Do you wear special footwear in your run?

[TreeHugger]

Rubber boots or a pair of cheap flip flops that are strictly for yard work/chicken purposes. I use to not care what I wore in the coop until I was at work one day and smelled something bad. It was my tennis shoes that had some unpleasant things stuck to the bottom of them. I now have dedicated coop shoes and I'm sure my co-workers appreciate it.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

I have a pair of Muck brand chore boots that I wear around the farm. I was never really fond of rubber boots until I tried a pair of these, they are so comfortable and I can just step in and out of them coming in and out of the house. That sure beats having to lace and unlace my leather work boots many times a day.

 

[Big Dreamer]

The poop in my run magically dissapears..Not even kidding let one of the ducks poop, 5 minutes later..its completley gone..not stench no trace. NOTHING. Unless its just a fresh pile thats easy to spot. So i just go barefoot. And if i do step in some doo doo. the sandy dirt we have here just clogs on it and it ususally falls off completley not even a smugde. Before i go inside i just dip my feet in the pool and wipe them off on the floor mat outside and then wash them inside with soap..Mommy dosent care!

 

[doxielover]

Wow, you all have such great ideas about footwear for the coops and runs. I am fairly new to chicken raising, my second year. I started with 6 and as of this Spring, we now have 22 chickens. I went to a really good chicken workshop and the woman that put it on is very knowledgeable. She had a great idea for bio security between pens and the house. She said that ordinary plastic shopping bags slipped over your shoes and tied loosely work great for notonly protecting your shoes from poop etc, but also you can change the bags between the different coops and pens if you have mulitiples like I do. I tried this and they work great because they keep your shoes clean and no need to worry about bringing anything into the house because I just throw them in the trash when I am done doing my "chicken chores". Keeps my shoes and floors clean. Now if I could only get my DH to use them as well. I love using them because our house is small and when you come in from outside you are right there on the floors, no mud room or entrance way.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
I hope it doesn't snow where you're at... You'll end up on your bum in no time flat.

We have a fairly large organic flock and occasionally get visitors from our cooperative or other farms. In fact we have a research group from Purdue University coming next week... We buy disposable plastic boot covers for visitors to use. I tried them in the snow once. Just once...

 

[perchie.girl]

I can only wear Ropers. Its a riding shoe. Non slip hard rubber sole with a very small riding heel. These Slip on there are no laces, and are shaped like a regular shoe. I don't do steel toes because my horse weighs 2000 lbs. I have three pair. One for Farm use, one for day to day, and one for work. They are all the same color and style.

They can be hosed off though they are not waterproof. The way i do this is I start with the shoes for work. then when they get scuffed and worn a little i demote them to day to day, then when those get older I demote them to Farm. It takes me one year to wear a pair out this way. When the Farm shoes wear out I buy a new pair for work, and on.

My place is in the high desert a mild climate but very dry. Summer temps 90-100 winter temps 40-80 averages for sure. We do get snow on occasion in the winter and in the summer we have one or two days of 115 degrees. Rubber is out of the question. I NEVER have mud at my house because my land is nothing but Decomposed granite. I once had an illegal come through and use the hose but left it on. I lost 3000 gallons of water. It just went into the ground it took maybe a day.

So when poo (No matter who made it) hits the ground it dessicates within a couple of hours. The horse manure dries up and the wind blows most of it away. So most of the time I do barefoot or Ropers. Both are washable.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
Oooooooooooooo, I love those. NICE !!!!!!!! Where did you get them from?

 

[Yay Chicks!]

perchie.girl :

I can only wear Ropers. Its a riding shoe. Non slip hard rubber sole with a very small riding heel. These Slip on there are no laces, and are shaped like a regular shoe. I don't do steel toes because my horse weighs 2000 lbs. I have three pair. One for Farm use, one for day to day, and one for work. They are all the same color and style.

They can be hosed off though they are not waterproof. The way i do this is I start with the shoes for work. then when they get scuffed and worn a little i demote them to day to day, then when those get older I demote them to Farm. It takes me one year to wear a pair out this way. When the Farm shoes wear out I buy a new pair for work, and on.

My place is in the high desert a mild climate but very dry. Summer temps 90-100 winter temps 40-80 averages for sure. We do get snow on occasion in the winter and in the summer we have one or two days of 115 degrees. Rubber is out of the question. I NEVER have mud at my house because my land is nothing but Decomposed granite. I once had an illegal come through and use the hose but left it on. I lost 3000 gallons of water. It just went into the ground it took maybe a day.

So when poo (No matter who made it) hits the ground it dessicates within a couple of hours. The horse manure dries up and the wind blows most of it away. So most of the time I do barefoot or Ropers. Both are washable.

I sure like the idea of poo just blowing away in the wind

I don't mind the chicken poo - I only have 4 birds. It's the dog doo I would love to see disappear!​

 

[NonnasBabies]

Quote:
Oooooooooooooo, I love those. NICE !!!!!!!! Where did you get them from?

I really like these too!! I have a pair of their clogs I got 5 or 6 years ago and love them. But these would be great for when it's a mucky mess in there!!

Kuntrygirl, not sure where in your area they sell them but in BR they sell them at Bowie Outfitters on Perkins Rd.!! So you might try somewhere like that!!

 

[flowergirl60]

I have 1 pair of flip flops that come off as soon as I come in the door.