Children + chickens...advice from a parent please.

[ckseals]

My husband and I are planning to have children, but one thing that freaks us out is our children playing with our chickens because of possible disease, sickness, etc.
BUT, we want them to be able to love our chickens as much as we do. Any advice from parents who raised their children and chickens together? Is this a risk I should not take? Is it okay to have chickens and babies!? Should I find my chickens a new home?

Any advice please.

 

[horsejody]

If touching and playing with animals was that big of an issue, farm kids would be dying all over the place. Just teach little ones to wash their hands. Kids that grow up with animals actually have fewer allergies and better immune systems.

 

[herefordlovinglady]

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Yep, they are exposed to more and become more immune to those diseases and allergies....

 

[Backyard_Chicken_rancher]

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Agreed............I wasn't brought up on a farm but lived by a few and had friends that were I was always sick but they were never sick ever made me

back then but now I know why. I belive that if you are planning then you don't have any as of yet which means you can teach from step one on proper care of chickens and other animals.


Good luck to you

 

[Southernbelle]

Here's my little girl when she was about 2 helping me gather eggs. She LOVES the chickens!

She holds them, pets them, goes in the coop with me, gathers eggs, digs up earthworms to feed them, etc. We just wash our hands when we get back to the house. As long as your chickens are healthy, there's no reason why your kids couldn't be around them. There are so many pictures on this site of kids interacting with chickens. My kids are very healthy and have been around animals all their lives.

If you're nervous, you could always have your flock NPIP certified. They test for Pullorum and Salmonella - 2 diseases that can be passed from chicken to human.

 

[dntd]

My kids have been around many pets growing up, the key it to have good husbandry and planning. Wash thier hand and make sure your chickens are cleaned up after.

 

[Melissakins]

I was raised around chickens

I even ate dirt a time or two

and grass and hay

 

[Mandalina]

none of my 4 have suffered anything worse than the occasional peck from being rough and maybe eating a fallen out feather a time or two

my baby is even a turken fanatic.

 

[herefordlovinglady]

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Sorry to jump off topic, but OMG she is gorgeous and the way she is holding the egg, she knows to be very very careful... how sweet.

Okay back to our regularly scheduled topic....

I ran bare footed, ate bugs, played in the dirt, drank water from a garden hose, and I am now 50 and healthy and best of all still alive.

 

[Melissakins]

Quote:
Sorry to jump off topic, but OMG she is gorgeous and the way she is holding the egg, she knows to be very very careful... how sweet.

Okay back to our regularly scheduled topic....

I ran bare footed, ate bugs, played in the dirt, drank water from a garden hose, and I am now 50 and healthy and best of all still alive.

when I saw this picture too, I thought look how carefully she's holding that egg, like someone told her be EXTRA careful with that

Very cute.