Would you stroll around a farm barefoot?

No, why do you ask?

Edit: Because I’m a city boy.

It’s hard to say since I’m stuck in this city and have never really been to a real farm.

But strolling around a paddy field can be a real pain in the ass if you know what I mean. ~

why do you ask?

I felt like asking.

No. My dad grew up in the Depression, and he liked to say the difference between poor kids and REALLY, REALLY poor kids was shoes.

Can, and occasionally, do. Not the bullshit that worries me, its the rattlesnakes.

Nope because of poop and bugs. I used to run around without shoes on my cousin’s property and even my own yard, and I have really bad luck when it came to squishing slugs. Never again…

Where is the farm? Not if it was in chigger country.

No, because I never go anywhere outdoors barefoot.

@marinelife is there anywhere farmable that is not also chigger country some time during the year?

No. I might step in cow poo or on a nail and get tetanus. I walk around at home in bare feet but I think doing so on a farm is probably a bit riskier.

I don’t even like walking out barefoot to grab the paper.

Depends on what area of a farm. I wouldn’t near any animals, but other than that I think I would.

Nope, some parasites live in feces and make their way into the human body through the feet. No thank you!

@anniereborn You rock. :)

I would not. There are sure to be dung not seen and who knows what germs are in those. You would have to always be washing your feet before you put socks or shoes on or walk in the house. That is before you get to thorns, nails from fence repairs etc., and bugs to bite you. If you are in the South you have to worry about fleas, fire ants, ticks, and chiggers

Everyone else doesn’t rock but you do get a great answer and the comfort of knowing you won’t get farm cooties or tetanus on your tootsies.

I’ve had my tetanus shot. As for the other little critters, well…those aren’t on ALL farms are they?

Where’s Coloma on this?

Depends. Rusty nails, snakes, barbed wire, piles of manure and severed chicken feet? No.

Blue skies, warm wind, soft grass, smell of hay, damp earth and a bunch of piglets? Yep, definitely!

Not a chance!

Depends entirely on the weight, bathroom habits and poop type of the animals. I’ll walk into my goat barn or my friends’ sheep and llama pens with no shoes on, sure. Their poop is pelletized, like deer poop, and not gross at all, really. Also, if one of them steps on my foot it probably won’t break. I don’t walk in the chicken area barefoot, though. My friend who keeps a few cows will hop in their barn barefoot, but he keeps it super clean in there by shoveling out their poops quite often throughout the day and his cows are very calm and unlikely to trample his feet. I have another friend who keeps her goats and her pet hog together. Hogs tend to go in one area of their pen if it’s big enough, so cleanliness is not the issue – but the hog is heavy enough – 600 lbs, maybe, and only half grown! – and friendly enough that I’d be worried he’d break my foot.

My entire family used to go barefoot all summer. By August, the soles of our feet would be the consistency of hard plastic and could walk comfortably over hot asphalt, gravel, and even small slivers of broken glass. Over the winter the callus would peel off in sheets, leaving our feet soft and supple again.

These days I’m diabetic and live with reduced circulation and peripheral neuropathy in my feet, so an infection can mean gangrene, amputation, and even death. I wouldn’t worry if my feet were already toughened, but getting to that state is probably too risky. Also, even tough callus is unlikely to protect you from your entire weight pressing unto a rusty nail, so old barns would be a no-go in any case.

You have to be nuts to stroll around a commercial farm barefoot. Trust me on this.

@rojo Mostly not. They are pretty widespread.

No, never, rabbits tie their siblings feet in knots with their teeth, hence…mix-a-my-toe-sis.
Can’t risk the little buggers messing with mine.

Nope. There could be a rusty nail from that fence I haven’t finished building yet.

Sure I would. In the summer I never wore shoes as a kid, unless I was forced to.

I prefer to be bare footed if at all feasible. Besides, if I ended up with sand worms that would just be funny.

I would, definitely. I go barefoot as often as possible, I seriously hate shoes. Who cares if your feet get a bit dirty? Though I would be careful… Sort of. Carefulness is really not my thing.

Carefulness is not much my thing either @lugerruger. It’s a bitch, though, when your feet haven’t had time to toughen up and you suddenly find yourself smack in the middle of a sticker patch! But you always eventually extricate yourself somehow and it’s all good.

No, I wouldn’t! There are briars, stones and twigs that could hurt my feet, and one can step in cow pats.

Absolutely I would.

I dated a dairy farmer in college. We were visiting his family farm and I was up on a tractor. We were in a paddock that was knee deep in manure. The tractor got stuck. To unstick it required my BF to make rapid movements with the shifter. He couldn’t do it with me next to him, so he threw me off. LOL! I was barefooted.