Am I scared of germs? No, but will I take reasonable precautions, good practices, etc? Yep, I sure will. Then don't cut chix on wood even if I keep my wood boards in good condition and oiled and then wash after? I have always used wood for everything. I only started using plastic for the wife. Can you cut any meat on wood? I like using poly for proteins simply because I can come very close to sterilizing one in the dishwasher afterwards; once they deteriorate though you have to trash em, whereas with a wooden board you sand/plane it, reseal it, and its ready to go. Like Sean suggested you can use a liner, works great