Are my kids safe around chicken poop?

[Jenny's Chickens]

We are new chicken owners - our 3 hens are 6 months old and we got our first eggs this week!!! I have the hens out in the yard during the day and in their coop at night.
My mother expressed concern over my allowing my two children to play out in the yard where the hens have pooped freely. She says "it's just not safe". I'm looking for definitive "resources" to prove her wrong, if possible, since I like our current arrangement. It won't be enough to simply tell her that millions of people similarly situated have been just fine, since her granddaughters are at stake. HELP!!!!

 

[Critter Crazy]

I dont have anything that says it is safe, but my kids have been playing in cicken poop for over a year now, and they are just fine. Try convincing a 7 year not to roll down a hill cause the chickens have pooed there!

 

[Jenny's Chickens]

I hear you. It will be murder to keep my 4-year old from running outside as soon as she wakes to go let the hens out and carry them around.

 

[Royal Oaks Ranch]

My kids are still alive... they are 13 and 16.. Have been around chicks hatching in the living room, even have had brooders in the office. They have been around the birds since they were about 2 months old? And I dont just have one or two.. Ive got like alot, everything from ducks, geese, chickens, turkeys etc... My grandparents raised my parents with birds in the yard.. Heck one of my moms chores when she was just knee high was to go gather the eggs. My grandmother was just a few years old when she was gathering eggs.. Nowadays folks act like you will kill over from things that back then were as common as air.
Granted I would wash my hands and keep the poo out of their mouths but other than that I wouldnt stress over it too much...

 

[Zenbirder]

Children are healthier and less likely to get asthma if they are exposed to dirt. It appears to be like a vaccine effect, small exposures to all the stuff around us makes our bodies understand that these are not "REALLY BAD" things for us and we adapt. City kids who never play in dirt (with chicken and other stuff in it

) are more sickly in the long run, this is a true statistic. Speaking as a Mom of two grown girls who had a lot of farm life and are now healthy women. Here is a quick quote from a news article, Google key words and you can find out more. I hope this helps out with Grandma!

"The latest case in point: USA Today this week is tackling the roots of allergies and examining new treatments based on the idea that children may be getting too little -- not too much -- exposure to allergens.

"To head off allergies, expose your kids to pets and dirt early. Really." That was the headline on the front-and-center page 1 story Monday by Steve Steinberg.

"The new approach to allergy prevention and treatment arises from a paradox," Steinberg writes. "Known as the hygiene hypothesis, it suggests that growing up in cities and suburbs, away from fields and farm animals, leaves people more susceptible to a host of immune disorders, including allergies and asthma."

 

[Black Feather]

I think as long as you get your little ones to wash their hands when they come in to get any poop off they should be a-ok. My grandma, my mom and I all grew up with chickens and have not had any problems. Heck....I would be scared to remember all the various kinds of poo I was exposed to while I was growing up. Lets see, chickens, horses, goats, dogs, cats, and the list goes on. Mind you I would not let them play in the manure pile....that might be kind of gross.

Cheers,
Urban Coyote

 

[MarkR]

It seems to me that it's not your job to prove anything to your mother. It's your house, and they're your kids. I know she's just being a "mother", but you can tell her to stay out of it (in a nice way, of course). It took me a long time to realize this with my own family. Just my .02.

Mark

 

[yearofthedog]

What's to say that wild birds don't poop in your yard? I'd be more wary of wild birds than 3 hens that I've raised and cared for...

 

[pattycake]

My MIL is the same way -- she's a total germophobe and keeps a house that's practically sterilized. Interestingly, her son (my husband) grew up being allergic to everything and was sick all the time.

My own kids (raised in a much less sterile enviroment

) don't have any allergies and -- knock on wood -- hardly ever get sick.

Throughout history humans have lived alongside animals, and I think we have a kind of mutual-benefit thing going on.

 

[Jenny's Chickens]

Quote:
Oh, Mark - I only wish that was the reality of it!!!!!