Salmonella - I would love some info from you who would know best....

[newBonboard]

Thanks for all the 2 cents expressed, my intention was not to say " I feel " we should be scared and over cautious but to get your feelings on it because I know this community of people have experience and so I value your opinion.

 

[aggie9296]

They will be fine! The chicks and the kids, both. Enjoy!

 

[lizage]

I agree with the others... I'm actually more scared of buying eggs and meat from the grocery (as well as spinach, lettuce, etc.) because of factory farming and all it's nastiness.

That being said, generally good hygiene should be good enough. And besides, it's a ton of fun and a definite stress-reducer watching those chicks and working in the garden!

 

[swampcat]

Just wanted to chime in here...

It takes about 3 days from exposure to salmonella to come down with symptoms. I have had my chickens in my living room for about a month. I let the bigger two wander around the house with me during the day if its too cold for them to go outside. Yup, they poop on my floor. When I see a poo I wipe it up and wash my hands. I will give the floors a thorough mopping at the end of the day. We do not wash our hands after petting the chicks.... nor do we after loving on the dog or our four cats... we'd be constantly washing our hands if we did.

There's a fine line between cautious and neurotic.

Keep their coop clean, wash your hands after handling feces, enjoy!

Here's a short and sweet article I found with further reading if interested:
http://sarasotacluck.blogspot.com/2010/08/three-reasons-backyard-chickens-lay.html

 

[halo]

How many millions of children have grown up with chickens and cows and pigs on the family farm? I dare say those farm raised kids ended up far healthier than city kids. You probably have more of a chance contracting salmonella from grocery store meat than your back yard hens. Not that Id recommend it, but Ive seen kids kissing their pet hens.

Get them and enjoy them!

 

[ImogenSkye]

I have five children and we live on a farm. We don't have running water, so we do not bathe every day- not even every other day. The "important parts" are washed several times each day, but there is no "excessive" washing; we haul water from a creek and we live in a semi-arid region, so it is not abundant and we must take care to not waste what we can obtain. We do not have bacterial infections of any sort- ever.

If you are concerned about bad bacterial infection, then the solution is to make sure the body is replete with good bacteria. We eat lacto-fermented veggies, and drink kombucha and raw, organic apple cider vinegar every day. There isn't a bacteria that could possibly outgrow the good population in our guts. Salmonella doesn't stand a chance. The other necessity is good fats which are anti-microbial by nature. We eat coconut and virgin palm oil every day (truly organic, fair-trade, and traditionally harvested in the Phillipines- no machines- also expensive, but very worth the cash outlay for the savings in not being sick) in addition to lots of animal fats from our foods.

To deal with the possibility and likelihood of parasites (giardia is ubiquitous up here and chlorine doesn't kill it either), we take grapefruit seed extract in a cup of tea every day. It has no negative effects on the body at all, and prevents parasites from taking up residence. It is so mild that I can give it to my children (always dilute!) without concern. I also give it to our livestock, with some raw honey and acv in their water once/day. It is relatively inexpensive.

Bacteria, parasites, and viruses all require hospitable quarters in order to both survive and thrive. If your body is hostile to bad bacteria, they will not survive in numbers that are deleterious to your health. If your body is hospitable to good bacteria, these will thrive and multiply, keeping your system in proper order.

A healthy gut can withstand licking a spoon full of salmonella. I once unknowingly drank severely ecoli-infected town water, on a weekend away. I had brought acv with me because I find it refreshing and knew I'd probably end up with some beach water in my mouth, and it was a crowded, fresh-water beach. Anyway, I was the only one in my group who was completely without issue after drinking the town water. The others were very ill. I always take a strong drink of diluted acv before I go out for dinner. I never have trouble. Neither does anyone else in my family,for the same reason.

It's the terrain that matters. It won't matter one whit if your chickens carry salmonella, if your gut is in top condition. Even if it's not, but you start eating and drinking fermented foods, you'll still be fine. If you give your chickens fermented foods/drink, they won't have salmonella either.

We evolved with bacteria. Work the system!

The other option is to clean, clean, clean, which is a lot like trying to sweep the sand off the beach, or dry the grass while it's raining. Best to accept the role of bacteria, and make your body a kind host to the ones that benefit you.

 

[AZSummer]

I'm new to keeping chickens, but we had birds growing up. Mom also gave up red meat for about 5 years when I was a teen. We had chicken almost exclusively. As everyone else said, cleanliness is important, especially after cleaning up poop. I never got sick from our birds nor from any meat we prepared ourselves.

When your kids wash their hands, they need to wash further up their arms than they think. I have mine wash to their elbows. They also need to wash for 30 seconds. Have them sing Happy Birthday when they're soaping up. It's about the right length of time.

 

[fargosmom]

I'm with ImogenSkye. The world is full of germs and bacteria, and we are foolish if we think we can eliminate them from ourselves and our environment. Unless you want to live in a bubble, you live in a non-sterile world, but if you use common sense you don't need to worry. It's all about balance.

 

[newBonboard]

Hey everyone.


Thank you for all your thoughts on the matter, as mentioned this is only day 4 being form me being a chick owner, and because I don't want to live in a bubble or be over cautious I wanted to get your thoughts and a sense of what you all do since you have more experience behind your belt than I do. I certainly appreciate you taking the time to respond. Despite any reservations I may have had, the chicks came home 4 days ago and, I love them !!!

AZSummer, I agree and we do the same thing...wash up high and they sing ABC'S lol


Have a GREAT day everyone !!

 

[gale65]

Glad to know I'm not the only one that worries about this. I have anxiety and am a huge germophobe so getting chickens is a huge step for me. My concern is not so much hand washing (my kids are old enough to wash well) but that the kids will hold the chickens, then touch their clothes, like putting hands in pockets, adjusting a tshirt bottom, etc. They wash up but then later maybe they'll touch their clothes again while they're eating or something. Or their hair-dd has a habit of flipping her hair back and she touches it all the time. But I think making them change their clothes or wash their hair every time they touch the chickens would be over the top. But I'm tempted... Tonight, ds was holding his hand out for them to eat from it and they were brushing against his shirt sleeve so even then there may be chicken germs on their clothes. ack.

we got our chicks today and by tonight, I had a bottle of sanitizer in there.