[Tyler] I’m Tyler and I’m 7 years old.

[Erika] Our family is from Newfane, New York. We have three dogs that we love to play outside with.  My son Tyler is 7 years old. He loves playing hockey, he plays ice hockey as well as street hockey outside at our home. He loves playing baseball, swimming, playing with our dogs, and video games. We had originally got our chickens to have eggs in our home. We wanted to increase our egg supply, so we decided to get a new set of baby chickens. We kept these chickens in a tote in our basement with a heat lamp on until they were old enough to be transitioned to our coop out in our backyard with the older chickens. 

[Tyler] I used to hold the baby chickens because they were cute.

[Erika] Tyler loved to go down to the basement. He loved to hold the chickens. They were small enough to fit in his hands. 

[Tyler] I used to take pictures of the chickens for show and tell.

[Erika] Tyler started showing symptoms around late February. He started saying my belly was always hurting, it felt like there was something in my throat. As a mom I’m thinking it’s gotta be the Kindergarten jitters. You just started with Kindergarten, it’s midway through the year, he’s antsy about summer coming up. 

[Tyler] When I was sick, my stomach really hurt.

[Erika} While Tyler was not feeling well, he didn’t have much of an appetite, he just wasn’t acting himself. He started to lose weight, he had blood in his stool, which ultimately scared him. Each time he would had a bowel movement, he was terrified. 

[Tyler] It was scary being sick.

[Erika] Throughout the course of Tyler’s illness, he was not himself. He was not the little boy that he was a few months ago. 

[Tyler] I didn’t like missing school. I missed seeing the Easter bunny and I missed birthday parties.

[Erika] I knew something was not right with my child. He continued to have blood in his bowel movements. Something was wrong. From him not wanting to go to school, negatively affecting his academics, we were stressed, we were frustrated. We felt a sense of guilt. Why could we not figure out what was wrong with our child? I began to feel as though we would never get our little boy back. I would like for people to know that animals such as chickens do carry a risk of illness. Tyler was eventually diagnosed with Salmonella. He has since made a complete recovery. He is back to our little social butterfly that we knew a few months prior to the onset of his illness. He is back to enjoying his social life, enjoying his hobbies, as well as loving school. 

[Tyler] Now I feel a lot better.

[Erika] The baby chicks are now grown, they are in a coop which is located in our backyard. After this experience and Tyler’s illness, the interaction between Tyler and the chickens is very few and far between. If there is an interaction, it’s feeding them in between the gate and we make sure he appropriately washes his hands.

[Tyler] I still like having chickens. I like to help my mom collect the eggs.

[Erika] It’s important for people to know the risks and take steps to prevent yourself and family from getting sick, such as handwashing and keeping the birds outside.

[Tyler] Now I wash my hands so I don’t get sick. I don’t want any other kids to get sick like I did.