Touching a bird feather

[user19888891]

DH came home from work and I’ve had the kids all day. We’d been out in the garden and some of the toys were lying out. Almost instantly after looking out the window he says ‘I hope they weren’t playing with that feather’. To which I said ‘why?’ And he said ‘because it’s fucking disgusting’. So I said yes they had and it’s not a problem. He then said he wasn’t talking about it any further, or words to that effect, then proceeds to go out to the garden straight away to lift the feather with a bit of kitchen roll and put it in the bin. To be clear, this was a loose feather found in the garden, appears to be from a seagull. It wasn’t from a carcass or roadkill etc.
I really don’t see this issue? The kids are young and like exploring and they cleaned their hands when they got in. I think his reaction is quite odd because he seemed to think I was being outrageous for allowing this to happen? Who is being unreasonable?

Some people rip up all their dirty grass and put that plastic artificial shite down so they can wash it. The world has gone mad.

Bloody Hell, I remember being a kid on Blackpool beach in the seventies and we'd stick seagull feathers in the top of sandcastles then eat fish and chips with our hands.

My son, when he was little, filled a scrapbook with feathers he collected and labelled.

My husband still brings home nice ones!

Yep same people spraying anti bac spray everywhere. God only knows what these kids’ immune systems will be like as adults. Living in sterile environments is not good for them at all.
Everyone knows kids with pets have healthier immune systems because of the filth 😆 and kids living on farms healthier still.

I wash the feather!! 😆 or anti bac spray if we're out.

More bird flu now due to climate.

I always pick up decent feathers to use as cat toys. We keep a few in our living room. I genuinely never realised that some people are so worried by them.

I would have said harmless and I always have loved feathers, but having googled it, it seems it isn't a good idea with bird flu going around, we are in an area which has had bird flu locally, so I shall bear that in mind.

Ha my 9-year-old currently had a few of these quill feathers in her desk so it's not just you.

My kids are obsessed with collecting feathers and my instinct is to think bleurgh but I let them get on with it and just insist on hand washing

Thank you everyone. Good points about avian flu which I hadn’t thought of

I love collecting all kinds of rubbish but at the moment I wouldn't touch feathers. Avian flu crossing over to humans could trigger another pandemic. It's not worth the risk.
Not the same as domestic chicken feathers which are pretty grubby but unlikely to be contaminated by flu virus

He is insane.

Our kids are farm kids. They have feathers, bones, fur and god knows what else in their collections. They're taught the importance of washing before eating and things like that, but it's completely normal and healthy to be fascinated by the natural world.
Is it any wonder that we are raising a generation so disconnected from nature with loonies like him doing the parenting?

i looked out the window the other day & my DD was tickling the dogs nose with a big feather then stuck it on her hair!

No probs at all, we wash hands when we come in anyway! & eve. The dog got a wet wipe nose clean!

He’s going to make them neurotic!

I have to admit, I am
Pretty crunchy but feathers give me the ick.

Im sorry but I agree with the above. Psittacosis is can be transmitted by pigeons and doves but also birds kept as pets. My mum used to warn us about it when I was a child. You can’t always see when the bird is ill so not something you can tell on sight. Also bir

hot cut off but also bird flu which doctors at the hospital have warned me snout because of my health.

We were at the beach last summer where dead birds were dealt with by two people in full hazmat suits and an official taking notes with a clip board.

Bird flu aside, I've seen birds in plenty of unsanitary situations - scavenging in rubbish bins, peking at dead rodents, picking chunks from a puddle of vomit.

I'm with your husband on this.

I once fell in a duck pond, right under the water. Got out, carried on with my day - no after effects whatsoever. I frequently pick up feathers/birds left behind my cats kills, and no, I don't use a paper towel or rush to wash my hands.

Your DH is ridiculous - as are some of the posts on this thread!

I have two feathers in my pocket right now which DD has picked up during a walk and wanted someone responsible to hold her treasure for her. I’ve touched them a couple of times today getting keys, passes out etc, and I’m OK with that, the risk of catching anything from a single moulted feather is minuscule

I called to get a bird rescued the other day and they said not to touch the bird and if I already had to go right away to wash hands and arms because avian bird flu is rife at the moment. Even the call waiting before with all the options talked about the bird flu.

does DH know this? I wasnt going to touch the bird anyway, but if I hadn’t know about the recent outbreak I wouldn’t have bothered about a feather but will think differently now but I don’t know if it is still present on random feathers?

This

Bats carry rabies, so no thanks. Not a pretty way to die

There's a reason why people fear them.

Unless it's flying at you at the other end of a pointy stick, you're fine :)

@iknke45, not this old moonshine about bats being carriers of rabies - very, very rarely and not in the UK, just stupid scaremonngering put out by those who wish to villify bats and give them a bad press - since most bat species are insectivorous or frugiverous how on earth can they be vectors for rabies? And they do not go around biting humans. Not in real life anyway. You have more chance of contracting bubonic or pneumonic plague from guinea pigs which can and do carry Yersinia pestis bacteria...

We have loads of feathers picked up on walks - magpie, crow, jay, swan, pigeon, woodpecker, pheasant, unidentifiable.... DS knows to keep his hands away from his face and to wash his hands thoroughly when he gets in.

It's not something I worry about, and I'm usually very good at worrying.