Chicken breeds and DANDER

[Dogue]

Hello all!
I'm allergic to just about everything now that I'm older.
Chickens are tolerable so far, but they do definitely aggravate my lungs.
The amount of dust that come off of these guys is extreme.

With parrots, certain species produce less danger than others. So my question is, do certain breeds of chickens produce less of that dust?
I'm not sure, for example, if silkies with their different types of feathers would produce less or more, or the "hard feathered" asian breeds, or if having no head/neck feathers with the turken would make any difference.


Basically, I went from being the type of person to have a zoo's worthy collection of animals, to being allergic to all of my pets (plus outdoor allergies and my makeup) in about a two year span, and if there's a breed I can have that will allow me to enjoy being a pet owner again, I'd love to know. Thank you.

 

[Folly's place]

It's not just the feathers, it's the dust! Medications and at least N95 dust masks are the best I can come up with! I'm coping with asthma, and the dust is not helpful, so I'm wearing the dust mask more often, and always when cleaning out the coop. Can you arrange things so egg collection, etc, is out in a covered run, rather than in the coop? Mary

 

[Dogue]

I've been wearing the mask, but it is so uncomfortable. I know that feather structure affects how much dust is produced, but I'm not sure if the breeds with abnormal feathers (such as silkies or asian fighting breeds or turkens) are producing more or less of the dust. I'd rather not have to figure it out through trial and error. I'm hoping maybe someone will chime in like, "yes, when I was brooding nothing but silkies, I noticed much less dust" or something like that.

 

[Folly's place]

If anyone finds a truly comfortable and useful face mask, let everyone know about it! Wearing one is about survival, and I remember the quote about armor in Richard III (?) about "It scalds with safety". Mary

 

[lazy gardener]

I also have asthma, and can't tolerate the feather dust. No indoor brooding for me, and even doing so in the garage is problematic for me as the garage is under my bedrooms, and we have forced hot air heat. I have found that getting the chicks outside just as soon as possible is a great help. Using deep litter in the coop is better for my lungs than using shavings. I use a mask, when working in the coop, and if just going in for a moment or two, I pull my shirt up to cover my nose and mouth. That helps just a bit. Also, being sure that I get a good shower, and wash my hair before going to bed if I've been working with birds helps. Outdoor nest box access is a great advantage.

IMO, there is no such thing as a comfortable mask! But, they are necessary. I have a re-useable one, and use that for down and dirty tasks. More often, I grab a surgical style mask with ear loops b/c it is not as "heavy".

 

[Folly's place]

I don't think that the surgical masks work that well, compared to the N95 masks. It's too bad, because they are more comfortable to wear. We finally just discovered the surgical masks that keep eyeglasses from fogging up, wonderful! Mary