The Pet Tree House - Where Pets Are Family Too : Keeping Backyard Chickens and Other Poultry The Pet Tree House - Where Pets Are Family Too : Keeping Backyard Chickens and Other Poultry

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Keeping Backyard Chickens and Other Poultry


Backyard chickens and other poultry can carry germs such as Salmonella. After you touch a bird, or anything in the area where birds live and roam, wash your hands so you don’t get sick!

Owning backyard chickens and other poultry can be a great experience. However, children and other groups of people have a greater chance of illness from handling live poultry or anything in the area where they live and roam. Even handling baby birds displayed at stores can cause a Salmonella infection.

There Are Many Ways You Can Get Salmonella from Live Poultry
Live poultry might have Salmonella germs in their droppings and on their bodies (feathers, feet, and beaks), even when they appear healthy and clean. The germs can get on cages, coops, feed and water dishes, hay, plants, and soil in the area where the birds live and roam. Germs also can get on the hands, shoes, and clothes of people who handle or care for the birds.

People become infected with Salmonella germs when they put their hands or equipment that has been in contact with live poultry in or around their mouth. Young children are more likely to get sick because their immune systems are still developing and they are more likely to put their fingers or pacifiers and other items into their mouths.

People who have contact with items, like coops or water dishes, in the area where poultry live can get sick without actually touching one of the birds. Germs on your hands can spread easily to other people or surfaces, which is why it’s important to wash hands immediately with soap and water after touching poultry or anything in the area where they live and roam.

To read more on this story, click here: Keeping Backyard Chickens and Other Poultry


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