Monday, May 12, 2014

Don't kiss your chickens

I heard this on the news this morning:  Don't kiss your chickens!

Cliff and I have a theory about this sort of thing.  We feel if you are in constant contact with salmonella germs, you build up an immunity.  We wonder if this isn't also true for tetanus.  

From the time I could walk, I hated shoes and seldom wore them.  At least once a week I would step on something that punctured, cut, and broke the skin of my calloused feet in various ways.  Rusty nails were often the culprit.  Seems as though I ought to have died of lockjaw, because I never had a tetanus shot.  Never got stitches for anything, either.  

At the switchboard house in Iowa, and also in north Missouri, Mother had a large flock of back yard chickens.  They were enclosed in a large pen.  I didn't have to ask permission to play with the hens; I just opened the door, closed it behind me, and sauntered around in the chicken poop in my bare feet.  I cornered hens and picked them up and held them.  I reached under them when they were on the nest to see if there were eggs.  They often pecked me, but I learned early on that a chicken peck doesn't hurt that much.  One time a hen was on the nest with her rear end toward me.  Imagine my amazement when I saw her pushing a wet egg out of her behind!  

I'm pretty sure I never washed my hands after playing with the chickens.  My parents were too busy with the switchboard and the gardens and canning to follow behind me telling me to wash my hands.  

Yeah, I think people worry too much about germs these days.  By the way, I still go in the chicken house barefoot.  I do rinse off my feet afterward if the grass isn't dewy enough to clean them, and these days I wash my hands after gathering eggs or handling anything related to the hens.  Especially on days I'm babysitting.  

Oh yes, and a final thing about the ill-fated Kansas day trip.
Sometimes you just have to have a souvenir.  

10 comments:

  1. I never paid much attention to germs in years past, but now I think there are more around so I'm a little more careful plus since I have a blood condition my immune system isn't what it used to be.

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  2. Donna, we need prayers. My 30 yr. old son is in renal failure, lung failure on a vent, and liver failure due to alcoholism. We are at the Univ. Of Mizzou in Columbia. Thank you, Gabrielle .. amiragabrielle@aol.com

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  3. Oh my goodness, I can't even imagine how worried you must be! Saying a prayer right now.

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  4. I worry some about germs (especially the super bugs), but I'm a bit of a fatalist at heart. I don't obsess about dirt, at least not like my mom--who is a total germaphobe. Her dad was a dentist and apparently knew lots of nasty things about germs.I would rather be ignorant.

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  5. I agree with you about germs. Think we're too worried about them, for sure. LOVE your new mug.

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  6. Washing hands has always been part of my daily routine...I guess it's the way I was raised. Always sent my kids to wash up too. But the emphasis on germs was really nothing I ever thought much about. Glad you got a souvenir.

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  7. I am very fond of Kansas. We lived there 9 years and both of my girls were born in Wichita. Have a great week! Sheila

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  8. We ran around barefoot all the time when were kids too!!

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  9. We were just talking about this at work today. The consensus there was that people in general avoid contact with things so much that they actually make themselves more susceptible to things.
    Barbara
    Life & Faith in Caneyhead

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