Hello All - My husband is very allergic to cats. We have been told that bird dander can also inflame his allergies... Poor thing has been working non-stop at work and on the chicken coop and run for the past 5 weekends. I believe he has worked himself into a pretty serious cold (very run down from working so hard to bring home the bacon and build the girls a new home), but he says that he feels the same way as when we had two cats. Our 6 (12 wk olds) are in the computer room with a closed door. He has stayed out of the room and uses his laptop when he needs to get on line, but I think the birds being in the house may be flairing up his allergies...? I've cleaned the room daily and wiped everything down... but it may be the number of birds in one area that is concentrating the dander? We are one weekend away from finishing the coop. I was wonder if others or family members of others have this same problem?
I am an incredibly allergic person...usually to EVERYTHING!! Cats, dogs, mold, dust, smoke, pollen, grass, etc. Oddly enough, I am NOT allergic to chickens, goats, cows, or any other farm animals I have. I would have to suggest maybe getting an air filter with an ion charger for that room, so that any stray dander will be filtered from the air. since they aren't going all over the house like a cat or dog would, that should do the trick in the one room. *edited to add* I feel for him...I have been suffering with my normal seasonal allergies for over a month now, and I am ready to pull my head off!!! I CAN'T BREATHE!!!! lol
My first flock started with 8 baby chicks. We heard about the dust, but could have never really quite understood until it happened My husband has asthma and 1 lone allergy and it happens to be dust. He was so sick from it We started a flock of silkies after that and i dont plan to EVER have chicks in the house again. The silkies will raise them It seemed like he had an ongoing cold the entire time. He had not been allergy tested before so we did not know he even had a dust allergy.
Thank you ZykloniaDark-GothikRanchr - It is not often that he gets sick... I personally think he has over done it and has worked himself into a nasty mid-summer cold. Running harder than a scalded dog will do it to him every time. I will look at the ION air filter and see about getting one tomorrow. Thank you for the suggestion.
Thank you Lurky - Once the coop is finished (Ft Knox style), we plan to keep the boorder box outside and only hatch chicks in the summer or purchase 10 wks or older birds when the weather will not be a factor here in Texas. After having the 6 in the house, I'm not to keen on the idea of them being in the house any more myself. Thanks for your comments.
My husband and I just started our first flock! We have 4 2week old Australorps in a spare room. My husband got a cold that jumped to me but now its not going away. I think the dander is starting to get to us, even my cat is sneezing! I'll be happy when the ladies are ready to go outside so we (and they) can breath some fresh air!
Last summer I had allergies so bad that I ended up having sinus surgery and oh the gunk that was stuck up there. I had 4 parakeets at the time and the doc said "the house birds have to go". So they went. Yes they did have alot of dander. I can't imagine how much would be produced by a 6-12wk old chicks. The poor guy must be having a rough time. With the chicks in the house and working out in the gawd aweful tx heat. He deserves some tlc.
Ugh! I hate allergies. Does he Neti-Pot? It may seem strange at first (pouring water through your nose), but it helps rinse away nasty stuff in your nasal passages. It was recommended to my mom by our pharmacist because she is allergic to antibiotics. I've tried it and feel it helps me.