Chickens carry tons of diseases... (CPS alert!)

[KlaHaYa Gardens]

Hey, I am so sorry you are going through this! Gollee, one of the "healthiest" things you can do is to teach your daughter how to raise a few chickens, care for them, etc.

I am not a fan of CPS: they cause problems and ignore abuse. Might I suggest you take an approach "sweet as pie" and give the CPS worker a little "rope" (that you can hang him/her with)? I suggest you kindly ask them (verbally or in writing) to please send you a letter outlining the hazards suggested by your daughter "owning and raising" two chickens. AND, what this worker suggests for a chicken coop, location, etc., etc., etc. The point being to get the worker to really "overstep" with detail and direction that you can use against the worker later with the help of your lawyer friend.

Also, may I suggest you again ask for appropriate "discipline" for your daughter over dumping her laundry basket just "moments/minutes" prior to the unannounced visit. Play up to the CPS worker how much you heard his/her outrage that your daughter would dump the basket and you agree it wasn't "helpful", but as you thought "wrongly" that it wasn't a serious problem, you would like all suggestions advice for disciplining the child in such a way she would never dump her laundry basket again. Reiterate your ignorance at not seeing the "gravity" of the offense and that you are more than willing to recognize it as being as serious as the CPS/"child specialist" indicated. (Please don't miss my sarcasm and that I don't buy the CPS crap for an instant, but the manipulation, control, really needs to be outed and addressed. I would then send a copy of any correspondence you receive from the CPS worker to your governor and congress person to show the over-reach.)

Lastly, Idaho is "green state" when it comes to homeschooling. I strongly recommend you not get entangled with the school psychologist, etc. Consider homeschooling? At least for a while to get the "heat off"? That road can be a very messy one. Are you in a position to relocate, change phone number, etc. to get away from the ex-fiance?

Chickens!! Are popular among homeschooling parents who take much interest in their children's health, well-being and education! There is a private school in Seattle that bought chickens from me for their students! They seem to "get it," too.

So, sorry for the harassment.

BTW, I know of some resources that may be of use if you'd care to PM me.

 

[nnbreeder]

There are a few diseases that can spread from fowl to human but not very many. Here is the terminology from the link listed later.

Zoonoses are generally defined as animal diseases that are transmissible to humans. However, there are several diseases listed below that occur primarily in humans and that may also be transmitted between humans and animals, with some animals serving as reservoirs for human infection

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/220100.htm

At the top of this page there is a link for a table of the diseases.

 

[gryeyes]

Golly. Just... freakin' ..... golly. Substitute that for some other much more colorful terms and you'll have a clue as to how I feel about the situation in which you were put. And the squalor!

I don't have kids, and it is a good thing, because my living conditions WOULD be horrifying to the CPS. Really. I mean, if YOUR house is a hazard, mine should be condemned and burned with flame-throwers.

So unfair.

Blessings upon you and your daughter. Curses upon the problem-causing idiots, collectively. Like lice in their undies.

 

[MeowCluckBark]

Quote:
Honestly, her school is amazing. Our meeting coming up is my request. Her school gets a lot of money extra for what they are able to achieve. They are like a magnet school for disabilities if that sounds right. The school loves me and my daughter. I volunteer for everything and her teacher absolutely adores her. She asked my permission to do her hair up. Madi doesn't always let me fix her hair and just lets me brush it out for her. Her teacher likes to take first recess and style her hair for her. She's so sweet. She calls Madison her morning sunshine. She's an excellent educator. Honestly, I would home-school if I hadn't found this school. The last school she was at was just not cutting it for me. She really does well with the social interaction she gets at school and has finally started making friends. It would be in her best interest at this point to remain in a classroom. Her class is fairly small, around 20 students. No class at her school is larger than 25 and they break out into groups of 5 for specialized math and reading groups. She is now in the top math group and last year she was barely passing. She is also a top speller now.

I know that there are group field trips and what not you can get into with a group locally for homeschooling. I'm not against it at all. I would be an excellent educator for my child. I already have started working with her to help her excel in math which has proven to be working since she was upped in groups at school. She's in third grade and we've been doing pre-algebra. The rest of her class is just starting to do division. I'm proud of her work. We also learn science at home and study animals, horticulture, geology, etc together. Nothing against the liberal arts. I love them and we work on reading and what not. We do creative projects together to as I believe balance is an excellent way to provide a solid education. I just want to encourage the science and math right now as it's where her interest is for her future and I want to help her realize her goals.

 

[MeowCluckBark]

Thank you everyone! I felt justified already. I knew I had done NOTHING wrong, but it definitely feels good to have people band together with you, you know?

 

[seminolewind]

Glad you have a lawyer friend. I would think that CPS would have to prove drugs in the home, danger to a child in the home, something that they need to protect the child from. A messy or sortof normal dirty house (not yours) is not a danger to a child. Laundry on the floor is not a danger. Neither is chickens in the bathtub or a box.

When CPS hauls you into court, (LOL), what will they say? "We have to remove this child because she is in danger from _______"
Most CPS agencies are understaffed and overwhelmed with cases-serious ones.

Don't panic. There are tons of kids out there that need to be removed for: drugs-use of and in the house; no food; no water; signs of physical abuse; young children being left alone at home. I think there are alot of children that need removal out there.

 

[secuono]

Wow, all that is just crazy.

I would have a massive issue with CARPET in the bathroom and not the dang birds!!!

 

[MeowCluckBark]

Quote:
LOL! I know. I didn't have enough flooring left over from the rest of the remodel. I went searching for some scraps big enough for my bathroom. I just found some a week or so ago. I had to learn how to install it myself too, I figured I might as well wait until I don't have the girls in there and do it next week. I'm out of school until June on break so I have all the rest of the projects all planned out. The carpet is supposedly ok because of the type it is. It grosses US out. It's technically clean. My daughter and I still don't like it so we take our slippers to the bathroom to shower lol

 

[un-named]

so...the brownish color of the bathroom carpet is clearly chicken feces mashed in evenly and throughout, right? and the picture of the chickens...you altered the photo to make them look clean and very white because in reality they too have feces stuck all over the feathers?
your chicks are beautiful!! I'm sorry you are going through this stuff. I'm glad you have a lawyer friend to help you through it. Please keep us posted!

 

[MeowCluckBark]

Quote:
haha I know. I went around with a scrubber today to look for any poop and mud that might be in there. I didn't find any in the carpet. We kept that paper all over while they were in there just in case. It did it's job well and it was compostable so we change it out and put it in the compost bin outside.

I know my girls are so white! It's so funny. Ok I'll admit that I do wipe them off if they ever get any poop on them by mistake. That's only happened 3 times though. A little wet wash cloth and they're good. When they went to my friends house yesterday she said they were like the prissy white city kids come to the country. She put them out in the yard and watched to see if her hens would do anything. They came and looked and off they went. The girls played in the dirt and got in the ditch for worms. One of her RSL, Ginger, she's usually the bossiest and she came over and showed them how to scratch in the dirt!!!! Her red banty cochin, Barbie, stood nearby to guard them. The rooster, Rudy, came and did a little dance for them and then went off to do his business.

It has been nice for them to be out and about. She brings them in and they sleep all night in their box. She said she would hate for CPS to see her bathroom when she's got a sick chicken in the tub.