I've Got MOLD in my Coop!

[PineBurrowPeeps]

I've found some fuzzy mold growing on the inside of the doors of my coop.
Thus I've been alot more diligent about airing it out and adding more dry shavings, etc.
Is there anything else I can do?!

 

[winekntrychicks]

First off try to figure out why the inside of the coop is so moist; and why it's not drying out properly, do you have a leak, is it condensation? Do you have enough ventilation? I am not expert but I am learning and I am finding to trust my common sense. I would spray it down with some thing that is known to kill mold, but I would remove my birds until it was completely dry due to the fumes. Some one out there may have an actual tried and true method.

 

[orcasislandchickens]

I would next spell of good weather do a good thorough cleanup, disinfect, and refurbish of the coop. Start early morning as soon as the girls are fed and out for the day to give you as much drying time as possible, clean it out completely, hose it off quick, scrub down with solutuion of bleach and water to disinfect, rinse and let dry. Anything you can carry out into the sunshine to dry off, I'd do so. Anything you can do to air out, dry out, the main structure do it. (If you can blow air around with a fan go for it) I am assuming you can keep your chickens out of the way for the day.

How is it getting and staying so damp? Do you have leaks? Rotting wood ? Find and fix what you can. Would a dropping's board under the roost help? Would sealing the floor or walls make sense?

Don't add your clean fresh shavings back untill it's dry.

 

[lovemychix]

bleach kills mold. just be careful.

 

[cmom]

Do you have plenty of ventilation? I wold spray the moldy areas with a bleach water and let it set for awhile then rinse and air out. I use pine shavings and I sprinkle FOOD GRADE Diatomaceous Earth (DE) on the shavings. DE acts as an absorbant. Once a year I give my coop a good cleaning and scrub it down with bleach water then rince and let it dry out. I pick a day with low humidity.

 

[orchidchick]

Usually mold is a result of a lack of ventilation as well as moisture so you may want to check out Patandchickens ventilation page for some ideas to see if you need to address that part as well as the disinfecting ideas. It's tough to get rid of once it's established without getting to the root of the problem.

Good luck!
Orchidchick

 

[hoosiergal]

The first thing you need to do is make sure your chickens are still healthy. If they are for now keep an eye on them. Mold (fungi) is a very serious thing for birds and humans.

I say this because nov. 2007 I underwent a wedge resection of my right lung for what was thought to be cancer. Thank God it was not, but it was a fungus ball called aspergilloma caused by the aspergillius mold that grows in feed, straw, coops, moist conditions.
It can be a very serious thing for you if inhaled and trapped in your lung cavity. The spores are microscopic and they are air-borne. Which is to say that they are in alot of things having to do with nature, dust, moist conditions. That black mold you see on onions is called aspergillius mold. So the doctors could not tell me that mine came solely from raising chickens.

Infectious Diseases
• Infectious diseases area caused by four
main types of disease causing agents
(pathogens):
– Bacteria (Fowl Typhoid)
– Viruses (Avian Influenza)
– Fungi (Aspergillosis)
– Parasites
• Internal
–Worms (Round Worms)
–Protozoa (Coccidiosis)
• External (Poultry Louse)


Aspergillus
What is it?
Aspergillus is a group of moulds, which is found everywhere world-wide, especially in the autumn and winter in the Northern hemisphere. Moulds are also called filamentous fungi. Only a few of these moulds can cause illness in humans and animals. Most people are naturally immune and do not develop disease caused by Aspergillus. However, when disease does occur, it takes several forms.

The types of diseases caused by Aspergillus are varied, ranging from an allergy-type illness to life-threatening generalised infections. Diseases caused by Aspergillus are called aspergillosis. The severity of aspergillosis is determined by various factors but one of the most important is the state of the immune system of the person.

Because of being a smoker all my life, my lungs were damaged so the spore got trapped in one of those damaged cavities of COPD. Because it could not get out, started growing to the size of a golf ball which took several years before symptoms became severe.


I have never seen any mold in my coop, but the spores that you breathe are microscopic.

Does your coop leak? Use a mask when you start scrubbing this stuff and gloves if possible.

Please be careful with mold any where you see it.

 

[ChooksChick]

Youch!

I'm so sorry to hear of your lung-ectomy (too lazy to make it correct right now) but thank so much for sharing with us that danger- I never would have thought mold could be soooooooooo dangerous.

I'll be even more careful about keeping my coop dry and vented!

I did hear that Stall-Dri is a fabulous aid in keeping a coop moisture controlled, and that it can also aid in fly/mite/etc reduction. For the OP this may be a helpful note.