 Your flock is special to you and your birds have no choice but to live with whatever germs you track in on your shoes. It is well known that viruses, bacteria and other organisms that cause poultry disease are capable of pitching a ride on footwear. This fact has been proven time and time again over the last 50 years in outbreaks that have affected both livestock and poultry. People do not often pay much attention to their shoes. The average backyard flock owner goes about their daily routine without giving a second thought to their footwear, where it has been and how clean it is. You can deny germs access to your flock by using a foot bath. Using dedicated footwear means you wear shoes into your coop that stay on your property and never travel with you anywhere else. Dedicated footwear still needs to be cleaned weekly, but that step can be eliminated if you use a foot bath. Using a foot bath in combination with dedicated footwear is considered among the very best in biosecurity. Where should you put your foot bath on your property? Well, think about locations where everyone passes through on a regular basis. It may be a bottleneck in the layout of the space, or you may have a gate that leads to the chicken yard. Do you always start your routine at a feed room? These often traveled routes or bottlenecks in the space are great places to put a foot bath so that you can ensure everyone uses it. Place your foot bath on flat ground. Cover the space with pavers to keep dirt and mud out of your foot bath, or you render it ineffective. By using pavers or placing your foot bath on wooden, plastic or concrete surfaces, you will find the whole area much easier to clean. You may need to have a hose nearby so you can spray off your footwear before using the foot bath. Sweep the space regularly to keep dirt and leaves out of your foot bath. To start building your foot bath, you will need either an open tray or a lidded container. An open tray can be as simple as a dishpan, kitty litter pan, busboy tray, or masonry mixing tray. A lidded container can be a plastic bin with low sides and a lid that snaps closed. Choose a lid that can be secured against wind and rain events. Lids are preferred in order to keep pets and birds from drinking the disinfectant as well as helping to prevent evaporation. Choose a long handle brush and save your bag while scrubbing your footwear. If cleaning your footwear is not easy to do, then you will not do it. So use this piece of equipment to your advantage. A plastic mat with bristles provides a bristly, scrubby surface that works on the bottom of your shoes in the foot bath. And the plastic is easy to clean and dry later on. Keep a hose nearby in case you need to make more disinfectant mix, clean debris off your shoes, or clean the foot bath. Your choice of disinfectant can play a big role in how effective you are in shutting down germ access to your flock. Getting a gallon size disinfectant means that you will be effective against germ invaders for a year or more depending on how often you use it. Not everyone understands what a foot bath is. Place signs next to your foot bath to tell people who visit how to use the foot bath and that it is required because your flock's health is valuable to you. When setting up your foot bath for the first time, you will need to prepare the ground if it is not flat. You may need to set out pavers in order to give yourself enough space to work in. Place your chosen container on the pavers and cut the bristly mat so that it fits inside the container. Tin snips work well for cutting through thicker mats, but you can use a box cutter or scissors if you have them. Not all mats are going to fit, so be prepared to cut yours down so that you have a good fit. Hang the long handled brush just within reach of your foot bath. A small nail or hook is all that you need or you can cut and shape a wire coat hanger so that it hangs on a nearby fence to hold your brush. Always read the label and follow the instruction on your chosen disinfectant. If you make the solution too strong, you may damage your equipment, your footwear, or harm the environment. Add this mixture to the foot bath slowly so you avoid splashing the mixture onto you or the ground. Which disinfectant should you use? There are many types of disinfectants out there, some of which vary in their ability to kill bacteria and viruses. Your goal is to choose a disinfectant that works against the worst viruses like avian influenza or newcastle disease. Read the label or visit the manufacturer's website to see what the capability is for the different disinfectants. You can expect a disinfectant to work if you do not follow the directions on the label. Some disinfectants are inactivated by sunlight. Weak disinfectants such as bleach are useless against dirt, droppings or mud from dirty shoes entering the foot bath, but work fine on perfectly clean footwear. You can purchase your disinfectants online or sometimes at a local feed store. Keep in mind that some disinfectants cost more to ship than others due to their chemical designation in minimum order quantities. In the case of bleach, it may be purchased at a local grocery store. Here are some familiar names in the battle against poultry germs, but you are not restricted to these names only. Now that you know what you are looking for and what questions to ask when searching for your disinfectant. Learning the routine of using a foot bath means that you need to understand all the steps. First of all, pay attention to what you wear in the foot bath. Even though it is hot in the summer, flip-flops and sandals should not be worn in the foot bath. Expensive footwear should also not be placed in the foot bath. We will talk about alternatives to using a foot bath in these instances in just a moment. Your dedicated footwear should include tennis shoes or boots that will protect your feet. Keep them in a small container by the back door and change into them when it is time to care for your flock. Place your footwear back into the container when you are done caring for your flock. You usually clean footwear weekly unless you use a foot bath every day. The rule of thumb around your foot bath is that you clean first and disinfect second. Most disinfectants don't work correctly on filthy footwear. Disinfectants are not used as a replacement for cleaning well. Pose off your footwear before stepping into your foot bath if your shoes are dirty. Step into your foot bath and scrub the bottom of the soles on the plastic mat. Scrub the sides of your shoes or boots with the long handle brush, being sure to get both sides, the back, as well as the top of your footwear. Step out of the foot bath and leave the disinfectant on your shoes to do its work. Carry on with your routine and know that you are one step closer to shutting down any diseases entering your flock. A foot bath is not a fixed once and forget about it kind of biosecurity measure. You do have to clean your foot bath periodically. Usually this means once it gets dirty. This happens quickly, almost daily if you go into the foot bath with dirty footwear. Nobody wants to deal with that. If you keep things clean then you can count on cleaning and refreshing your foot bath weekly. Dumping and cleaning your foot bath right next to your pavers can lead to a mud hole which means tracking mud into your foot bath and that creates a vicious cleaning cycle that takes all the fun out of keeping chickens. Clean your foot bath a few feet away. Read the label of your disinfectant container and follow all instructions for proper disposal. You do not want to kill plants by dumping out your disinfectant nor do you want to contaminate local water sources. Take apart your foot bath and scrub all parts with the long handle brush with soapy water. Rinse all the parts thoroughly and shake off excess water. Hang up your foot bath in the sun so it will dry. Next reassemble your foot bath. Make a new batch of disinfectant and away you go. What does it cost to put together a simple foot bath for your flocks protection? The tray or lidded container can run anywhere from $4.50 to $10 each. A long handled brush is usually between $5.50 and $6. A mat can be found easily in the spring and summer for less but online they can be between $9 and $15. The big expense is for the gallon of disinfectant and that can run anywhere from $27 to $37 a gallon. But remember that can last you almost a year or more depending on how much you use. Some disinfectants may be sold in quantities smaller than a gallon which will reduce your costs. So in total you're going to pay anywhere from $46 to $64 for a foot bath that should last you a year or more if it is kept in good shape. Foot bath containers should last longer but keep in mind that mats may need to be replaced and the disinfectant will be refreshed weekly. Some people are not physically able to manage walking through a foot bath or may not be wearing the right footwear for walking through a foot bath. Remember earlier when we talked about flip flops, sandals and expensive shoes? Now let's talk about alternatives to using a water-based foot bath. Disposable plastic boots or booties come in a variety of styles and are about a dollar a pair. Some have thicker walls than others while others have elastic tops to help keep them on your feet. These are great disposable options for people who absolutely must come into contact with your flock but cannot use the foot bath. A foam foot bath may suit your needs. They hold the disinfectant within a foam pad that can be placed anywhere on the farm. The bottom and sides are made of a waterproof material so that the disinfectant stays put. They are light, portable and only need to be stepped on in order to get the disinfectant to contact the bottom part of your footwear. Dry sanitizing foot pan powders are an alternative that lasts longer than liquid-based foot baths. On the downside they are expensive but they will not freeze or evaporate. They last for two to three weeks before they need changing and are immediately effective against bacteria and viruses. The active ingredient can vary per product from chlorine to quaternary ammonium. The mixture contains the active ingredient zeolite clay and deodorizers. By placing this product in a lidded container it will help keep it away from pets and animals. Foot baths have been proven to work on behalf of animal owners for decades. Using one on your property is in the best interest of your flock and for yourself to keep diseases out. Foot baths are a good biosecurity habit to have and should be taught to younger flock owners as soon as they are able to safely use the foot bath. Keep your flock healthy by using a foot bath and they will thank you for many years to come.