Chick Dust!! Agghhhh....

[chickenannie]

Had 5 chicks in my kitchen for a few weeks and suddenly noticed there is chick dust EVERYWHERE. I thought my vaccuming around the cage was keeping it from being a problem, but one day the sun came out and I could see how bad it was. I moved the chicks out to the barn despite the cold (they are 7 weeks old and have their feathers so I think they'll be fine out there) and I just spent all evening last night cleaning every single part of my kitchen -- every countertop, table, utensil, salt and pepper shakers, stove pans, etc.... everything had dust!

Never a chick in my kitchen ever again!

 

[mstricer]

In kitchen OH my. I have mine in living room for a couple weeks then move to basement or attached garage. I finally bought one of those air purifiers they work great for removal of dust.

 

[Garden Gal]

I love my chickies but no chickies in my house! Before we had our coop finished they were in the garage - THAT I can handle!

 

[teach1rusl]

Well your problem was that the sun came out...lol. I would never have seen the dust, because the sun never comes out HERE!!! Yeah...hard to believe those little suckers could generate that much dust, isn't it???

I kept my brooder up in my loft when they were chicks. The carpet kind of sucked in the dust and hid it well...lol.

 

[RM44]

They are dusty little critters, aren't they? I had mine in the upstairs bedroom until 3.5 weeks old. WOW! They sure did get everything dusty. They've been in the basement since then, and my entire basement is now covered in dust. My lesson learned? I'll never get chicks in the winter again. Only late spring/summer babies for me again, and never in the house again! I'm not a good housekeeper anyway. I certainly don't need any help messing up the place.

 

[wildorchid053]

i had only 8 in my bathroom for about 6 weeks.. thought everything was good. i knew it was dusty so i cleaned them all the time and kept counters wiped.. then the sun came out.. omg the walls had these tiny little dust balls all over them .. ugh.. i had to even wipe down the walls and my bathroom is HUGE 13x 15.. alot of cleaning... this time they go right down the stairs to the basement lol

 

[The Egg Bandit]

OMG! Me too! I am a lousy housekeeper - I just don't see dirt until it gets really bad. Growing up poor, on a farm, is my excuse.

But now I have 85 chicks in the house from 7 weeks old down to 7 days old. In two different rooms. But that dust gets everywhere! Eek!
I think I'll have to put in a birthday request for an air purifier. My biggest fear is the dust on the heat lamps over the brooders catching fire!

Where is the dust coming from? The bedding? The food? Chick dandruff?

 

[Armageddon]

Chick dardruff

Mine are 3 weeks, they brooder is almost completely enclos ed...I haven't noticed much dust....yet. I do vacuum every day and keep the door to the room they are in shut.

 

[chickenannie]

Glad to hear I'm not the only one! I'm not the greatest housekeeper either, but I became a cleaning whirlwind last night when I got mad.

I started to worry about my own health and was it possible I was inhaling or eating some of that chick dust? Do we know what chick dust comes from? My theory is that it is MOSTLY dust from the feed. Those little buggers scratch their feed container like crazy 24/7, and I'm hoping the dust is just ground up grains and vitamins etc. in their food. Because the alternative.... god forbid it's dried up chick poop that has become airborne.

I did see some feather bits and those little feather 'casings' lying outside their cage when I vaccumed too.

 

[Uzuri]

I'm a horrible housekeeper -- can't remember the last time I picked up a dustcloth; I just wait six months and vacuum all flat surfaces -- but even I can't stand the kind of dust chicks toss up.

I mean, I actually swept my garage out daily because of all the dust and considered parking the truck in the driveway. And the stuff's terribly slippery on concrete, too.