Those cute mail-order chicks that wind up in children's Easter
baskets and backyard farms have been linked to more than 300
cases of salmonella in the U.S. -- mostly in youngsters -- since
2004. An estimated 50 million live poultry are sold through the
mail each year in the United States in a business that has been
booming because of the growing popularity of backyard chicken
farming as a hobby among people who like the idea of raising
their own food. But health officials are warning of a bacterial
threat on the birds' feet, feathers, beaks and eggs. "Most
people can tell you that chicken meat may have salmonella on
it," said Casey Barton Behravesh of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. "But surprisingly, we found many people
are not aware that live chicks and chickens can spread
salmonella to people." Since 2004, at least 316 people in 43
states got sick in an outbreak tied primarily to one mail-order
hatchery. Health officials believe thousands more illnesses
connected to the business were proba