Why aren't all chickens infected with salmonella?

[fasttense]

In the massive recall of salmonella infected eggs, the federal government is saying that the chickens themselves are infected with salmonella. I've read that their feed was contaminated with rodent feces, the chickens ate it and had it inside their bodies when they laid their eggs. So, they were laying infected eggs to begin with.

Here's the thing, I have chickens and I've watched them roam my back acreage. I've learned they will eat just about anything. I've even seen them try to eat Styrofoam. But let to their own devices they prefer, bugs, worms, slugs and other wiggly dirty creature. How come every chicken that is allowed to range, isn't infected? I know certified organic egg distributors who specifically have it set up that the chickens move right behind the cattle and horses (in movable coops). So the chickens are eating the bugs that get on the fairly fresh horse and cow manure.

So, why isn't every chicken infected with salmonella? I know that most reptiles have salmonella on their skin and chickens will eat frog and lizards if they can catch them.

Does anyone know why these factory farmed chickens had it inside of them and infected their eggs, yet other chickens that eat pretty awful stuff don't. I know they don't because I eat fresh eggs from local farmers and my hens regularly and have never gotten sick from them. I usually eat them sunny side up.

It just doesn't make sense to me.

[Warpy]

1. It doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense to me, either

and I seriously doubt anything but poor handling of the eggs was to blame. Eggs come with a coating to prevent them from being contaminated. That coating is water soluble, one reason they tell you not to wash eggs unless you're getting the feathers and poo off them just prior to use.

Chickens do indeed harbor salmonella, which is one reason eating raw to rare chicken is not a good idea unless you like spending days trying to decide which end to put into the john first.

However, that salmonella doesn't get into the eggs and it doesn't have a chance to grow if it does unless those eggs are mishandled, usually by damaging the coating and holding the eggs outside cold storage.

Unless those eggs come from a grower you know and you know how they were handled (and finding feathers and poo stuck to them is a good sign), it's best to cook them before you eat them. People who got sick in this particular outbreak were eating raw egg, mostly in salads.

[fasttense]

3. Thanks for the info, I kind of think it might be handling.

[Zoeisright]

6. Wrong.

The Salmonella bacteria are inside the hen's ovaries.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8141757

There is no way to guarantee that an egg is free from Salmonella. Handling or knowing the farmer means nothing.

[izquierdista]

2. Stress

Large industrial chicken operations are really salmonella cultures. The stress the chickens are under prevents their immune systems from clearing the bug, and even if one chicken did, a couple days later it would get re-infected.

Chickens that are happy and healthy picking bugs out of cow patties are in their natural environment. Millions of years have evolved them so that they are immune to bacteria found in their environment. Maybe once in a great while, they get hit by a perfect combination of E. Coli, Clostridium, and a few other bad actors and get laid low, but nature has made them pretty tough. You have to be tough to evolve eating crap off the floor of the jungle.

[fasttense]

4. Hmm, never thought about the stress and the continued re-infection.

[hedgehog]

5. We've had chickens for years, mostly heritage breeds and a

few unknown crosses. In all that time, I had one rooster drop dead ( the vet said he had a fatty liver and wanted to know if we'd been force feeding) and a second rooster who has a staph infection in one foot. That rooster is one someone found and gave us as a chick after Easter. He looks to be a standard industrial breed meant for quick slaughter and has never really looked right since we got him. I've had a couple birds get egg bound, but it's never been a big problem and I always sprinkle lots of oyster shell around.