Probably going to give up chicks because of Salmonella risk! Help!

[shandea]

I have a 5 year old and I freak out about it from time to time. He's not the best about washing his hands every time he touches them, and I'm sure I bug the crap out of him abou it. I have since put a bottle of hand sanitizer at strategic places... one outside and one inside. He is more apt to use that than wash his hands bc he doesn't have to stop defending the universe in order to come in!

I read when he was a baby that kids who grow up with 2 or more animals have a smaller risk of allergies and athsma when they grow up bc they are exposed to more stuff slowly over time.

So maybe we're actually helping our kids by having cats and dogs AND CHICKENS!

 

[chickbea]

Yup - several months back there was an article in National Geographic about it.

 

[homechick]

What is a troll? I just posted it because I wanted people in all different situations, not just people who knew about diseases or the people in emergencies or the people in general discussion. I want information! I don't know what a troll is but I'm just a really upset mommy of humans and chickens.. sorry if it annoys you, you could just ignore my posts and move on to the next one... right?
Anyway, somebody in another forum said that there are many diseases that didn't spread rapidly at first... take Aids for instance. Okay, so this isn't that serious.. but the argument "I grew up on a farm 30 years ago and we were fine" doesn't quite convince me.. but I do like to hear about what it is like to have salmonella... I wonder if those that die from it are from 3rd world countries where dehydration is a big risk. Anyway, if I can just convince my mom that she doesn't need to panic then maybe I can keep my sweeties. I love chickens and as an art teacher, I like to think outside the dog and cat box... Think chickens!

 

[jmofaustin]

Well do you have a dog or cat?

 

[homechick]

Quote:
You're not very nice. I've been spending the last few weeks trying to convince everybody that I'm not a wierdo for wanting chickens for pets and you think I'm trying to ban them? You should ask first before accusing, you could hurt a strangers feelings.
I did a lot of research on how to keep chickens healthy before I got them but I never realized that a farm animal could put us at risk... I wasn't about to eat their uncooked eggs or anything but this article was posted just yesterday and I saw it online!

It's alright, I'm a teacher, I deal with bullies everyday.

 

[homechick]

No I don't have a dog or cat. I know they have risks too. I don't have any pets except for kids.

.
I guess I was just looking at the statistics on how many cases of salmonellosis or whatever you call it. lol.

 

[jmofaustin]

I am not being a bully, we just get people all the time trying to "get our goat" and I was just letting everyone know that I am not scared of an article, I have been around it for a long time. If you are not a troll, that's great, but all your posts show classic signs, that's all. If you are being sincere, then please, don't get rid of your chicks because of this, there is much greater reward when they start laying later.

 

[blue90292]

you've never had a dog or cat and you're starting out with chickens? sorry....but no wonder your mom is freaking out! lol

i know how it is. my mom thinks i'm going to be the cause of starting the avian flu here in the united states because i own chickens, period.

really, if you use common sense, everything will be fine. news is made to sensationalize or else, people like us wouldn't read it and would just dismiss it instead of talking about it creating others to read the article which is why the article is written. for people to read them. and that's how they make their money.

i eat my eggs raw. my customers eat my eggs raw. we're okay. you're going to be okay. just use common sense, keep things as clean as a chicken will let you and you'll be fine.

 

[CarriBrown]

No matter what you do or where you go, there is some sort of risk. Driving a car, breathing the air, eating food you didn't grow yourself, heck... Even walking across the street. And we all know that kids aren't safe at school anymore.
I'd rather enjoy my life and be happy instead of worrying about everything that is on the news. I understand that you are worried, but many of us have grown up with chickens (and other animals, for that matter) and have never had a problem.
I was taught at a very young age to wash my hands after touching the chickens, not to walk behind a horse, not to approach a snake (I didn't listen to that!) etc. and I'm sure your kids are smart enough and old enough to understand that.
The news does everything they can to attract viewers. It's that simple!

 

[silkiechicken]

In other countries common colds and diarrhea kill. They don't have infrastructure to keep people healthy or even clean water to replenish lost fluids. I think you'll be fine with the chickens. As for people in the past, yes, many things have changed. For example we needed the polio vaccine because people started washing their hands and didn't have a chance to spread the immunity to their kids at a younger age. Kind of like the chicken pox now. They made a vaccine and now kids are getting it when the immunity wears off at like 13-14 where the sickness affects them much harder than if they had gotten it when they were 3 of 4.