- Apr 4, 2009
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We have this great old coop. There are US Poultry certifications in the inside that are dated 1947. It was really this coop that got us started on wanting to have chickens. Here's a current picture of the coop (you can see the old hen nesting boxes):
We have been working hard to get it cleaned out. There was tons of old junk in there (some cool old chicken stuff included). Our plan has been to completely remove all the old interior boards and replace them. Those boards are a mess. Some are rotten, some have water damage, some have apparently been chewed on by a goat or something that was stored in there. As we started ripping down boards, we found a very big problem. TONS of raccoon poop (it is seriously disgusting). They have obviously infested the coop (up in the rafters) at some point. We started reading up on coon poop and found that raccoon roundworm can be very dangerous and sometimes deadly, especially to young children (we have 5 young kiddos). Many coons carry it and it is transferred to humans by coming in contact with any little particle of coon poop.
Here's a link on it:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/baylisascaris/factsht_baylisascaris.htm
So, now we do not know what to do. The recommended way to clean up coon droppings to try prevent contamination is by wearing the gloves, mask, etc and by double bagging or burning the droppings. After the actual poop is gone the only way to kill roundworm eggs (they can live for years and we have no clue if the poop is as old as the US Poultry Certificates) is by heat. Bleach will not kill the eggs.
Now we have to decide if we can clean the coop thorough enough to put chickens in there. We could clean it up the best we can and then systematically propane torch the whole interior (which will then mostly be covered by plywood). That should kill any eggs that could be lingering. But could we get them all? We are not normally the type of people to worry about every little sniffle in our kids or every little danger out there in the world. But, there are massive amount of poop out there and raccoon roundworms can be very serious. I do NOT want to loose my coop. It is totally set up for out chicks and has tons of space, a chicken run, little closable doors, nesting boxes, etc. However, I will not put anyone or thing at risk because I like my coop. We will obviously be consuming those eggs and we plan to share the extra with friends and family.
Please tell me what you guys think....
Julie
Edited to add: We currently have 28 almost 3 weeks old hens. They have a few more weeks in the brooder boxes in our garage, but we need to figure our pretty quick what to do.
We have been working hard to get it cleaned out. There was tons of old junk in there (some cool old chicken stuff included). Our plan has been to completely remove all the old interior boards and replace them. Those boards are a mess. Some are rotten, some have water damage, some have apparently been chewed on by a goat or something that was stored in there. As we started ripping down boards, we found a very big problem. TONS of raccoon poop (it is seriously disgusting). They have obviously infested the coop (up in the rafters) at some point. We started reading up on coon poop and found that raccoon roundworm can be very dangerous and sometimes deadly, especially to young children (we have 5 young kiddos). Many coons carry it and it is transferred to humans by coming in contact with any little particle of coon poop.
Here's a link on it:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/baylisascaris/factsht_baylisascaris.htm
So, now we do not know what to do. The recommended way to clean up coon droppings to try prevent contamination is by wearing the gloves, mask, etc and by double bagging or burning the droppings. After the actual poop is gone the only way to kill roundworm eggs (they can live for years and we have no clue if the poop is as old as the US Poultry Certificates) is by heat. Bleach will not kill the eggs.
Now we have to decide if we can clean the coop thorough enough to put chickens in there. We could clean it up the best we can and then systematically propane torch the whole interior (which will then mostly be covered by plywood). That should kill any eggs that could be lingering. But could we get them all? We are not normally the type of people to worry about every little sniffle in our kids or every little danger out there in the world. But, there are massive amount of poop out there and raccoon roundworms can be very serious. I do NOT want to loose my coop. It is totally set up for out chicks and has tons of space, a chicken run, little closable doors, nesting boxes, etc. However, I will not put anyone or thing at risk because I like my coop. We will obviously be consuming those eggs and we plan to share the extra with friends and family.
Please tell me what you guys think....
Julie
Edited to add: We currently have 28 almost 3 weeks old hens. They have a few more weeks in the brooder boxes in our garage, but we need to figure our pretty quick what to do.
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