Hi
I also like my eggs runny. At least the yolks soft to dip toast in. I have to buy eggs as I don't have my own flock. I can get them at my health food store (he gets them from a nearby farmer) and until there is a problem here, I guess I will be eating them as I have been.
Pat

So far there have been no known cases of the virus being passed through eggs...but the medical folks still recommend THOROUGH cooking of chicken and eggs, and equally thorough washing of same. The danger comes when the virus is left on the outside of the eggshell and can contaminate the food that way. There is a great article on the bird flu on CNN's site, here:

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/DS/00566.html

My hubby prefers over easy or sunny side up eggs as well, but right now we don't worry much either because we have our own hens and are sticklers for keeping them clean and healthy. :) If things change, he'll have to do without undercooked eggs.

Velvet ~:>

I can't eat an egg if the yolk is cooked at all, and I prefer my chicken to be medium, rather than cooked to death. i'm still kickin'! Hubby would eat pork and chicken medium rare if I let him, but I make him throw it back on the grill for a few more minutes. So far so good.

I think having many small colonies of any animal is preferable to the monoculture of industrial farming, if only because distance is the best means of assuring a whole nation's food supply isn't affected at once.

In GB, when things like hoof and mouth broke out, many authorities suggested the reason such drastic measures had to be implemented and such a large segment of animals were affected was the demise of the smaller, local abetoirs. IOW, one can contain an outbreak much more easily when animals weren't conglomerated, or shipped such large distances for slaughter, or holding. Also, large slaughterhouses tend to distribute to a larger geographical area, affecting a larger population..so it stands to reason when a problem is discovered with their quality control a lot more damage has been done, only to discover after the fact.

We have more problems on our continent with all areas of disease and infestations now because we move biomaterial, including humans as a daily fact of life. We also, because of budget constraints have less inspection at borders or depend on self or random inspections. The bottom line is simply the bottom dollar.

Having your birds and not contacting other flocks may not be enough protection to prevent the bird flu. Migratory birds are being looked at as carriers, first ducks, geese. The Netherlands is doing a lot of work, testings of flocks both wild and home raised. They are a major stopover point on the migration routes, with the bird farms very close by. However other species may also be hosts, carriers.
Kind of like the spread of West Nile. Only took 3 years to cover most of the North American continent, spread by birds of all species. Found even up in the wilds of Canada, no human population.

I don't eat much that is not cooked, usually only vegtable or fruit things.
Find a site that tells what the needed temp is, and for how long, that will kill the virus for safe cooking and eating.
Cleanliness seems to also be a real issue, any parts can spread the virus, shells, meat, pieces parts poorly disposed of, unsterilized knives, counters. Be really careful.