Salmonella Warning....it's no pick nick

[cheapcheap_jeepjeep]

2mnypets


Where in central IL are u? I am in the Tuscola area. I am so sorry for you not feeling well. Hope you get better soon. I am always getting after my daughter for going into the coop bare footed and now I will read you message to her and mabey she will get a clue.. She is 9.

 

[Poison Ivy]

hope you get to feeling better and everything gets back to normal. I will make sure to be extra careful now. I was planning on scrubing down the coop but kept putting it off. But now I will make it a top priority this weekend.

 

[Wolfpacker]

Good lord.

I hope you are doing better and making a speedy recovery.

And I hope my wife never reads this thread.

 

[lcountry]

Dumb question here...

We don't wear our shoes into the house. Do I still need a separate "coop only" pair of shoes? We do cross the yard and the patio with "chicken shoes" on. To be safe, do I need to get some to leave just by the coop or is that over the top?

 

[joanm]

I must admit I freaked out a little after reading this and I wasn’t going to post this, but after reading this thread…

I know a married couple who have chickens, ducks, turkeys, guineas, geese, cats, dogs, pigs and cows that all roam together on their property. I hate to say this, but they are the filthiest people I know. The animals (except the cows and pigs) poop right by their back door and they do not clean anything up. (They are having a flea problem right now) The dogs come and go as they please in the house after walking through poop and wading in the ducks swimming pool. I know for a fact they have NEVER cleaned the chicken coop. She walks barefoot outside and comes into the house without washing her feet. Her house is disgusting and unsanitary. They have never been sick…

I have “coop shoes”, I clean my coop, I wash off the patio with bleach if the chickens poop on it, I wash my hands if I touch anything “chicken”, I wash their water container every other day, I check my dogs feet before I let them in the house and I keep my house clean. I don’t think I’m getting rid of my chickens just yet.

2mnypets, I wish you a speedy recovery!

 

[2mnypets]

Thank you all for your well wishes. My chickens have never shown any symptoms at all. As far as I know they are still healthy, but the health department said that I can either put them on ATB therapy or destroy the flock and coop. The ATB therapy was cheaper and a lot easier on my mental and emotional self. I absolutely love my chickens and pretty much told the doctors that my chickens were probably cleaner and taken care of more than most animals found at any vet's office.

I really didn't mean to scare anyone with this story. I'm very much aware that my case is a worse case scenerio. I told my doctor's I was waiting for a camera crew to do a "Mystery Diagnosis" show on the Discovery Channel. I feel education is so important in our daily lives. If my last 3 months have educated or helped one person, then the mounting bills and pain will be well worth it.

It seems our chickens in general get a bad rap as it is without any help. My main objective was to NOT give the "non-chicken" people something to run with. As my grandma used to say "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". One of the specialists told me that he knows a lot of people with chickens, but none of them take such pain staking care of them like we do. He said he felt safe enough in our coop to eat dinner in it.

It was advised that we medicate not only our chickens but also our dogs and our cat. No one else in the family has gotten sick. In answer to another question that was asked the answer is yes, you should have a pair of coop shoes that are solely for the coop even if you keep your outdoor shoes outside. Salmonella bacteria can live up to 3 hours without a live warm source so precaution must be adhered to when working outside.

I would also suggest everyone put a trial size bottle of hand sanitizer in your purse or pocket for when you go to the store. Just because you practice good hygene does not mean everyone else that touched that shopping cart does. I went to the doctor's office this morning and got another chest xray done. Due to all the antibiotics that I took (10 in all) I now have what they call C-diff. So it looks like I now will be taking Flagyl for a little while.

Not trying to become "Monk" here, but just keep stuff clean and everyone including our chickens will stay healthy. Bleach is your best friend and cheap. If it can kill the AIDS virus, then Salmonella doesn't stand a chance. Have a great day everyone!

 

[FarmerDenise]

:yiipchickThanks 2mnypets.
I needed a reminder to keep up the sanitizing and that it is well worth it. We keep hand sanitizers in convenient locations, so when someone doesn't feel like going into the house to wash their hands, it is easy to sanitize them anyway. We also keep a bar of soap in a mesh bag near the garden hose as well as a towel. We are always eating fruit right from the trees and playing with the animals.
Hope you have a speedy and full recovery.

 

[3peeps]

My first thought with a blood infection is to watch for obvious cuts and scrapes on your skin. Sounds pretty elementary, I know. I had a serious hangnail last week that had me wondering about handling the girls. Sounds totally "Monkish" as mentioned before but...