Chicken Dust?

[crystal195655]

I have 8 chicks 4 weeks old...they are creating so much dust it is rediculous. Is this something that will go away once the chicks are fully feathered? I have ventilation for them, but now I am concerned it may not be enough. Everything inside the coop is covered with a layer of dust. Any suggestions or comments are welcome, thanks

 

[FarmTillURdead]

Dust is always common with chickens. It is bad right now because they are molting. It will subside some - until they molt again. I like to keep a small fan running in my coop all day that the weather isn't to extreme. It helps and the birds don't mind. The fan it shut off at night since the birds are still for the most part. Chickens take dust baths in the dirt! It really doesn't seem to bother them at my place.

 

[crystal195655]

Thanks for the reply, I was not sure if it was directly related to them getting their feathers or if it had to do with dust bathing? I guess once they are spending more time outside it will subside some......thanks again

 

[LaynaDon95]

Thanks for the reply, I was not sure if it was directly related to them getting their feathers or if it had to do with dust bathing? I guess once they are spending more time outside it will subside some......thanks again

What bedding are you using? I was using oak leaves and had a shallow bowl of DE in there for them to dust bathe in. Believe it or not, when I switched to sand the dust went down dramatically. Your bedding could be contributing considerably.

That being said, chickens just create dust. You can do things to decrease how much dust they create, but you can't really stop it completely. (unless there is a magical way that I don't know of, and if that's the case then I'm not really being much help.)

Sand is also much easier to clean out. It takes me 2 minutes, tops, to clean the brooder now. (just putting that out there)

 

[DCasper]

I like pine nuggets for bedding. It holds down the smell and is absorbant. When I change them out, I throw the old ones on the garden.

 

[crystal195655]

I use Pine shavings for the bedding, then under the roosts I have Sweet PDZ granular, with sand underneath...I know they have been dust bathing in the sweet PDZ and that may be creating some of the dust, but I had hoped that the granular would keep that to a minimum. Once they are able to go outside (we have about 6 inches of snow on the ground now) Iwill get inside and clean real good and cut the amount of dust down some.

 

[Nslangton]

Use a spray bottle full of water to mist the pine bedding once or twice a day. A little water goes a long way in dust reduction. I mist my horse stalls every time before the horses come in and it helps tremendously. I tried the sand for the chicks and loved it at first, but after 3 days they were back on shavings because the smell was ridiculous. I give the brooder a quick mist when the chicks are out and it seems to be working great.