Disease exposure???? Please read!!!(mascot "Wally")

[cjeanean]

I'm sorry to be the party pooper everyone, and I may be wrong, but there's something that may be an issue of concern about the mascot swapping. I saw pics of the first individual who got Wally, and Wally was out in the coop with her chickens. Now, that's awesome, he seemed right at home, but I must raise this question.....what happens if the chickens/coop were contaminated with some sort of chicken illness??? (Her chickens look VERY healthy, mind you....I'm NOT saying they are sick!) But what happens if someone next in line, or 1000th in line, has chickens with, say, AE.....and sends the illness to the next person via Wally??? All birds can be carriers, even stuffed white bird heads with sunglasses!!! (LOL

) I'm just wondering if it may be a good idea to get some sort of disinfectant spray for Wally before sending him on his way, or if he's washer and dryer proof. I know almost everyone on this forum takes excellent care of their birds, but when you have that many ppl and that many chickens something can come up before anyone realizes it. It would be like exposing your chickens to 50 thousand other chickens all over the US and elsewhere.....Just a thought!!! Good luck, everyone, and the mascot looks AWESOME!!!!

 

[cjeanean]

Does anyone want to contribute to this???? I don't know if my speculation is correct, and I'd like to hear other ppl's opinions!!!

 

[vickig]

I think you have a valid concern.

 

[cjeanean]

Now, what do the mods/nifty think of this????

 

[Guitartists]

I was just thinking about this yesterday myself. Maybe Wally needs a Lysol shower after each visit??? Would this kill those kinds of organisms??? Otherwise I think he needs a rule sheet.

 

[palabeco]

I think you are a germaphobic. My dh is one, he goes around the house with a cloth soaked in alcohol wiping off all the doorknobs, and light switches and the phone......guess how often he gets sick?........just as often as the rest of us!

But in your defence, it might be a good idea to use lysol on him before you ship him out, and not let him play in the coop/run with the other chickies.

 

[Gindee77]

You read on here and in every chicken book I've ever read that you should never put new chickens in with your present time flock and you should always disinfect your coop and let it stand a few months before putting a different flock in it. Guess that advice could carry over to this situation. Couldn't it?

 

[patandchickens]

The question is not whether *people* will get sick, it's whether *chickens* could, and you have to remember that poultry medicine is in a vastly different state of perfection than human medicine.

Chicken illnesses are generally fairly poorly understood (in fact often difficult even to just accurately diagnose), not very treatable, and many remain resident in a flock even after sick birds are recovered or 'gone'.

I would by no means count on Lysol to do much -- stuffed animals are notoriously difficult to disinfect -- and getting a Lysol bath every week will probably disintegrate ol' Wally pretty fast anyhow

I think it is quite a valid concern, and frankly even *with* a rule sheet I do not think that I'd be wanting a sampling of the rest of chickenkeeping North America's diseases propagules visiting my house

A hard-surfaced mascot would be a lot easier to disinfect and remove a considerable degree of worry.

JMO,

Pat

 

[Buff Hooligans]

I bet poor Wally would never have volunteered for the job if he knew he'd be dipped in vats of Lysol in households all across America.

 

[cjeanean]

Quote:
LOL!!!! I think Wally is an awesome idea, and a lot of fun!!! I just wanted to point that out just in case some precautions should be taken, you know, Lysol, fumigation.....flame.....LOL!!!! I'm just kidding, seriously....I know that with all the stuff going around nowadays I cringe every time I see a wild bird in my yard, and I sure don't want anything happening to my chickens!!! I'm not trying to scare anyone or spoil the fun!!! I wasn't sure if I'm just paranoid or if it's a legitimate point.....