# Chicken Sh!t



## mcchicken (Mar 24, 2013)

So I was bare foot in my yard and stepped in a nice big pile of chicken sh!t with no shoes on. Gotta love the summer. Since I am new to chickens. I have a question.....how infectious and disease laden are chickens. I've had numerous people tell me the wear a mask when I'm cleaning the coop and to be careful not to step in chicken poo. Anyone know how sick one can get. And what prevention a I can take? Or is it all bs. After all we eat their eggs. Right?


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## Britt0623 (Apr 14, 2013)

I don't wear a mask. I make sure that when I come inside I wash my hands good, and If I need to I change clothes and sometimes even take a shower. The main thing is making sure not to put your hands near your face until you wash them.


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## JC17 (Apr 4, 2013)

Britt0623 said:


> I don't wear a mask. I make sure that when I come inside I wash my hands good, and If I need to I change clothes and sometimes even take a shower. The main thing is making sure not to put your hands near your face until you wash them.


Yeah I do the same thing.


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## twentynine (Jul 11, 2012)

I wear a simple dust mask, not because of pathogens but because the dust drives me insane.

Outside with no shoes, my feets are way to tender for that, steel toe work boots when working with the larger animals, rubber boots or atleast crocks in the chicken yard.


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

It's all nonsense. If it were dangerous or germ laden, all country folks would be dead.  I wash my hands if I remember to do so as I'm choring through my day...usually only do that if I'm going to be eating though. 

Chicken poop is just poop, no more infectious or germ laden than our own, so use the same precautions...wash yer hands before you eat or cook food.


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## JC17 (Apr 4, 2013)

Bee said:


> It's all nonsense. If it were dangerous or germ laden, all country folks would be dead.  I wash my hands if I remember to do so as I'm choring through my day...usually only do that if I'm going to be eating though.
> 
> Chicken poop is just poop, no more infectious or germ laden than our own, so use the same precautions...wash yer hands before you eat or cook food.


I agree. People are too nervous about germs. However, I always wash my hands after handling my chickens or anything they come in contact with. All you need is soap and water, you don't need a dust mask or surgeon gloves.


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## rob (Jun 20, 2012)

Bee said:


> It's all nonsense. If it were dangerous or germ laden, all country folks would be dead.  I wash my hands if I remember to do so as I'm choring through my day...usually only do that if I'm going to be eating though.
> 
> Chicken poop is just poop, no more infectious or germ laden than our own, so use the same precautions...wash yer hands before you eat or cook food.


i agree with all of the above.


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## mcchicken (Mar 24, 2013)

Thanks everyone!


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## ReTIRED (Mar 28, 2013)

Our Immune Systems are _generally QUITE STRONG.....
.....however....the bacteria and viruses are getting stronger also.
_Generally, I don't believe that Chickens are any greater risk than anything else.
_just MY opinion.
_-ReTIRED-
*P.S. *My Immune System is TOO STRONG....it even attacks ME ! ( Auto-Immune diseases )
I don't believe in getting "flu-shots" OR most vaccines. They cause their own problems in many cases....just like some medicines do.


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## mpgo4th (Apr 19, 2013)

twentynine said:


> I wear a simple dust mask, not because of pathogens but because the dust drives me insane.
> 
> Outside with no shoes, my feets are way to tender for that, steel toe work boots when working with the larger animals, rubber boots or atleast crocks in the chicken yard.


I too have a pair of chicken keeping crocks.


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## Chippets (Jun 8, 2013)

Same here! Old pair of black crocks that have been retired to chicken duty. So easy to hose them off. I think I will be getting a mask to help with my reactive airway disease, however. I've noticed chicken dust is something that irritates it and kicks it into gear!


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## ReTIRED (Mar 28, 2013)

Chippets said:


> Same here! Old pair of black crocks that have been retired to chicken duty. So easy to hose them off. I think I will be getting a mask to help with my reactive airway disease, however. I've noticed chicken dust is something that irritates it and kicks it into gear!


For what it's worth....Harbor Freight has some low-priced "dust-masks" for sale at their website. I use them if I'm doing any wood-working OR the Weather is dusty/windy. With COPD and Conjestive Heart Failure....I don't tolerate dust, either.
I also wear one when I clean-out the Chicken-Coop and replace the Straw (deep-litter).

-ReTIRED-


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## leviparker (Jun 13, 2013)

I don't wear a mask.. I just shovel it up and keep going. Of course washing when I go inside, but that's not immediate. I try to use mud boots that I take off at the door.


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## kjohnstone (Mar 30, 2013)

I wear my crocs in the chicken pen as well! They love pecking at the vent holes on top of the crocs. (Yeah, they cluster around my feet making it really hard to walk, even after I have stepped on their feet...) Poo on the feet is no worse than poo on the hands, at least clean hands and feet with the garden hose before you go in!


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## kjohnstone (Mar 30, 2013)

Oh yeah, since crocs are soft, stepping on the birds feet while wearing them is much less likely to do harm than a hard-soled shoe.


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