Salmonella?

[foweler]

I just read of a recall of organic eggs possibly infected with salmonella.

My girls are only 6wks and 4 wks but it got me to thinking about my future eggs.

I guess I don't know much about the relationship between chickens and salmonella other than to beware of raw eggs and undercooked chicken.

Is salmonella always present in chickens? Can I get infected holding them? What about my forthcoming eggs?

 

[tim_TX]

Salmonella is a bacteria common to chickens, although it rarely exists in concentrations sufficient to cause harm. Nevertheless, be prudent. Wash your hands after handling your birds, wash any visible feces from the eggs just before using them, use water that is warmer then the egg when washing, and just use common sense. You'll be fine. Submersion washing is no longer approved, as it can drive the bacteria through the pores and into the egg where it has a ideal environment for multiplying. That same bacteria on the egg surface does not have a good environment for multiplying.

 

[BawkinOnTheBench]

What about dipping the eggs briefly in a 10% bleach solution? Tim_tx's reply about how common the bacteria is in chickens made me feel better; I've been concerned because it seems there is an outbreak in a wild bird species that's common around here and I was concerned about my chickens contracting it and passing it on the eggs.

 

[greathorse]

10% bleach solution is way too strong. YOu have a great chance of having the eggs taste like bleach. Bleach solution for sanitizing in food service situations is far less than that. A one percent solution is considered quite a strong solution. A bleach solutioin used for sanitizing purposes should only smell faintly of bleach.

I personally would never use bleach on an egg, but if it seems like a good idea to you do some reading on appropriate levels.

 

[msgenie516]

Hi,

There is a site, eggcartons.com, that sells egg washing powder. It does contain some chlorine bleach but they tell you exactly how much to use. You might want to check it out.

Good luck!

Genie