Touching a bird feather

I think its OTT of DH, we have a fine collection of feathers collected on various walks with the DC, little nests and eggshells too, along with the more usual random selection of rocks that look like other things. We also only really encouraged them to wash their hands if they were filthy.
I used to collect barely squished roadkill and sell it to the local taxidermist as a primary school child for pocket money, so my bar is set pretty low though

I still pick up bird feathers and even stroke them. I love feathers on birds or off.

How on earth are youngsters going to survive life not being able to touch anything that has a virtually zero chance of doing serious harm?
Poor kids!!

Yes, obviously! How else would the feather attach to the bird?!

I work in the infant dept of a school. Your kids touch, pick up and even lick far worse than a feather.....

I thought that kind of thing was a very normal part of childhood.

How to help a sick or injured bird
Bird flu is still affecting many birds across the UK. If you find a sick bird, don’t touch it at first and read our bird flu advice before you do anything else.

This is what I'd do^

My DH is weird (/disgusted) about bird feathers as well. I played with them all the time as a kid.

That said, there is avian flu not far from us so we're a bit more cautious atm.

It’s only ever Pigeon feathers round here though and we all know they are flying rats, maybe others on here have better quality birds 🤣

I don’t think it would cross my mind to do anything? Are we talking sparrow or swan? I’d call someone about a swan..
Id bring my own pet chickens into my home if they were my own pet.

Mine played with rodent skulls and bones, feathers were run of the mill and used for all sorts of arts and crafts😂

What do you no touchy lot do if you find an injured one?

What? Finding feathers and collecting them is absolutely fine! No different than touching grass or picking up a leaf.

Mine brought home a badger skull.

We kept it outside the front door and purely coincidentally, never had another visit from Jehovah's Witnesses again.

The things my kid picks up off the floor, a bird feather wouldn't even register.

My dh is the same

All those saying the DH is reasonable - How many people do you know who have died or become ill from touching feathers?

It really repulses some people, others feel its ok (probably the majority). Nothing to see here.

I was always told not to play with bird feathers so told my children the same.
I think bird flu has made me extra cautious too

I would have reacted like your DH. Just because the kids might put their hands in their mouths after, or worse put in in their mouths! (Depends on age of course).

I think they're dirty but both my mum and MIL have encouraged my kids to "collect" feathers on walks with the kids 🤢 thanks for that, nanny. Not something I would do personally and I wouldn't want them in the house.

People are weird about birds (and it's largely based upon historic attitudes - bird flu hasn't helped, but I reckon it's all tied in with chicken needing to be cooked through, stories of elderly people getting ill from parrots or racing pigeons and because they're wild animals who could have ticks or mites. Oh, and the shit.)

A good handwash after touching a feather is sufficient.

Ive kept pet chickens for 25 years, some have come in the house shock, horror. During the beast from the east, Gladys perched on my legs when I sat in my recliner, Hilda on my wife's and Queeny sat on the arm of her chair

Spoiler alert, we didn't die

God I remember trying to make quills with them as a kid but I was a bit strange like that. My children love finding feathers. They are always messing with sticks too. We can't walk anywhere without one of them finding and carrying a feather or a stick. They haven't come to harm because of it.

Well, seems a little over the top to me! What on earth has happened to people that they are so fearful now of anything natural, you name it, spiders, ants, bats, beetles, mice, any living thing! All of which were here long before Homo sapiens, and will hopefully still be here long after we have gone. And now, ye gods, an inanimate piece of animal tissue is so 'disgusting' that a grown adult has to use a tissue to pick it up and foment at the thought of diseases, bacteria and instant death, or, at the very least, serious illness.

As a child I used to love collecting natural history specimens, including bird feathers, abandoned nests, shed snake skins and animal carcasses which I would bury and allow to decompose or boil to remove the flesh in order to retrieve the skull for my collection. Still do! At the ripe old age of 60 I cannot recall ever suffering ill health or contracting a zoonotic disease from such activities. Your husband's reaction seems vastly over kill and I would actively encourage your childrens' curiosity about the natural world and all the amazing, fascinating and wonderful things with which we share it, rather than instill fear and loathing in them. Anything to encourage the younger generations to reconnect with nature.