has anyone heard of "backyard biosecurity?

[Sandrachx]

i recently saw a little ad in my hobby farms magazine about backyard biosecurity and it talked about scrubbing my shoes, washing my clothes, etc. before entering my bird area. how do you all handle your "chicken" shoes? in the warmer weather, i kept some crocks on the deck that i wore only when i went to work with the chickens, so they were not in the house with any chicken memories on the bottom. now that it's cold and we have 2 ft of snow, i have been wearing my mucks but take them off inside the house and put them in a boot tub with my other boots. is this not acceptable. i've never washed my shoes with bleach, as suggested. any advise would be most helpful. thanks.

 

[poppycat]

I have a pair of rubber boots (from K-mart) that I wear in the winter and a pair of mud clogs for the summer that I wear when doing chicken related chores. I always worry more about bringing something in rather than it going out. We visited a pumpkin patch that had some pretty rough looking chickens, and also a friend of mine has chickens that, IMO, could be better taken care of. After a visit like that I give whatever shoes I was wearing a bleach water spritz.

 

[Wildsky]

So long as your shoes stay OUTSIDE you can do whatever at my house.
Not like we have a trail of visitors or anything, and the rate the kids play/carry/feed the chickens, if they were going to catch something it would have been a LONG time ago....

 

[justusnak]

Hey there sandra. I know I have read so much on biosecurity my brain is melting. Wash those boots, sanitise your hands, wash " chicken chore" clothes seperately.

Now, I understand there are more diseases out there than in the past...and one MUST be carefull when traveling from one farm to another....but..like you..I have a pair of boots I wear out to the coop, and take them off inside. They have a place all thier own, so the dogs dont "clean" them. YUK! Im not going to leave MY boots outside, for "critters" to get into. I am a little more lax than most I think...when it comes to my chickens...and, well, when it comes to most things concerning my animals.....unless they are sick. I have a seperate hospital pen, for the sick or injured...and I DO clean my shoes and hands well when I hve to go in there. Just to keep from spreading whatever to my other flocks. I think, too clean is mean. They NEED to be able to build up a resistance...like kids...if they are to survive. I say...keep doing what works for you.

 

[SpottedCrow]

When I take care of the birds at work, I immediately go upstairs when I get home and change my clothes. And wash my hands, and take off my shoes.

 

[bayouchica]

When I go to town I have "town shoes" &" town clothes",lol. Get home & get more comfortable in my country clothes & shoes.

I don't make a habit of visiting other folks' farms, etc. If I did I would go to a good car wash before coming home.

 

[SeaChick]

we do the "coop shoes" thing as much as possible, here. (Olivia sometimes forgets...)

My understanding about the whole biosecurity thing is that it's more about not spreading disease from flock to flock (and starting and epidemic). To that end, we're REALLY careful if we go someplace with lots of other birds (especially wild ones or poorly-cared-for poultry like one local feed store!) not to wear those clothes/shoes near our birds until they've been washed.

 

[bantymum]

Yes, If I have visitors coming to buy or look at my birds, I ask them would they mind if I spritzed their shoes??
I get some astonished looks on their faces, but they are happy as they know the chickens are healthy.
And I wear french rubber clogs outside and in winter i add a pair of socks to my clogs!!!

 

[chickbea]

I think some of these rules go overboard for the average backyarder. If I visit someone else's chickens, I make sure to clean my boots. That's about all I do...

 

[picklespickles]

wow. the only thing i take this much care with is changing clothes and showering after feeding billygoat if i'm going somewhere because his perfume really sticks on a person. i guess i really don't visit many people with chickens. the wild birds come everyday and eat the chicken leftovers in the yard. that seems to do okay. but then maybe the wild birds have picked up evil chicken disease and i dont' even know.