Sunday, December 16, 2012

Sunday Stills: Pets

These photos are simulated ones, the farmer brought his petting farm to Christmas in the Park.
<
When I was growing up in Borneo, we had animals and feathered friends. They were not out pets as such, but working animals. In Auckland you can keep about 6 hens as pets, provided the coop is away from public places. You can't keep chicken in confined places. Last Christmas, which is summer here, we were infested with flies and the stench blew all round the neighbourhood. Visitors refused to sat long. I wrote to the council, and later, I saw them move the coop away from the fence. One day, I saw a "space astronaut at their footpath." Not long after, This news came on TV. Sunday Stills, the next challenge: pets http://sundaystills.wordpress.com/ Scientists warn of danger of backyard chickens http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/scientists-warn-danger-backyard-chickens-5285897 Published: 6:12PM Wednesday December 12, 2012 Source: ONE News Backyard chickens are popular as a daily source of fresh healthy eggs, but a recent study suggests the birds could also be a source of illness. In a world-first study, Government scientists tested the faeces of 291 backyard chickens. Environment Science and Research's Brent Gilpin told ONE News: "What we found was that more than half of those samples contained campylobacter and 86% of the flocks were positive." Although some level of contamination was expected, the high levels came as a surprise. The lab now believes backyard chickens are making hundreds of people sick each year - possibly even thousands. "It's become a more popular activity and I think we fail to realise that it's a bit different to your cat or your dog in that they do have what is a quite serious illness potentially transmitted via their faecal material," Gilpin said. People are being reminded to wash their hands after collecting eggs and coming into contact with chickens.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi there :) Interesting how they limit the number of chickens, I guess that's kinda important. I remembered my 2 year old daughter balik kampung and cried, scared of the sound of rooster in the morning haha! That's how teruk us orang bandar is, hardly see any animals except cats, dogs, some cows and of course the unwanted home ones, cicak and lipas :( We have 4 cats now. It's terrible, but like 'good' terrible bcos so many felines at home. Started with one and it grew...they have a new blog, princessandmaxi.blogspot.com, for fun and to share with family actually. before i lupa, Merry Xmas to you and your beautiful family. xoxoxo MK

Gattina said...

I have a friend who has four chicken in her backyard, they are very friendly and behave like pets ! They even recognize their names !