Official BYC Poll: Do You Wear a Mask or Respirator When Cleaning Your Coop?

[Nym]

I think if I had more than 5 chickens I would .. maybe. I've also given up putting down straw layer flooring, so now only rake out the nesting boxes.

 

[EagleEyes]

It's a very good timely reminder. I think I have in the past when I've changed the bedding out of the coop and I know I should in the future so hopefully I'll remember and do it.

 

[Poultrybonkers]

Nope I dont and I already have asthma and am serverly allergic to birds

 

[sourland]

After spending a lifetime working in a laboratory animal facility, I developed a sensitivity to several animal danders - especially rabbits, rats, mice and guinea pigs. This sensitivity also showed up to pigeon dander. Being fully aware of 'Pigeon Lung' disease I always used a Scott dual canister device when working with my birds. Better safe than sorry.

 

[WoDia]

I try to avoid the “after effects” of the total clean-outs, because it causes respiratory issues (even infections). Before I even start clean-outs, I make sure to take my allergy medicine. I wear an N95 mask when I deep clean, because I have environmental allergies to begin with (like many people do). And, I even will wear goggles when I know the dust is going to be really flying, because I don’t want to deal with dust in my eyes either.

 

[DonyaQuick]

My over-the-top friendly chickens rub themselves all over my face given the opportunity. Right after they've had a dust bath is one of their favorite times for that. They might like it if I wore one of them over my face to clean, but I don't think that counts as a mask and I can't really claim to be careful about exposure to things while also having acidentally snorted rooster tail feathers right up my nose...more than once.

Humor aside, I do keep on top of cleaning and try to minimize dust accumulation in enclosued chicken areas. I feel like excessive particulates in a relatively enclosed space can't be good for them or me. The areas I clean are not in contact with the ground. If I see too much dust during the daily clean, I scoop up and rotate that area of material out into the run where it can compost and have better air circulation if the dust is kicked around. I do have to remove material from my runs once or twice a year, but usually the times of year when I'm doing that there's been so much rain there's no noticable dust from it.

 

[5OneChick]

Oh my goodness that’s awful! Sorry to hear that! Yes, something like that would certainly teach you to mask up! My husband has cystic fibrosis, I don’t even really like him being in the coop to visit the birds, let alone when I do any kind of cleaning, because I worry about him.

Here too, I clean the coop and do most (not all) of the handling of our birds. Hubby has COPD. I don’t mind since no one will do as good a job as myself but I let him pick up dog

 

[AntiqueB]

My father died from COPD, so I have been aware of risks since I was a kid. Sawdust is a carcinogen, so wearing a good respirator should be necessary. Birds can spread disease in their poop, so that should be thought of. Every time I clean in the coop and run, I think about this, but often it isn't so much a planned cleaning as an opportunistic one. Because my chickens don't live at my house, I can't just run inside and grab a mask, so I usually hold my breath and run out of the area often. Thank you for the reminder, @RebelEgger . I will put a box of masks in my car!

 

[Iluveggers]

I scoop poop daily with the doors and window to the coop open, with no mask. It isn’t dusty and doesn’t bother me at all. When I do a big clean out, I do wear a mask. The dust can’t be good and I don’t want to hurt my body.

 

[K0k0shka]

I wear a cloth mask only when I do my deep clean twice a year - when I shovel everything out and replace all of the shavings. I wear a mask because of the dust. If I don't wear anything, I can feel myself breathing it in, I start wheezing and coughing and it's really unpleasant. Also, the thought of pulverized chicken going into my lungs is just disgusting. I don't do any other cleaning between the biennial deep cleans though, so I don't wear a mask outside of the deep cleans. I don't have a poop board to be scooped. I just do the deep bedding method (not deep litter) and periodically add more fresh shavings on top, but that doesn't produce a lot of dust. Day to day, I only go into the coop to collect eggs or refill the feeder as necessary, and don't need a mask for that.