Biosecurity and sanitation with no infrastructure

[tickens33]

TLDR- how to maintain some level of biosecurity with no running water and nowhere to change clothes?

Some context for my question: A couple of years ago, my partner inherited some property about a 40 minute drive away. It is raw, undeveloped land. We spent the last 2 summers clearing out some really nasty invasives that had taken over the property, making trails and getting the soil healthy for cultivating crops. We are currently in the beginning stages of homesteading and farming the land.

This spring, we built a chicken coop out there. We just moved our home-brooded pullets in at the beginning of this week. We've been checking on them every other day and have a game camera on them at all times-- they seem to be doing GREAT and love the space.

So my question is, does anyone have thoughts on maintaining biosecurity when there is no infrastructure?

I am worried about things like Marek's and avian flu for the birds, and the potential of contracting things like salmonella and listeria for us. Right now we are hand sanitizing before, during, and after the chicken checkup process, as well as wearing shoe covers when we enter the coop. Right now we've only been able to find cloth shoe covers, but planning to order some tyvek ones.

When we are camping out there (pretty much every weekend starting around this time of year) we have a hand washing station setup. But it's not really realistic to do a whole hand washing station when we are just driving out there before or after work during the week for a quick checkup. And, unless we are camping out there and have a tent setup, there is nowhere to realistically change clothes due to ticks everywhere.

Overall, I felt like we were pretty thorough in thinking out our plans for a "long-distance" flock. And so far, our plans have gone really well to start. The coop is predator-proof, and we have redundant feeders and waterers which hold enough that the chickens would be fine without any intervention from us for 2+ weeks. But something we didn't fully consider is how difficult it would be to keep things sanitary without a place to wash our hands.

As an aside, we also volunteer on an urban farm which has chickens, and those birds just run around on the city sidewalks with no biosecurity measures to speak of. Never any diseases in the many years that flock has been there, and they regularly kill and eat city rats. So, clearly, there are different schools of thought on what measures are necessary, LOL!

 

[Mrs. K]

A gallon jug of water and a towel will work fine for washing up. Really two gallons of milk jugs is more than enough for a “shower”.

I do not wear shoe coverings in my own coop. Cooking eggs kills bacteria. And really there is nothing you can do about wild birds and their diseases except get lucky.

You could keep your shoes in a tote in your coop.

 

[tickens33]

A gallon jug of water and a towel will work fine for washing up. Really two gallons of milk jugs is more than enough for a “shower”.

So you think we should be doing this as opposed to hand sanitizer?

I do not wear shoe coverings in my own coop. Cooking eggs kills bacteria. And really there is nothing you can do about wild birds and their diseases except get lucky.

Our chickens won't be laying for a couple more months so this isn't actually my concern yet, I'm more worried that we could get something (like salmonella) on our hands from touching the birds, and then it gets on our clothes or whatever and makes us sick down the line. Sounds like I'm overthinking it?

You could keep your shoes in a tote in your coop.

So just separate "coop shoes" as opposed to covering our street shoes up every time?

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond.

 

[tickens33]

I'm more worried that we could get something (like salmonella) on our hands from touching the birds, and then it gets on our clothes or whatever and makes us sick down the line. Sounds like I'm overthinking it?

Regarding this- when we were brooding them at home it was pretty easy to frequently wash our hands and wipe down + disinfect anything we might've touched with dirty hands.

Additionally if we got any chicken poop on our clothes we could just change clothes right away and throw the dirty ones straight into the washing machine.

These practices are just not doable when coming to work with the birds out in the middle of the woods. I'm just trying to come up with a system that reduces risk of disease transmission, in both directions.

Last time I checked on them, I got poop on my clothes and just did my best to clean it with sanitizing wipes before getting in the car. It's also not ideal to use so much disposable stuff but I'm just not sure how else to do it right now.

 

[nuthatched]

Unless you have a compromised immune system, most of the sanitation practices you've mentioned are completely unnecessary.

 

[NatJ]

Last time I checked on them, I got poop on my clothes and just did my best to clean it with sanitizing wipes before getting in the car.

You could bring a clean set of clothes with you.

Change just before you get in the car to go home, so you don't get chicken poop in your car. The dirty clothes can ride home in a plastic bag, or a reusable bucket or a lidded tub.

This is effective no matter what kind of dirty thing you are doing (digging in the mud, butchering a deer or gutting fish, getting sandy at the beach, etc.)

The same goes for changing shoes, although I like @Mrs. K suggestion to keep the coop shoes at the coop, rather than taking them back and forth each day.

If you just do a quick check, and your clothes do not get dirty, I would not bother to change before driving home. The spare clothes can just sit in the car and be used another day.

Our chickens won't be laying for a couple more months so this isn't actually my concern yet, I'm more worried that we could get something (like salmonella) on our hands from touching the birds, and then it gets on our clothes or whatever and makes us sick down the line. Sounds like I'm overthinking it?

Yes, you are probably overthinking it.

If you are going to eat or drink while at the place with the chickens, wash or sanitize hands before you do that.

Other than that, I would probably try to change clothes and wash hands before you get in the car to drive home. I prefer washing with soap & water instead of using sanitizer, because it removes the dirt and the bacteria, while sanitizer just spreading them around and tries to kill the bacteria. (It doesn't matter how many bacteria are still alive, if they are on the ground rather than on your hands.)

separate "coop shoes" as opposed to covering our street shoes up every time?

Absolutely yes in my opinion. Changing shoes is typically easier than covering and uncovering them, and does not generate a bunch of trash.

I grew up with animals and a muddy yard. Every person had at least two pairs of footgear: one was the "going to town" shoes that were kept clean and stored in the house, the other pair went outside and got muddy and dirty and was stored in the garage. Clothes had a similar system. I think my mother was more concerned with looking & smelling clean (house, shoes, clothes) than with bacteria, but it also works pretty well for avoiding all the bacteria that are in the mud and manure.

unless we are camping out there and have a tent setup, there is nowhere to realistically change clothes due to ticks everywhere.

Maybe bring a tarp or a sheet. Lay it on the ground, change clothes on top of it, then shake it out and pack it away for next time.

 

[Mrs. K]

Get a pallet, park next to it, change your clothes standing on it or sitting on the passenger seat.

I too prefer water and a bar of soap. But it is a personal preference. Truthfully I think you are over thinking it. I change my clothes at the end of the day, wash my hands through out the day and before cooking. I do not handle my birds though. I just feed and water them.

I have old hay in the run, which dries out the poop, and keeps my shoes cleaner. If I had poop on my clothes, just knock off the big stuff and drive home and wash. A change of clothes in the car, a small washtub with a bar of soap, and gallon of water and coop shoes would keep you pretty clean and safe.

Mrs K

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Great suggestions from everyone.

I do think you are overthinking it a bit, I understand your concerns. Your situation is different than most of us encounter.

If changing clothes is not possible, then perhaps you can get a couple of bib aprons for you and your partner to wear when tending/handling the birds, these would cover most of the front of your top and some of your pants. Aprons can be taken home and laundered when soiled.

Having a pair of shoes just to wear while with the chickens is a good idea. I keep a pair of "chicken shoes" on the back porch, these are just worn when I tend to the chickens. I love the rugged shark eva clog sandals from Walmart (fake crocs). I get mine in the men's section (cheaper) and they last a long time. They can be scrubbed, gotten soaking wet, etc. I hate socks, so yeah, barefoot in the clogs (even in winter and in the snow/ice if snow isn't too deep), but if I happen to get into something yucky, just wash the feet and the shoes, they are fine. (Rarely happens).

I assume since you have no running water at the property, water is brought in. Bring extra gallon jugs of water every time you come, you'll have a supply of water available fairly quickly, then you'll have extra water for cleaning, etc. if needed.

A couple of cheap dishpans can be used to hold soapy water for cleaning, the other clear/clean water for rinsing, you'll conserve a bit of water that way since you're carrying water.

A tote would be a great way to store your chicken shoes, apron, supplies, etc. to keep them dry/safe when you're away.

It seems that ticks are a great concern, so it may be worth spraying with Permethrin around the perimeter of where you are working/around the coop to see if that reduces the population. It may help, may not, but worth a try.

As long as you give your hands a good wash up and practice basic hygiene, I think you should be fine.

Having to drive to another property can be stressful. Take the time to enjoy the chicks, relax...you've got this.

 

[tickens33]

I just want to say a huge thank you for the thoughtful and compassionate responses on this post. Sometimes just hearing "you're overthinking it" is enough for me to stop overthinking, lol. I'm gonna take all the suggestions into account and this makes me feel a lot better