Official BYC Poll: Do You Wear a Mask or Respirator When Cleaning Your Coop?

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

I clean poop each morning after roost. I open all the windows and doors and quick quick grab the 7 little piles of poop and boom, done. If I had many more hens or a walk in henhouse i would consider the mask.

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

I have not cleaned the coop in a while, but the first (and only) time I cleaned the coop, I didn't have a mask or glasses. it was fine.... until the wind blew! yeah, never again. 10/10 do not recommend breathing the poo dust.

 

[thecatumbrella]

I'm a non-smoker in the (past) prime of my life, and I made the mistake of deep cleaning without a mask once. Don't do it. Even a box of cheap blue masks makes a huge difference in how much you breathe in. If I'm just scooping poop, I don't bother. But anything that involves stirring/raking litter should necessitate a mask. Take care of yourselves!

 

[SueT]

I use PDZ on the poop board, it’s very dusty, so yes, I wear a cloth dust mask. I also cover my hair so it won’t get full of that dust. I thoroughly clean the poop board every day, plus use the litter scoop in the shavings on the floor, not so thoroughly.

 

[WoDia]

I use PDZ on the poop board, it’s very dusty, so yes, I wear a cloth dust mask. I also cover my hair so it won’t get full of that dust. I thoroughly clean the poop board every day, plus use the litter scoop in the shavings on the floor, not so thoroughly.

In the past, I did the clean-out without anything to cover my long black hair. But, one accidental glance in the mirror of my UTV showed me what my hair would look like dust-colored. I wasn’t impressed. I NOW wear a light toboggan to clean.

 

[K0k0shka]

My grandma was a subsistence farmer who'd haul hay and cook on a smoky wood stove, and hack her lungs out. She had chronic bronchitis because of it. I remember hooking my shirt over my nose trying to protect my lungs when I helped her with the hay. We had no machinery or equipment and the hay wasn't baled, so we were moving loose hay from field to wagon to barn loft with pitch forks and the air would get hazy with dust! I can't get that image out of my mind, or the sound of grandma coughing until she was blue in the face, so now I don't gamble with preventable risks, and wear a mask whenever I'm doing anything dusty. Lung damage is forever, and you feel it forever, because you can't rest your lungs like a broken limb in a cast... you kinda need to keep breathing all the time

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

I wear an N95 mask while deep cleaning the coop, it helps with dust as well as the smell, a bit. Normally the dust isn't too bad, but I swear the weather always orders up some wind for me when I'm cleaning. Just a glance at the outside of my mask when I'm done makes me very happy I wore it.

 

[K0k0shka]

Just a glance at the outside of my mask when I'm done makes me very happy I wore it.

If I ever forget to wear a mask while deep cleaning, then I blow my nose and the tissue is brown... it really highlights the need for a mask! Thank you, nose hairs, for doing your job, but how much of that got past your defenses...

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

If I ever forget to wear a mask while deep cleaning, then I blow my nose and the tissue is brown... it really highlights the need for a mask! Thank you, nose hairs, for doing your job, but how much of that got past your defenses...

Oh, for sure. I'm young and healthy, but I'd rather not take unnecessary chances.

 

[skeeeter]

As I marked "other", here goes: As Perris stated, If your coop is that dusty, it's bad for the chickens, too. I USED to use straw, woodshavings or seedy hay.. which I found DOES create billows of dust. Now I use tree, bamboo or banana leaves.. and SOMETIMES lawn mowings. But really, in this day and age surely one could use a shop vac to vacuum the walls, screens n such to keep most of the dust down. Also, I use deep litter (dry) system and only rake off top litter to fill my bucket with the fine stuff underneath to add to my poopboard scrapes. I keep like 12 chickens in a 12x12 house. Letting them out every afternoon (unless there is a big storm) to free range helps keep them happy.