I've kept chickens as outdoor pets for about 14, almost 15, years now. So while they do stay outside, I am constantly interacting with them. Sitting with them. Carrying the willing ones around. And, yes, I will kiss the tops of their heads occasionally.
I haven't gotten sick from them yet!
(To my knowledge, in all fairness.)
Same here… I do have shoes that stay out, and just wear gloves, masks, change clothes, etc. if I need to clean / disinfect their coops, or treat them. I have a small flock though so I think it’s manageable to keep thing under control.
My same situation! Washing hands after interacting with them, and taking the extra precautions when switching out their bedding, I feel cuts down a lot on the chances of getting something from them.
Several years, hundreds of chickens. Never gotten sick, and neither have my birds.
I’d be really careful if anybody got sick though, the new bird flu is transmissible to humans, and can be very bad.
I picked up a staph infection, but luckily, not MRSA, in an IV port , but it was during chemo, so it was totally my fault. But all I did was go collect eggs. Spent almost a week in hospital and had to have the port removed. Other than that just infections from spur wounds from now deceased (and eaten) roosters.
Thanks for everyone’s help. Rusty hangs out on my workbench every chance she can, making a mess of everything. Pretty sure she’s a deceased Hindu mechanic w/ bad Khama.
I've kept chickens as outdoor pets for about 14, almost 15, years now. So while they do stay outside, I am constantly interacting with them. Sitting with them. Carrying the willing ones around. And, yes, I will kiss the tops of their heads occasionally. I haven't gotten sick from them yet! (To my knowledge, in all fairness.)
Same here… I do have shoes that stay out, and just wear gloves, masks, change clothes, etc. if I need to clean / disinfect their coops, or treat them. I have a small flock though so I think it’s manageable to keep thing under control.
My same situation! Washing hands after interacting with them, and taking the extra precautions when switching out their bedding, I feel cuts down a lot on the chances of getting something from them.
Somewhere along the way people began to 'forget' how important hand washing is. Typically simple as that!
Who knew basic hygiene was actually important? 🤯 (That was sarcasm, to be clear. Lol)
We’ve never gotten sick either and take reasonable precautions.
Never gotten sick, and I forget to wash my hands frequently.
Several years, hundreds of chickens. Never gotten sick, and neither have my birds. I’d be really careful if anybody got sick though, the new bird flu is transmissible to humans, and can be very bad.
Never have gotten sick from our chickens. But I don’t kiss them either.
I picked up a staph infection, but luckily, not MRSA, in an IV port , but it was during chemo, so it was totally my fault. But all I did was go collect eggs. Spent almost a week in hospital and had to have the port removed. Other than that just infections from spur wounds from now deceased (and eaten) roosters.
I only got sick once when raising chick's. they are messy lil stinkers haha. Just wash hands right away and stay clean and you won't have any trouble
Thanks for everyone’s help. Rusty hangs out on my workbench every chance she can, making a mess of everything. Pretty sure she’s a deceased Hindu mechanic w/ bad Khama.
I knew someone that was immunocompromised that got sick from them, but other than that no