Can my chickens infect me?

[Kitsune_Kitten]

I have been growing chickens for a bit and my oldest chicken (Tender) is very friendly with me and often I pick her up and pet her for a while. She is 4 months old, almost 5 and she has curled feet but is never aggressive. I usually sit her on my lap and pet her, with my arms away from her chest in case she wants to get off (which she rarely does) but she usually sits there very contently. My Mother saw me petting her and got upset saying that she read online that touching chickens can give you infections and they should not be touched at all. I have been doing this petting with Tender for around 2-3 months and I haven't gotten sick apart from the common cold. But seeing as my Mother would not drop the subject, I'm a bit worried. Is this true?

 

[Kitsune_Kitten]

As a bit of background

I know that most animal's poop can be dangerous to come in contact with, which is why I always keep an eye out for when she is trying to poop, but she has never done so on me before. When I pat her, she is never upset and never tries to attack me. She usually makes little purring sounds after a while which I think is a good thing.

She does live with 4 other chickens and 2 new ones that we are introducing to the flock, but they have all been raised at my home. She has not been attacked by any animals before unless you include the sparrows that sometimes steal her food, but she would be the ones attacking them. When the flock is scared, she is usually surrounded by the others as I think they try to protect her.

She hasn't had any problems in the past and isn't suffering from any that I know of.

 

[bill3607]

As a bit of background

I know that most animal's poop can be dangerous to come in contact with, which is why I always keep an eye out for when she is trying to poop, but she has never done so on me before. When I pat her, she is never upset and never tries to attack me. She usually makes little purring sounds after a while which I think is a good thing.

She does live with 4 other chickens and 2 new ones that we are introducing to the flock, but they have all been raised at my home. She has not been attacked by any animals before unless you include the sparrows that sometimes steal her food, but she would be the ones attacking them. When the flock is scared, she is usually surrounded by the others as I think they try to protect her.

She hasn't had any problems in the past and isn't suffering from any that I know of.

There are people here that know a lot more than me. But, yes, chickens carry diseases. You can easily find plenty to read that will tell you to never have them in your house, but people still do it. Heck, there are people that not only let them in their house but also let them live in their house. They even sell chicken diapers. lol Of course the poop is certainly not good for you. I do handle my chickens. I pick them up and handle them daily. Pet them, talk to them etc.. in the run and in the coop. What I do try to do is avoid getting poop on me as best I can but it happens at times. I keep a pair of boots that I put on whenever I go in the coop or run and the boots never come in my house. I also have a long sleeve thick shirt that I always put on when I go there each day because I know I will be handling them. It also is kept out of the house. Then, I always immediately wash my hands very well after leaving them. The hand washing to me is the most important thing of all.

 

[coach723]

Most virus's are not passable from animal to human (there are some exceptions). Bacteria is. Usually people worry about salmonella, which you can pick up by handling them, if they are carrying it. You can also get salmonella from handling turtles and reptiles, and other small animals. If you are using basic sanitary practices (covered in the post above), particularly washing hands well after handling them, the risk is small. I've got chickens, cows, donkey, dogs, cats, never gotten sick from one of them. Other than the cats and dogs (and occasionally a sick chicken in a crate) mine are not in the house.