Does anyone else have a sensitivity to chicken dust/dander? And is it worse with extra feathering?

[thecatumbrella]

Long title. Anyway...

I kept 4 basic large fowl chickens in 2023. The only time I needed to mask up around them was when I would clean the coop.

I restarted the flock with 7 bantam chickens this year, 6 of which are Cochin Bantams. They are HEAVILY feathered in the body and legs, so much so that it's next to impossible to inspect for leg mites.

These chickens started to destroy my lungs by 2 weeks-old. I always run an air purifier next to the brooder; doesn't matter, have to mask up. Full blown N95 or my lungs hurt. I even have to wear a cheap mask out in the chicken pen.

Am I alone with this issue? Why are these chickens so bad? Is it really the jump from 4 to 7 (even though the 7 are much smaller)? Or could it be due to the extra feathering on the Cochin Bantams? They're going through their final juvenile molt now, and it's taking FOREVER. I'm feeling very discouraged that it's so hard to be around them without affecting my health.

 

[Alexandra Runner]

Hi! I have a slight sensitivity to chicken dander, but mostly because they're dusty creatures. What might be going on could be their feathers growing in (those little tufts go Everywhere!!). It could also be your allergy is exacerbated by other allergens, if you also have seasonal allergies or anything like that.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Chicken dander is annoying to me so I stopped brooding in the house and I will sometimes wear a mask to clean the coop (like during a hot dry summer when the dust us likely to hover in the air around my face or when I am sick). That being said, I think you sensitivity sounds like more than that. It sounds like an allergy.

 

[thecatumbrella]

It could also be your allergy is exacerbated by other allergens, if you also have seasonal allergies or anything like that.

That being said, I think you sensitivity sounds like more than that. It sounds like an allergy.

The only reason I'm holding out on admitting it's an allergy (which would be devastating) is that guests have been affected as well. I've had a couple people come to visit the chicks while they were in the basement, and they declined a mask. A few minutes later, they were asking for that mask!

I also didn't have an issue with brooding 3 Silkie chicks indoors for a month (after the Cochin Bantam group).

You guys are probably right, but I hope you're wrong!

 

[Pukkits]

My guess is baby fluff and replacing feathers they are doing and will keep doing. The increased number means more dander. It's also possible your sensitivity has increased.

Like you, I'm feather dander allergic, as well as dust. Basically chickens. We had the baby brooder in a bathroom and it was really hard on me. We don't have a barn and our garage isn't insulated. Pretty much as soon as they had their first feathers, we built a pen and an Ohio brooder (essentially an upside down plywood box on short legs with a heat lamp inside, used to heat chicks in severe climates) in the garage and moved all 8 of them out. I had to deep clean absolutely everything in the bathroom, I even took apart the ceiling fan. Now the birds are outside (yay!) and... our garage is full of dander, settled on everything. I did need to clean out the garage this summer, but literally washing/hosing everything in it and vacuuming with a shop vac wasn't really what I wanted to do. Next group, we are going to try to stuff them under a broody hen.

I have a number of allergies and sensitivities. If feathers are getting worse for you, I encourage you to consider talking to your doctor about immunotherapy specifically for feather dander. For a lot of people, treatment and precautions (like masks and hand washing) can keep us from giving up what we love due to allergies. I'm sorry it's so much harder this time around.

 

[thecatumbrella]

My guess is baby fluff and replacing feathers they are doing and will keep doing. The increased number means more dander. It's also possible your sensitivity has increased.

Like you, I'm feather dander allergic, as well as dust. Basically chickens. We had the baby brooder in a bathroom and it was really hard on me. We don't have a barn and our garage isn't insulated. Pretty much as soon as they had their first feathers, we built a pen and an Ohio brooder (essentially an upside down plywood box on short legs with a heat lamp inside, used to heat chicks in severe climates) in the garage and moved all 8 of them out. I had to deep clean absolutely everything in the bathroom, I even took apart the ceiling fan. Now the birds are outside (yay!) and... our garage is full of dander, settled on everything. I did need to clean out the garage this summer, but literally washing/hosing everything in it and vacuuming with a shop vac wasn't really what I wanted to do. Next group, we are going to try to stuff them under a broody hen.

I have a number of allergies and sensitivities. If feathers are getting worse for you, I encourage you to consider talking to your doctor about immunotherapy specifically for feather dander. For a lot of people, treatment and precautions (like masks and hand washing) can keep us from giving up what we love due to allergies. I'm sorry it's so much harder this time around.

Oh my gosh, I relate to so much of this. We section them off in the basement with canvas drop cloth "walls", but the dust inevitably gets through any cracks and gaps. They just came inside for two days to ride out the heatwave, so I'll be shop vac-ing along with you in my hazmat suit.

I'll look into allergy testing and treatment if I can't get this under control. In the meantime, I'll just keep trying to protect my lungs. Of course, I wear glasses too, which makes a mask 1,000x more annoying. They fog up with even a drop of humidity, so a lot of times I'm going in there blind to pick up brown poops on brown mulch...

 

[Pukkits]

Oh my gosh, I relate to so much of this. We section them off in the basement with canvas drop cloth "walls", but the dust inevitably gets through any cracks and gaps. They just came inside for two days to ride out the heatwave, so I'll be shop vac-ing along with you in my hazmat suit.

I'll look into allergy testing and treatment if I can't get this under control. In the meantime, I'll just keep trying to protect my lungs. Of course, I wear glasses too, which makes a mask 1,000x more annoying. They fog up with even a drop of humidity, so a lot of times I'm going in there blind to pick up brown poops on brown mulch...

I love my disposable N95s, but getting real ones (so many fakes after the pandemic) can be a pain in the butt. And your body absolutely knows the difference. If I'm not doing something super dirty (like the hen house clean out) I often use a 3m respirator with replaceable filters. They make sized ones with silicone fittings that fits well. If it's windy, I use over the glasses goggles to prevent fogging and allergens in my eyes.

I live in an area that gets very smokey during wildfires, and the setup works great for that as well. It can however scare the crap out of your chickens when Darth Vader shows up to feed them, until they get used to it.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I often use a 3m respirator with replaceable filters.

These are great! I had to use them to clean my coop during and after I had covid. Which is a shame because it was the first time I couldn’t actually smell the poop!