Personal hygiene when owning chickens and other animals

[LhickenChicken]

Last summer, I raised a bunch of pigs for slaughter. That work was soooo messy, muddy, smelly, icky and GROSS ... sometimes when I slipped in the mud and fell into their mud pits or manure, I hosed my whole body with the garden hose before coming into the garage to strip, and then ran naked to the shower.

I saw the thread about that!
Not that funny, though.

 

[Cryss]

I wash my hands after doing anything with my chickens or eggs. I have a pair of shoes I use only for chicken coop/run work cuz I step in chicken poop. I also use them in my garden. My garden loves chicken poop.

All that being said, if I visit someone’s farm or backyard coop I wear shoes I’ve washed and sanitized so I don’t bring in my farm bacteria If someone visits and wants to meet my chickens I have extra boots in winter and I also keep disposable surgical type shoe bootie covers. It keeps their shoes clean and prevents them introducing bacteria from a different environment.

 

[Shadrach]

I'm one of those people who if I top up the oil in a vehicle I look like I've done a complete engine strip down.
I put my chicken/animal clothes on to go to town. I travel on public transport accross the city to get to the chickens and allotments. I look like a street living person most days. Every nutter at the bus stops and train stations tries to talk to me. I've had people try to give me money and people from the salvation army almost try to wrestle me into a night shelter.
My allotment/chicken clothes are either waterproofs or overalls. Sometimes I think I've got enough layers on to absorb the shock from a fall from a second story building.
I wash my hands and boots when leaving the allotments and my hands when I get home after stripping the top layer off.
When I was in Catalonia I spent most of my day outside tending to one creature or another. It just wasn't practical to be changing and washing between tasks.

 

[MIchickenlady]

Hi all, wasn't sure of the right forum to post this question in. I'm wondering about hygiene with regard to:

1. hands
2. shoes
3. tools

Do you all have strict rules/regimens about how you keep yourself and your things clean? "Always wash hands after feeding the chickens or collecting eggs," "have one pair of shoes/boots that you use for chicken chores and nothing else," or something like that? What about tools? I just got back from fluffing the bedding in my coop and decided to wash/disinfect the pitchfork, wheelbarrow, and bucket that I was using afterwards before returning them to the garage. Is that overkill?

I always wash hands after coming in from the coop, and if I handled any hens or raked and got dusty I change clothes. I keep a bottle of Hibiclens on my utility sink for chicken feet scratches or especially dirty hands-thats the soap the hospital makes you shower with to kill all the germs before surgery. I have 2 pair of coop shoes, I always come and go out the back door/utility room. Tools stay out behind the coop, I never thought to clean them and I'm on year 9 of chicken keeping.

 

[MIchickenlady]

One hygiene recommendation to add: Don't let a chicken come in contact with your face. Some folks will snuggle or kiss their chicken, but salmonella is a real risk.

I have seen eye pecking also-especially scarey with kids. I try to keep my hens below face level.

 

[Ponypoor]

No strict rules here for me. I wash hands when I come in but that’s about it. I do a grotty job anyway mucking horses out and caring for them so being mucky is just me

Same here, no strict rules on hygiene, but I do keep an eye out for things like the Avian Flu updates.

One of the things which can go a long way towards mitigating any illness is keeping everything CLEAN and WELL FED (by that I do not mean over fed, and fat) an no overcrowding.

I, too, have horses so mucking stalls and keeping everything cleaned up daily is just a fact of life here; I keep the Hen House cleaned out daily, and the floors in the barn swept twice a day.

I have my 'barn clothes' that I just keep for working at the barn, I do not wear them anywhere else (exception was my neighbour with a horse having choke - that is a drop everything be darned with what you're wearing!).

I rarely use disinfectant agents, but when I do my 'monthly' super cleaning of feed bowls and waterers I use good old fashioned bleach, and the Sun to dry items.

Having said that - I have what you would call a 'closed herd'. I am not bringing any chickens in or going to shows.

 

[fuzzi]

I have one pair of boots I wear around the chickens and in the yard, I never wear my street shoes out there in case I bring something home.

That's my concern, tracking wild bird microbes from my feeder area into the coop. I have an old pair of slip-on Mocs that I have assigned to chicken yard only. My outside shoes get dropped just inside the house and I wear Dr. Scholl's indoors.

 

[fuzzi]

I don't have severe winters, but when I don't want to use my hosecocks outside because it's below freezing I adopt advice given by many people who do have meaningful winters and carry the water out in a jug.

Our public water reeks of chlorine, so I have been using our inside filtered water for the chicks. Once they're bigger I will transition them to hose water.

 

[Ponypoor]

I'm one of those people who if I top up the oil in a vehicle I look like I've done a complete engine strip down.
I put my chicken/animal clothes on to go to town. I travel on public transport accross the city to get to the chickens and allotments. I look like a street living person most days. Every nutter at the bus stops and train stations tries to talk to me. I've had people try to give me money and people from the salvation army almost try to wrestle me into a night shelter.
My allotment/chicken clothes are either waterproofs or overalls. Sometimes I think I've got enough layers on to absorb the shock from a fall from a second story building.
I wash my hands and boots when leaving the allotments and my hands when I get home after stripping the top layer off.
When I was in Catalonia I spent most of my day outside tending to one creature or another. It just wasn't practical to be changing and washing between tasks.

I used to wear my smelly horse boots and riding clothes going to town for groceries. But then I was on the receiving end of so many stares and what not that I stopped doing that

I guess it is true that one goes 'nose blind' - I don't smell the horses or chicken doodoo, until I return home from a work project where I am gone for months at a time - then I grab those smelly old boots and think - hmmmmmm - yes the guys at work were likely right - my work boots did smell like horse poop! Now I have a separate pair of safety boots for working with the horses and chickens those stay home!

 

[Azlyna]

Nothing really to add. I wear "shrimp" boots and overalls to keep my clothes clean whenever I'm working outside. I wash my hands after any type of dirty job - gardening, chickens, cleaning, etc - and before eating or cooking. I wear a anti-dust mask/cloth when dealing with chicken bedding or putting out mulch but that's more to keep my nose happy than hygiene. Just normal stuff. ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯