Egg recall - there's gold in them thar hen houses!

[Mackay]

1,000 people sick. Anyone die?

Iowa is one of the states in the Katie Couric report that states the cattle ( include pigs here) farms that use antibiotics are infested with MRSA... yet they continue on. This is why they have started irriadating meat. Its just too dam dangerous to eat it without.

So the FDA is asleep at the wheel (or lying or cheating at the wheel) in this large agricultural community. Wonder who is getting paid under the table, who owns stock where, who use to be a CEO for what company.

 

[me&thegals]

Oddly enough, my Google searches stated that hens don't show signs of salmonella infection. I didn't spend much time searching, though, but I couldn't find anything showing how a flock manager would be able to tell...

The symptoms that I posted above came from a commercial poultry disease guide. There are four different strains of Salmonella that a chicken can get. I posted the outward symptoms of two strains above the others have similar symptoms.

Chickens definitely DO show symptoms of infection, but it does not surprise me that the information is very difficult to find on a Google search.

Thanks for explaining

 

[Wifezilla]

At some Wright County Egg facilities, federal inspectors found chicken manure in piles up to eight feet high. In other spots, mounds of manure prevented doors from closing, allowing rodents and other animals to possibly come inside, FDA inspectors said. "The uncaged birds were using the manure [pile] ... to access the egg-laying area."
The report said Quality Egg and Wright County Egg workers did not always wear protective clothing, that birds were in storage and milling facilities, and feed bins had rusted holes and gaps. Inspectors also found maggots, and in some areas, "live and dead flies were too numerous to count."
Inspections at three Hillandale farms found -- among other things -- rodents and rodent holes, liquid manure leaking into a chicken house and uncaged chickens tracking manure from a manure pit into a caged henhouse, the inspectors said.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a food safety advocacy group, called the FDA findings "stomach churning."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/08/30/eggs.salmonella/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn

 

[ToLiveToLaugh]

Bee's explanation was correct. Salmonella is part of the standard gut flora of vertebrates, just like e. coli. Whereas e. coli can become resistant and systemic through pH levels in ruminants, salmonella colonizes largely through dirty water sources and feces contact (including airborne). My understanding is also that the accelerated pace of factory laying can increase the risk of salmonella colonizing eggs since the induced laying schedule results in the egg spending less time in the infandibulum and magnum.

I don't have links to show this, it is the assemblage of information from my vertebrate biology and microbiology of vertebrates courses that I've done as part of my zoology major.

In short, testing for salmonella in your flock won't do any good, because it's probably there in some amount. It's a matter of the extent of colonization and whether it invades the egg.

 

[bibliophile birds]

this NPR report is a nice little explanation about how eggs protect themselves from bacteria and why our backyard flocks are probably safe.

as it's been pointed out, chickens infected with Salmonella are outside this system since the bacteria is present while the egg is being formed, but eggs from healthy chickens are VERY unlikely to get Salmonella.

 

[me&thegals]

this NPR report is a nice little explanation about how eggs protect themselves from bacteria and why our backyard flocks are probably safe.

as it's been pointed out, chickens infected with Salmonella are outside this system since the bacteria is present while the egg is being formed, but eggs from healthy chickens are VERY unlikely to get Salmonella.

Thank you! That's the best explanation that I have heard yet--very interesting

 

[BeccaOH]

Did you see the good articles on the egg recall and backyard chickens here:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/a...reatest-nutritional-treasure-the-chicken.aspx

http://barnyardsandbackyards.org/20...what-it-means-for-the-backyard-chicken-flock/

I believe in natural immunization in flocks. Last fall I had an outbreak of Cocci in some chicks. Lost several, which shocked me into going from Flockraiser (no meds) to chicks feed with antibiotics. So this year I have been using chick feed for the first month of life and have had a high mortality rate in my chicks. Taught me a lesson that natural is best. Hard lesson to learn.

So, on the egg subject, the best protection for the egg is the bloom, but egg customers expect nice washed eggs. Do you wash your eggs? I do wash lightly in lukewarm water. I think my mom scrubs them more than I do. :/

 

[dagaul101]

Natural has always been good, I wish there wasn't so many artificial additives in chick feed, we don't know what kinda of harm it has caused us

 

[bibliophile birds]

must see short video from Slow Food USA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYtG3TScwBg