My son is allergic to his new chicks

[Larkin]

Quote:

I'll keep my fingers crossed!

 

[crazyhen]

Some people do better with the aspen shavings. I don't know if that will help but I hope so. Its just something to try. Gloria Jean

 

[33yardbirds]

Doesn't look like the allergy affects his joy for the peeps.

 

[LizGled628]

Quote:
It is our first time with chicks and I'm sure we are just going to have to find a way to deal with the allergies because the birds are going NOWHERE! I have 3 children that would probably die from heartache (me too)!

same here...lol

Oh I'm DEFINITELY not saying get rid of them! I would head into the coop with a hazmat suit before I'd consider getting rid of the chickens because of allergies! Then again, I don't think they'd take treats from my hand in a suit like that....

 

[PortageGirl]

I was going to mention the dander from the new feathers too. It's crazy bad when they're shedding the feather enclosure from new feathers as they grow in. It could of course be the pine shavings as well, but everyone should keep in mind how horrible the dust/dander is if chicks are ordered so they have to be in the house over the winter or early spring! It's enough to give a perfectly non-allergic person fits!

Once they're outside and busy being grown-up chickens, it's unlikely that anyone needs to be inside with them enough to have too much of a problem.

 

[drumstick diva]

Is your son better when he plays with the chicks outside, away from the coop, dander and shavings?

 

[nanawendy]

Ya I was gonna say, maybe you should bring the chick to him. See if that helps. My grandsons need to shower when they come in at night, full shampoo and body scrub... their allergies are so bad. This wash down helps a lot.

 

[Kedreeva]

Definitely try the aspen shavings instead of pine- pine is known to cause respiratory problems in a lot of animals, including humans and I know it's awful for hamsters.

Good luck!

 

[woodmort]

As an old woodworker, I know a lot of a few guys that had to avoid certain wood species because of allergies to the dust. Pine is one of them.

 

[Gold Griffin Chicken Mom]

Number one: talk to the doctor about what other allergy medications your son can try. My allergist said certain antihistamines work better for one thing or another. His favorite antihistamine was Zyrtek and said "it works better than Benedryl for most things" minus the sleepiness factor.

Make sure his clothing and bedding are kept clean REALLY clean. This means no little boys going to bed with dirty hair! (I'm having this issue with my son right now. He apparently has forgotton all the ticks from this Spring.)

Anyway, lots of luck! I hope it is as simple as the bedding.