The Center for Disease Control and Prevention believes people’s backyard chickens may be to blame for the thousands of people who have fallen ill with salmonella across the country recently, according to WTHR. It’s become trendier to have your own chickens to get those fresh eggs any time you want but if you haven’t done your research you may not know just how easily you can get sick from interacting with the birds. Salmonella can be on the birds themselves, their cages, water dishes, feed, and droppings. If you’re interacting with chickens WASH YOUR HANDS! They also recommend keeping a pair of “chicken shoes” to wear while working with them but then store the shoes outside.
Kids are a quarter of the reported salmonella cases because they are the most likely to put their hands in their mouth so keep an eye on them. Oh- and for the love of all things holy: DON’T KISS THE CHICKENS!
