Common sense is key in keeping backyard chickens

As the number of salmonella cases related to backyard flocks rises across the U.S. public health agencies in Canada and the U.S. offer safe care practices for backyard chicken keepers

Thestar.com
June 20, 2017
By Ainslie Cruicshank

Do not cuddle or kiss your chickens.

That’s just one precaution the Public Health Agency of Canada is recommending as the number of salmonella infections related to backyard flocks rises across the U.S.

“All poultry have the potential to be carrying salmonella and to be shedding salmonella, or basically ... pooping it out at any time,” said Dr. Megin Nichols, a veterinarian and epidemiologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC.

“And, we know that chickens are very fond of taking dust baths .... so the salmonella from their feces can get on their beaks, on their feathers, and be in the environment where they live and roam.”

By the end of May, the CDC had received reports of 372 people with infections related to backyard hens - 71 of them wound up in hospital.

That puts the U.S. on track to meet or possibly exceed the 895 record breaking cases of salmonella infection related to backyard hens reported last year, Nichols said.

Not all hen keepers support a total ban on cuddling, but one GTA family with seven years of backyard chicken experience agreed some of the other common sense precautions can help keep hens and humans healthy.

“If you have any animal it’s a good thing to wash your hands afterwards, before you eat food,” said Michael, whose name has been changed to protect his chickens.

But no cuddles? That might be overkill.

“I’m part of so many chicken owner groups on Facebook and blogs and many of them snuggle their chickens and kiss their chickens ... and don’t get sick,” said Sarah, also a pseudonym.

Michael, Sarah, their four children, four chickens, and Toto the turkey live in Vaughan, where backyard hen keeping is still illegal. The Star has agreed not to publish their names.

“We live so dangerously having chickens,” Michael joked, under the watchful eye of Chickie, who sat perched on the arm of the only open patio chair.

More seriously, Michael said he “feels blessed” that he knows where his eggs come from.

“I have a connection to these animals, I know they’re healthy and that’s not the case when people buy factory farmed eggs. I don’t think they’re aware of what’s going on, I think that’s where the awareness should be brought,” he said.

Toronto, like Vaughan, does not currently allow backyard hens, but a number of other communities in Ontario have hopped on board the backyard chicken train. Kingston, Kitchener, Niagara Falls, Newmarket, and Guelph have all allowed backyard hens, although each municipality has slightly different rules.

While Canada’s public health agency hasn’t recently identified any human salmonella cases related to backyard chickens north of the border, there are risks - although Michael and Sarah note there are risks with a variety of pets.

There have been similar cases in Canada before.

In 2015 the Public Health Agency of Canada investigated 61 cases of salmonella infection related to backyard chickens over the course of two and half months. People fell ill in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories. Nine of them were hospitalized, but all recovered.

“Poultry, particularly chickens, have evolved to carry (salmonella) in their intestines,” Nichols said.

Some chicks are born with it, passed from their mother hen through the reproductive track to the egg. Others may pick it up through the environment or their feed.

“People might assume that their poultry are just like us, if they got salmonella that they would actually have nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but with poultry that’s just not the case,” Nichols said.

Chickens carrying salmonella can look perfectly healthy.

There’s no need to hand back your hens, though. Michael and Sarah certainly don’t seem worried, but responsible chicken keeping is a must.

It starts at the farm.

Michael and Sarah’s current flock of chickens is adopted from someone who could no longer care for them, but the first few they had came from a farm with “good practices” about an hour away.

“We spent a lot of time there talking to the farmer and looking at the chickens,” said Michael.

Both public health agencies recommended backyard chicken keepers take steps, like Michael and Sarah did, to ensure their chickens come from hatcheries or farms where they’re kept in a clean, rodent-free environment - somewhere where special efforts are made to reduce the possible spread of salmonella.

Hen keepers should take precautions at home too.

Along side the common sense tips like keeping the coop clean, and washing your hands, Nichols recommends keeping a separate pair of shoes for chicken chores.

Michael and Sarah urged wannabe hen keepers to do their research before diving in, but they and their daughter Chana, agree the chickens are less work than a dog.

“It’s a shame they can’t bring me my slippers or my paper, but we’re working on that,” said Michael.