Keep a clean coop

[member 158781]

What is a poop collector?? I need something like that.

A small broom with dust collector. ($10 at Sam's Club) A dog poop collector works too but is hard to use.

 

[ChickenWaterer]

OK, I found some articles. Let's get a little perspective on this issue. The articles I read stated about 768 backyard chicken owners in 48 states (16 per state) got salmonella (no proof that they got it from their chickens). Compare that to the approximately 1.2 million people in the U.S. (333,333 per state) who become infected with salmonella each year (according to the CDC). Backyard chicken owners are NOT the problem. Again, there's no proof that the backyard chicken owners got salmonella from their chickens. They could have gotten it from store bought chicken, or something else entirely.

HenOnAJuneBug, thank you for being fact based! I did a quick calculation to compare the disease rates.... Assuming your figures are correct (768 sick from backyard chickens and 1.2 million sick in the US from all sources), I calculate that the illness rate is about 4000 times higher in homes without chickens compared to those that own them. Here's how I got to that figure....Total US population 327 million. My estimate of households with chickens about 4 million and I'd estimate average household size as 2 (versus national average of 2.6 because backyard owners tend to be older and have fewer kids living at home.) So the total population of people in households with chickens is 8 million. 768 sick of 8 million is .0096%. 1.2 million sick of the remaining population of 319 million is 0.38%, or an illness rate that's 4,000 times higher than among those who own chickens. As others have mentioned, many people who get salmonella get them from unwashed veggies. In theory, backyard chicken owners should be exposed to the same risk, but it's a fair bet that backyard chicken owners also have gardens and grow a portion of their own veggies as well, so they are less exposed to salmonella there too.

 

[father0fnine]

HenOnAJuneBug, thank you for being fact based! I did a quick calculation to compare the disease rates....

I just want to point out that we are not dealing with science, logic, or statistics but what makes a good story. "Backyard chicken flocks causing salmonella" has power to pull in readers. "Homes with no chickens causing salmonella," not so much. I know I clicked on the headline that the OP mentioned when I saw it. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure I would not bother reading "Salmonella outbreaks occur in home kitchens in every state" or some such title.

D

 

[Willowspirit]

HenOnAJuneBug, thank you for being fact based! I did a quick calculation to compare the disease rates.... Assuming your figures are correct (768 sick from backyard chickens and 1.2 million sick in the US from all sources), I calculate that the illness rate is about 4000 times higher in homes without chickens compared to those that own them. Here's how I got to that figure....Total US population 327 million. My estimate of households with chickens about 4 million and I'd estimate average household size as 2 (versus national average of 2.6 because backyard owners tend to be older and have fewer kids living at home.) So the total population of people in households with chickens is 8 million. 768 sick of 8 million is .0096%. 1.2 million sick of the remaining population of 319 million is 0.38%, or an illness rate that's 4,000 times higher than among those who own chickens. As others have mentioned, many people who get salmonella get them from unwashed veggies. In theory, backyard chicken owners should be exposed to the same risk, but it's a fair bet that backyard chicken owners also have gardens and grow a portion of their own veggies as well, so they are less exposed to salmonella there too.

Statistics! My kind of person!

 

[Willowspirit]

Responding to OP: I am maybe I have to go to the ER now allergic to pine shavings. I can’t even have a “real” Yule tree without using inhalers. Please keep in mind that there are different methods for different needs. Our chickens don’t care as much as we do!

Also straw plus clay mud makes adobe, a fine building material.

 

[IamRainey]

I just want to point out that we are not dealing with science, logic, or statistics but what makes a good story. "Backyard chicken flocks causing salmonella" has power to pull in readers. "Homes with no chickens causing salmonella," not so much. I know I clicked on the headline that the OP mentioned when I saw it. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure I would not bother reading "Salmonella outbreaks occur in home kitchens in every state" or some such title.

D

An excellent point!

 

[Erba]

I am a daily pooper scooper (poop board with sawdust) and the only things my chickens ever had was mites. I got rid of that the moment I saw they were avoiding the sides of the roost. Probably brought them with them in from the breeder. They never returned but I check regularly for them. A little bit of biosecurity goes a long way, as in quarantining new birds before putting them in with your heathy flock can save you a lot of grief in the long run. I never wear the boots I wear for my chicken chores, when I visit my friends farm, and that should be just common sense. I don't know what his poultry could have and visa versa, I won't let him walk around in his chore boots when he is here.

 

[Mosey2003]

I'm not going to slog through 7 pages after reading the first, but for the poster worried about making mayo, you can actually pasteurize your eggs at home if you wish, and that would extend the shelf life and safety of your mayo

 

[Chickassan]

Don't get worked up about it.
They repost the same article every year nearly word for word.
It is like a bottomless candy bowl for hysterical people.
Wash your hands, don't lick your chickens.
There is about 95% of the risk gone, easy peasy.
If a person can't do these things then by all means panic.

I hate to sound like a broken record but the latest news reporting 49 states blaming their salmonella out break on Back yard chicken breeders should be of concern to all of us who raise chickens ,whether for personal use or commercial purposes.
I am not convinced there are that many states with irresponsible back yard chicken breeders .
Are they not washing their hands after they have been in the coop or handled their birds and eggs? because it's the first thing any f us in the family do.Wash your hands! Are they not cooking their eggs or chicken meat properly to a safe doneness?
Seriously can there be all of a sudden that many people in 49 states that irresponsible??
I wonder how many of them also keep reptiles?? Reptiles, snakes, lizards , turtles all reptiles are notorious salmonella carriers .
I have noticed so many times when people show pics on this or other chicken websites , that their coops and runs look pretty disgusting and less than clean.
People jut keep doing what chicken ring people have done for centuries unfortunately .
They put straw in the lay box .They have just straight on dirt or just dirt on the coop floor and run areas .
Well, you can't clean straw! and when it rains that dirt and straw in the run turns to a muddy poopy disgusting mess .YULK!
I learned after 17 years of making the mistakes, when a man I hired to build my chicken coop told me the best way to keep a coop and run area and nesting boxes clean and fly free and I have thanked him in my heart ever since .
No straw EVER ! Put pine shavings in the nesting boxes, and most importantly , "Washed Plaster Sand" on the coop and run floor . But only washed plaster sand ( about 3 bucks for a 50# bag at any Home Depot or Lowes ). Any other sand will be bad for the girls to breath . The poop will suspend on the sand and make it easy to simply rake up the poop off the top of the sand and toss in the garden or compost pile . The girls will bee able to dust bath in it it's never muddy.
My coop never smells ad I never have flies!!!! M chickens keep clean and happy !!

 

[Chicken Heel]

As I stated previously in this thread, common sense is endangered. I actually have begun calling it uncommon sense.