Mold concerns

[Justde]

We are having a very wet spring, and laid some straw on the walkway to our chicks. They are in my husband's dry heated shop. There was one flake of straw that had some mold (we've removed that since we realized that). We are concerned about mold spores that may have come in on our shoes, particularly since we'll be getting new chicks in a few days. I'm hoping it's too dry in there for it to be a concern, but we certainly don't want to compromise our chickens.

 

[Eggcessive]

Straw gets so wet and disintegrates, and also molds. For outdoor uncovered areas sand works well. For inside coops I prefer pine shavings to straw or hay. If any mold residue is there, you could take a rake and rough up the soil. Then put sand down. 10% bleach water can kill mold on surfaces, but it is unreasonable to use that on the dirt.

 

[Justde]

Thank you for responding. We don't use straw in the chicken area, but shavings for bedding. Our only concern is if spores may have been carried in on our shoes and cause harm, but they would have dried quickly. The building is dry and warm.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

I know that with bird flu being highly contagious there are protocols for not accidentally carrying feces on shoes into a chicken area but mold is not the same. A few mold spores are not going to decimate a population or start a mold problem when like you say, you're not providing a moist place for it to grow. My chickens have been exposed to mold on hay many times. They don't live in moldy hay by any means but it's just a natural occurrence that I don't worry about. I would definitely not overthink it in your situation, the chicks will be fine. It's good for them to get exposed to all sorts of things like your soil.

 

[Justde]

I know that with bird flu being highly contagious there are protocols for not accidentally carrying feces on shoes into a chicken area but mold is not the same. A few mold spores are not going to decimate a population or start a mold problem when like you say, you're not providing a moist place for it to grow. My chickens have been exposed to mold on hay many times. They don't live in moldy hay by any means but it's just a natural occurrence that I don't worry about. I would definitely not overthink it in your situation, the chicks will be fine. It's good for them to get exposed to all sorts of things like your soil.

Thank you. This sets our minds at ease.