Talking Allergies

is it okay? Do egg residues remain on them after hatching?

To explain this slightly odd question... my brother and his wife are raising roasting hens this season, and have invited ds to come see the chicks they are soon to receive. I haven't yet said no, but wondered if it was really safe for ds to pet the chicks.

Thanks in advance!

marla

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*Son, 5 years old: Asperger's, allergic to eggs, peanuts, and mustard seed (outgrew dairy and soy)
*Son, 23 months old
*Hubby: allergic to cats and trees (non-specified types)
*Self: allergic to penicillin

I don't know the answer, but it's a really good question!!!

I was at a petting zoo with my DD, but I didn't let her touch any animal, and I was wondering if it would be safe for her to touch cows and goats, which both produce milk and their babies who drank it...

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Me - Kim - No allergies
DH Ben - 31 - Allergic to nuts and peanuts, lots of environmental allergies.
DD Anne - 4 - Asthma. Allergic to dairy, eggs, mustard, kiwi, peanuts, wheat and barley... for now...
DS Francois - 1 - No allergies so far...

I would be hesitant especially if they were very newly hatched.

We took no chances when my older boys collected eggs while visiting their Poppa last summer; we kept our youngest son far back from the hen house and chickens.

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Jan, mom to 3 boys
DS#3 - eggs, cats, dust, eczema, avoiding nuts as a precaution
DS#2 - seasonal allergies
DS#1 - no allergies
Me & DH - seasonal allergies

We won't be visiting the chicks, and my brother also found this info about not letting anyone younger than 5 handle them, due to the risk of salmonella:

http://tinyurl.com/5wsjtj

Eww! Maybe this is why the schools don't hatch eggs in science class until Grade 2.

I will be reminding our school of this next year when our daughter is in that grade.

Back to the original question though, would handling freshly hatch chicks cause a reaction?

I'm not sure how soon you should be handling the chicks, they've just been through a lot. In terms of an anaphylaxis reaction, you would have to have the allergen enter the blood stream. I would be hesitant to allow handling if the child had any broken skin on his/her hands (cuts, scrapes etc). If the skin was intact and if the child really wanted to I would allow him/her to hold the child in cupped hands and possibly stroke the fluffy feathers. I would insist on hand washing immediately afterwards. I would ensure that Epi-Pens were on hand, just in case.

It really is a balance of risks versus life experiences. Unlike some medical conditions, we are very fortunate to be able to have some control over our health. Avoiding allergens is the main focus but it is also important to put risks in perspective and remind ourselves that epinephrine in either auto-injector format will halt a reaction.

Maintaining good skin integrity is important to allergen avoidance. Skin breaks should be kept covered, especially when allergens are present.

I don't mean to be cavalier. We need to be aware of potential risks, alert and ready to take action. We also need to remember that we control the allergies, they don't control us.

(I expect others may not agree with me and this is just my opinion.)

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

My DD's JK class had chicks hatch in their class room. The teacher was really good and asked if I'd be ok. The kids aren't allowed to go near the "chick zone" and they only touch the chicks after they're dry and fluffy. I was ok with it (My DD is mildly allergic to eggs...if she was anaphylaxic I'm sure I'd feel differently) But - when the teacher was talking to the class about the eggs, chicks, etc, she also brought up DD's allergy to the class and they talked about being allergic for a bit! Very happy about that one:)

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4ye old DD allergic to sesame, peanut, raw egg , and mulitple environmental & seasonal allergies

2 yr old DS -no known allergies!