please don't make fun of me for this dumb question about egg germs

[La Casa de Pollo]

We hang a bottle of hand sanitizer right on our coop--it does not freeze in the winter, and my kids just have made the habit to use it when leaving the coop area before headed back to the house. I think it helps me feel less worried. But when I go out to get eggs only, I use the sanitizer before I head back with my basket, but had never really been worried about the inside of the basket, the handle of the basket that I am touching again with sanitized hands...or after picking the eggs up again and putting them in the carton I forget to wash again in the house....my concern was more with the germs from the coop area, but not what is on the eggs...this thread brought my attention to that. WE have never gotten sick or anything, I hope I am not being too lax

 

[tweetysvoice]

My goal is not to make my dh use hand wipes or sanitizer or whatever (we actually have sanitizer hanging on the run but he doesn't use it partly because his hands are all cracked and it hurts-he has a skin disease that causes the skin on his hands and feet to thicken and crack) but to ease my worries some.

I don't believe that you are crazy at all for having this "quirk". I used to not care at all until I started working in an emergency room. I, too, have very dry skin and the hand sanitizers at work were horrible on my hands! I knew I had to have something though, because I didn't want to catch something or even worse, spread something to another patient that was sick.. So i found something that works awesome for both the sanitization and the dry skin. Gold Bond has a hand lotion that's also a sanitizer! So far, so good. It works great. Maybe that's something that your husband can use.

 

[jeepguy982001]

don't feel bad we all have "quirks". It's what makes us interesting. My gf knows i hate not knowing if i left something on coffee pot, stove etc. so she waits til i get all comfy in bed then she does the whole i wonder if i cut the stove off knowing that i'll have to get up to check it. One day i won't fall for it because she also says "honey since your up can you get me a glass of water" lol maybe you can leave some lysol spray by the door so he can open it give the handle a quick spray then go wash his hands.

 

[galanie]

You're not crazy, I know plenty of people with quirks about things. I understand the "germ" fear even though I'm probably the least worried person about germs you'll ever meet. I used to sit in a nasty stable and eat food with unwashed hands after having handled horses for hours. Now, I wash my hands only before I handle food and after using the toilet. I don't bother washing the eggs unless they're poopy, ever. Not for me or for anyone I sell them to. I would if requested, though. I don't wash the door handles or anything either. And I almost never get sick. I have limited contact with the general public since I really hate shopping and stuff and the only times I've gotten sick in the last few years has been just after I visited sick grandchildren or the like. For myself, I don't consider using hand wipes before you come into the house "normal." Coming into the house and washing your hands, yes. Hand wipes are nice but nothing beats soap and water. Naturally you'd want someone to wipe their hands off if they're just really so grimy they'd put visual dirt on the handle but for the most part I don't think it's needed and I don't know of anyone personally that does.

 

[Den in Penn]

My normal is not to clean the door knobs. I do respect germs, I wash my hands alot. I didn't even give it a thought and put hand sanitizer out in the barn to use there. Hmmm

 

[gale65]

Thanks again everyone. For me it goes way beyond doorknobs but that was the easiest example I could think of. For example today I had to change the shavings in one nest box. Whenever I do that I feel like all the old dirty shavings stick right to me even though I can see that they go straight into the bin. Then I found out the snow got into the shed where I keep my boots (I didn't go in the run today so luckily I didn't need them) and all 4 pairs of boots were full of snow. So I had to empty those so that they weren't soaking wet when the temp goes up next week. So then I felt like all that dried up poop on the bottom of the boots got all over me. So when I got in, I put my pants in the hamper but not my shirt (I have to go back out in a few so I just use the same one for a few times) but when I took it off, I felt the cuffs hit my head and then immediately start thinking about what the cuffs touched out there (probably nothing-I wore gloves) and if I need to wash my hair. But I didn't and now I'm fine. After a while I quit worrying about it but by that time I usually have something new to worry about.

It sucks to be me sometimes.

 

[gale65]

OH and also, this board has helped me so much. When I get to worrying about things I'm pretty sure I don't need to worry about, I think about all the people here who have chickens or chicks in their house, sometimes along with little kids. About all the pics I see of little toddlers and preschoolers holding chickens or reading about how they help gather eggs and also when I see some pics people take of new chicks standing right on their dining room table not far away from a box of cereal or something. I think about how these kids may wash their hands, of course, but they probably don't strip down and get in the tub every time they hold a chicken for a while or go out and get eggs that more than likely touch more than just their hands. And I have a print on my wall of a cute Amish girl holding a chicken and I think about how they probably don't even have running water or easily accessible water, anyway, so may not even take a bath every night or wash their clothes after just one day's wear.

Then I think about how when I was a kid we'd go horseback riding and not only not wash our hands before eating at the stable but share sugar cubes and apple bits with the horses when we probably had pretty dirty horsey hands.

My thoughts wander a lot.

 

[poseygrace]

Hi, what a great post and great question. I enjoyed reading through the answers, and as you can see, there really is no "normal." Just a lot of people doing things a lot of different ways! I am a microbiologist, and my opinion is that yes, there are bacteria and viruses that can be spread through chicken manure. However, these microorganisms do not typically survive outside of their native environment, and won't live for more than a few minutes on door knobs, mail, etc. Yes, there are very rare exceptions, but as another poster said, you'd pretty much have to directly ingest the poop, or have a cut that got the poop in it to really have much risk.

I need to say, too, that I am a strong advocate for NOT overusing hand sanitizer. It creates antibiotic resistant bugs, which is already becoming a huge problem. Your best bet is to wash with warm water and soap for at least 30 seconds to rid your hands of germs. Good luck!

 

[redtailgal]

lol, what a relief to find this post!

I am a door knob washer! Yes, I am and I am proud of it. I wash doorknobs with a bleach 10:1 solution every couple days. I also wash the toilet flusher, the fridge handles, the phones, computer mouses and water faucet handles.

I also have all of my closets arranged with things in bins, clear bins with labels, including my shoes.

I fold all my towels so that there are no "raw edges" showing.

My canned goods are kept by category (beans together, fruit together etc) and each category is in alphabetical order.

My underwear are all folded nicely.

I will take on a full grown bull, but am petrified of mice (to the point of becoming a babbling fool).

I have a computer program that give me a daily work list........I like to vacuum under furniture every 4 weeks, clean windows every 2 months, wipe down light switches weekly (horribly germy they are). My program gives me a list of what is "due". I love my housework program.

And most importantly, I think the term "OCD" is incorrect. It should be "CDO" so the letters will be in alphabetical order.

I like my clean house. I like my organized closets and tidy shelves. I like the sense of completion I get when my work list is done. I LOVE the jealousy of the family and friends who see what my closets look like.

I do not like normal, and have no desire to be normal. I am quite happy in my own tidy little world.

I do not want, nor do I need "help" nor "counseling", but I would be glad to go in and organize the counselors office for a small fee.

OP: just wash your doorknobs. Its who you are, don't fight it and don't try to change it, just be you. I fought my OCD for awhile. I wanted to be "normal". Geesh, normal is SOOO boring. I was bored, frustrated and tense. My clean house relaxes me, I sleep better, I laugh more. I didn't need "fixing", I just needed acceptance........from myself.

Wash your doorknobs. Sing a song while you do it, maybe even do a funky little dance while your at it. (hey, if people are gonna talk about you give them something good to talk about!)

 

[gale65]

I will take on a full grown bull, but am petrified of mice (to the point of becoming a babbling fool).

That reminds me. I set a mouse trap in the shed where we keep boots and feed. It's a closed shed. Today the trap is gone. I can't find it anywhere. I looked all over in there but there's a lot of dh's junk in there so it could be hiding in lots of places. I'll never be able to rest properly until I find that trap.