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CDC issues new warning: don't snuggle or kiss your family's pet chickens

By Robert Laurie ——--July 17, 2015

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I have to admit. I've been caught off guard by this. I had no idea that people were keeping chickens as pets. I get raising chickens for eggs. I understand grilling their tasty meat. I was not, however, aware that people think owning a chicken is a lot like owning a cat.
Apparently, I've been asleep at the switch. It's a brave new world and chicken-pets are a part of it. As MyFoxNewYork.com reports:
"Our 9-year-old daughter wanted a dog for her birthday and we surprised her with chickens instead. She was at first disappointed," said Ruth Harrigan. "They're very independent. It's almost like having a cat." Harrigan and her family keep these four hens as pets. The Harrigan brood's laying and strutting and clucking proved so popular in its Little Neck neighborhood that other humans on the block constructed their own coops for their own tenants to keep up with the Harrigans.
But, if you're thinking it would be tons of fun to see a rooster curled up in a ball at the foot of your bed, you should probably think again. In addition to their nasty beaks and sharp claws, live poultry boasts a host of diseases - most notably salmonella. This has the CDC worried.
They've issued a warning that buying the family a chicken - which you would obviously name "fido," "boots," or "Colonel Sanders" - may not be the best idea. I'm not sure who needed this warning, but there you have it. If you refuse to listen, because you’re some kind of rebel who's hell-bent on owning a chicken-pet, they're advising that you not kiss it or cuddle with it.
The CDC put out a warning asking chicken owners not to snuggle or kiss their birds for fear of contracting salmonella. "Chickens actually have salmonella naturally and they don't get sick from it, but humans do, and the main symptoms are diarrhea, fever and abdominal pain," Dr. Robert Glatter said. He didn't need to read the CDC report detailing the rise in salmonella infections from pet chickens, ducks and turkeys in 2015 to recommend against keeping chickens as pets. "The main issue is that people just don't wash their hands after they handle them, especially children," Glatter said. "So I am really against this, I think it's just not a good practice in general."
"Don't kiss your chickens." Thank God they're here to tell us these things. How homo sapiens managed to survive 2.5 million years without this bit of wisdom shall forever remain a mystery.

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Robert Laurie——

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