Holy Shiznit.

I never even thought about it.  We go every few years to the farm that specializes in grass-fed, unpasteurized milk.  Those were the pics I posted.  Guess what DS1 is holding and feeding the cows.

I am really not that ignorant.  Ironically it is actually DS2 that reacts to farm life more (long story short but it was about three months of coughing straight post the first visit that led us to DS2's cough variant asthma diagnosis).  Both of them were on heavy duty Zyrtec for a week prior with a Benadryl chaser the day of. 

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/faq7594

QuoteWhat is the best type of straw to feed cattle?
In order of preference, cattle will eat oat straw before barley straw, followed by legume straws, and wheat straw. The quality of legume straw can be extremely variable. The more leaves that are on the stems the better, but it can be very coarse and of poor quality. Coarse stems are also harder to dry down so mould growth may be present.

And he was feeding the knocked up cows at the end of gestation.  No hives or coughing.  Now he will and does react to free-flowing flour in the area (ie, he has to wear a mask when we are near the bakery in the grocery).  Could it have been the onboard doses of antihistamine? 

We've always taken egg allergic DS1 to farms, we just don't touch eggs or freshly hatched chicks.

DS2 is ana to barley, and highly cross-reactive to wheat. Anyone do farm visits, pumpkin patches, 4H, anything with hay and animal feed? Besides the obvious like don't touch it, eat it, make sure to wash hands, etc.