allergy to my chickens, mites, straw or hopefully something else?

[Xtineart]

I got my babies as rescue chicks a few months ago and they are doing so well. They really are lovely girls, so friendly and nice tempered, they even stay calm when a dozen of the local kids are round trying to pick them up and pet them. I dont think I could bear to part with them now I love them so much.

However I've been suffering from a horrible itch, no rash, just massive itching over my body, and over the last few weeks it's got much worse, my eyes have puffed right up and are red and eczema-like, my neck is unbearably itchy. I'm not even sleeping at night as it's borderline painful. I went to the doctor a couple of weeks back and she gave me antihistamines, but since I've been taking them this has got even worse not better. I'm trying to use just baby oil, E45 and plain water on my skin and when handling the birds I keep a special 'bird handling jacket' which gets washed nightly, wash my hands and wear gloves if cleaning the coop. I've even banned them from the house, which makes them think I'm a bad mummy and they shout at me on the door step when I go in and leave them outside in the garden. I never let them flap if I'm handling them and they only get to sit on my knee, not climb on the chair or my shoulders etc.


Still I'm suffering here. I look and feel awful, but I'll be a broken woman if I have to get rid of my beautiful lady babies.

help?

 

[Stiggy]

whats the type of bedding that you are using? and are they also itchy? have you checked them for lice/ mites? when you go into the coup do you come out itchy? are there grey mites? ( they hide in the cracks and come out with heat and movement) or red mites at night? it could be just an allergy for the season that's worse than usual, ive never met anyone allergic to chickens before( myself included and I have a lot of allergys). the other thing is to dress the concept that it could be something else that's been brought it, like a new soap, perfume/deodorant washing powder? that can cause major problems.

 

[txredchick]

Same symptoms !

I have never had an allergy before & out of nowhere last week my face blew up, accompanied with persistent itching all over.....more importantly on the face & neck. Wake up every 2 or so hrs wanting to take sand paper to my face - it's non stop.

I am new to raising chickens - and we have had them around 2 month, then out of no where this allergy of sorts has come up.
There has Been no change in diet or soaps/detergents. My dr put me on a round of steroids last wk, and outside of reduced swelling - the itch seems to have gotten worse.
I plan to go back tomorrow for a panel test ...., but while surfing this am, I came across this post.

Our coop & run it about a qtr acre in size.
Coop is filled with hay from our pasture ( I mow this land - no issues with allergies in the past) & saw dust pellets. Run is all outdoors - mostly dirt with lots of vegetation for the girls to eat on.
I handle them daily, well the ones who want held , the only "knew" thing, has been the introduction of hens to our ranch.

Interested to others chiming in - I really want this to be something else, as I don't want to give up raising chickens.

txredchick

 

[Stiggy]

hay is not good for chicken bedding as it harbors dangers like mold spores. it really isn't good for them, especially if its been wet before. remember that hay is cut and baled still slightly damp, and a lot of people are allergic to hay, and the mold spores. I had a similer occurance, I thought it was the chickens (nothing else had changed) and it turned out I was allergic to cat fur ( we had a cat, and had done so for 12 years) and I had never had a problem before, but now suddenly a reaction, it was weird.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

When you are itchy all over, does it feel like bugs are crawling over you but you never find any? That would be what happened to me when my chickens had mites.

I did end up finding them on me and they bit me later- but it may be worth a try to dust for mites with Poultry Dust (permethrin) and repeat in 7 days. For lice you would do another repeat at 14 days as well.

Also dust the coop - you can use permethrin spray diluted for coop and birds instead of dust.

Toss all bedding and nest box material each coop treatment or they will be back.

Wash all sheets, vaccuum, and for the time being until you get the bugs killed put all clothing in washer right away or keep in garage in a bag to keep them out of the house.

Mites do bite and annoy humans but they cannot breed on human blood. The Northern Fowl mite can live for 3 weeks with no poultry blood meal and the red mite can live for 9 months with no poultry blood meal. Lice die quickly without poultry.

So if you collect them in your home they will keep you up at night and you will be so itchy all over. I think it is definitely worth a try.

Sevin dust used to be approved for chickens and worked great. Some mites are permethrin resistant and some are carbaryl (sevin) resistant.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

If you do decide to dust, wear a mask, long sleeves, take shower afterward, etc.

Make sure you get under the wings, vent area, back, abdomen and everywhere but the head. I use a tied-off sock for this. Wash clothes separately afterward. The bugs should die immediately. Retreat to kill hatching eggs.

I cannot be around alfalfa hay because of the straw mites in them. Make sure you are using bedding that is not straw/hay as Stiggy said if you are itchy.

 

[txredchick]

Thank you for the replies,

This is straight up welt/red rash with the worst itching ever, no creepy crawling sensation.
We have acres of alfalfa hay - but the one difference was moving 2 bales next to the coop. My husband has since already moved them from the coop area & I plan to get new bedding & dust for a total removal of the hay tomorrow .

Question - I did have one hen die over the wkend. She never seemed healthy, smaller than the others - my neighbor told me that she likely got bullied by the others, but now I'm concerned it was mites?? This is my first time raising chickens, only thread I've commented on...but have read a lot, including stealing no less than a dozen ideas for coop/run designs.

Appreciate the advice

 

[Stiggy]

Yes the grey mites/northern mites live in te straw/ hay and are a real pain ad thu bite as well. ( as said before). For that reason we use wood shavings, personally I blend in some pestine powder an de powder into their bedding so that when they sit in it they are still protected. Over here we were using disel ( the car/truck type) with industrial strength ripcord ( which is now impossible to get) it worked well in a pressure sprayer to get in every crack, however after about 5 years of use the mites including the red blood ones have become resistant, now we use carbaryl with detergent ( to make it sticky so it stays there) and water which kills almost on contact. The trick is to keep on top of it , in between sprays I like to use industrial strength disinfectant as well. The grey mites cannot live on human blood but they will bite and try to whilst swarming, all lice and mites are irritating to the chicken as well When spraying you need to make sure you get into every crack and crevice including the joinery of wood etc and just douse them

 

[hollyelise]

I have a question related to this as well. This has been my first hatch and I now have week old chicks. I clean everything daily, pine shaving bedding once every two days. That said, i try to handle them twice daily...in short timeframes to get them used to me, but not stress them too much. The past two days i have developed a rough, itchy, scaly red rash where the chicks perch on the top of my hands. I wash my hands before and after each time i "visit" or clean. I have never had eczema before but this looks like it. Had anyone made this discovery before? Is this possibly mites? (For other background...i work in a hospital and my hands are used to frequent washing...so it's not that) I've never experienced this, so I'm unsure if i should be worried about anything like mites or not.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I have a question related to this as well. This has been my first hatch and I now have week old chicks. I clean everything daily, pine shaving bedding once every two days. That said, i try to handle them twice daily...in short timeframes to get them used to me, but not stress them too much. The past two days i have developed a rough, itchy, scaly red rash where the chicks perch on the top of my hands. I wash my hands before and after each time i "visit" or clean. I have never had eczema before but this looks like it. Had anyone made this discovery before? Is this possibly mites? (For other background...i work in a hospital and my hands are used to frequent washing...so it's not that) I've never experienced this, so I'm unsure if i should be worried about anything like mites or not.

Mites come from wild birds, rodents, etc. so if they are still in the brooder in a clean location then they could not have mites unless they were brooded by a mama hen somewhere.

I like to wear gloves when handling my birds and doing my chores. I always am wearing those garden gloves with the rubbery stuff down the front of the glove. I wash them out with soap every so often, rinse them almost daily, and I always keep them on my boot/glove dryer (electric) to keep them dry on the inside. It works for me and a pair of gloves lasts about 6 months generally.

I also wear an N95 mask when entering the coop or sifting the sand in the floor of the coops.

These things pay off, I believe.