmonela and ecoli? Yes, but you would literally have to consume their fecal matter.

If your worried wear a respirator when you clean your coop (I personally don't) and wash your hands after handling, but you're fine. I've had chickens march across my chicken counter and take sips of my beer cup! I believe people are far too concerned about bird related diseases. The people that get sick are generally those who are mentally unwell or not aware that there is some kind of fecal contamination, or under some sort of infestation (which is a way you could look at purdue style production, a concentrated filth.

Thank you for your perspective on the issue. I guess he does have farmers lung. I only have 17 birds so the number of birds
that I am around vs what he was around is almost incomparable.

I do wear a respirator and wash my hands after taking care of them. After cleaning the coop I take a long hot shower and
wash the cloths I cleaned the coop in. I figure for the most part I am making common sense moves after handling or
maintenancing their habitat. I keep them as clean and tidy as possible given that they are chickens and very messy.
They get a complete clean once a year and random stuff in-between. they free range so they are out and
about most of the time anyway.

That is cute that they sometimes drink your beer. I bet that is really funny.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

Only dirty conditions on a whole can get you sick. Keep your birds tidy and don't over populate and you should have no worries. Barring chance most diseases that we here of run rampant in huge flocks that never leave the barn and are crammed together like sardines (Tyson). A mask during spring cleaning is recommended; my coops get a lot of dander built up over the winter from my birds staying in more.

Yes, I wear a mask, I keep them as tidy as possible, I do however let it go a little in the winter due to the weather,
it is not suitable to do major cleaning. I do however add fresh shaving every so often. they have fresh water and food
daily.

The conditions at Tyson and what I have in my backyard are totally different. My girls get free ranging time and of course
I do not keep them in cages.

thank you for your post. Like you birds, my birds do get a lot more dander in their coop since they are home a whole
lot more due to the bad and cold weather conditions.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

This.

I grew up in Foster Farms country, and yes the smell was horrible from quite a ways away. Plus, those commercial houses so crammed with birds, no ventilation, dead birds all over the place, no/minimal safety standards.....there's really no comparison between backyard birds and commercial operations.

You are so right. When it comes to my bird and commercial farming there is not comparison. I have never been around chicken country so I really do not
have any way to compare the smells. But my girls do not smell at all. If you could not hear them you would not even know that I have chickens. I am
maintaining proper manure management in keeping their coop as clean as I realistically can. Sometimes in the summer after a steamy rain
you might be able to detect some odor, but for the most part, my neighbors goats smell far worse.

Thanks for your post.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

Thanks to everyone who submitted a post to my question. I knew that you all would come to my rescue as fellow backyard chicken owners.
I know that some people have strong opinions for and against topics or situations, in this case I think that is what I ran into when
talking to this guy I meet while buying feed.

You all have helped me a lot, thank you for voicing your opinions. I feel a whole lot better about my girls now.

 

[ChickenCurt]

We add fresh straw daily with monthly cleaning but after spring warm up the coops get washed thoroughly and new paint. Paint because it helps keep things clean and I like the fresh look.

 

[otis7]

It sounds like you are doing a great job with your flock and habits and have nothing to worry about. Glad you feel better! My little beer drinking chicken is/was adorable. We adopted her as a pullet. Flock introduction went horribly and the next thing we knew she was bolting in the door after us. Soon she was curling up on the couch with us watching tv and following the dogs/cats to their food bowls. One evening we were drinking beer and she hopped up on the table and took a big gulp of beer, I guess she wanted to be like mom and dad! She had a taste for it a long time, but now she is fully integrated into the flock and pretends she doesn't even know us