From a
sustainable viewpoint, the alcohol you are using is thinning and ruining the natural germ barrier your skin possesses~there is a natural acidic pH level on your skin that is being compromised when you do this. When you use alcohol skin sanitizer if only leaves you open to bacterial transmission...you can take that from a nurse of 19 years. In other words, I wouldn't use it~never have though it is strongly encouraged by all medical facilities. Funny how that never seems to stop disease transmission and cross contamination of patients as well as the old-fashioned hand washing used to do.
Normal
soap and
water is fine and has been for generations upon generations of farmers. Biosecurity is only as good as you and your bird's immune system function. Work on those and you need never worry about all the rest.
Germophobia seems to go hand and hand with poultry nowadays in the media, so I can understand why so many people out there new to chickens feel they all will have salmonella or e.coli because their only exposure to chickens have been from reading of outbreaks in the commercial poultry industry and the subsequent recalls. Both organisms are found naturally in every chicken's intestines...it's the level or number of them that is key and they are held in check by the existence of beneficial bacteria and also by refraining from using broad spectrum antibiotics in your husbandry practices.
If you are concerned that the hatchery of origin may be a source of these types of germs, you can place mother vinegar in the chick water and start right away in helping them form the bacteria in their digestive tracts that will inhibit the overgrowth of these organisms. Here's a useful little excerpt about the usefulness of ACV in prevention of disease and death in livestock...it's simple, it's cheap and it's effective. I've never had a chick die or develop pasty butt all these years, nor have I ever had illness in my flocks.
Pediococcus acidilactici(found in apple cider vinegar that still contains yeast enzymes) can function as immune modulators. Animals fed with P. acidilactici have shown enhanced immune responses against infectious coccidioidal diseases.
Pediococcus acidilactici is also known to prevent colonization of the small intestine by pathogens like Shigella, Salmonella, Clostridium difficile and Escherichia coli among small animals.
Pediococcus acidilactici has not been stated in any literature to have toxic effects. Another potential benefit of using them as Probiotics is their use as alternative medicines against infectious parasitic pathogens like Eimeria* in broiler-chicken [6].
Quote:
*Eimeria, genus of parasitic protozoans of the spore-producing phylum Apicomplexa (previously Sporozoa). Eimeria, which causes coccidiosis in livestock and wild animals, infects mainly the cells of the digestive tract, although it also attacks cells of the liver and the bile duct. Symptoms of infection are diarrhea, weight loss, and general weakness. Eimeria is characterized by spore cases that contain four spores, each with two infective sporozoites. Among the common pathogenic species are E. necatrix and E. tenella (in poultry); E. stiedae (in rabbits); and E. bovis, E. ellipsoidalis, and E. zuernii (in cattle).
You probably didn't want to hear all that extra stuff but I thought I'd throw it in there for good measure.
The short
answer is it is not likely you will get ill from handling your birds, you don't need to sanitize~just wash~ after handling unless they are obviously ill and you have handled them and, even then, good handwashing(without using antibacterial soaps..they do the same damage as the alcohol) and a good immune system function is the best and first line of defense.
2
