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We all know how much dust those birds can create, so I'm just wondering who wears some kind of respiratory protection when they are in and around the coop - and when!
Have you had any issues from not wearing a mask?
Please vote and leave a comment below!
I used to when I cleaned them frequently, but had more of an issue with the straw which wafted dust rather than anything from my chooks.
However, having read on BYC about using the coop for deep composting I don't need a mask. I have a 3-section arrangement:
1. In the third area, the"run" as I call it, which is open to the weather and receives good sunshine and any rain, (although the chickens are protected by wired walls and roof) this is where the soil, as it now is - beautifully black and smooth - is taken and wheelbarrowed out to the vegetable plot.
2. The feed area is between the bedroom and the run. This is where wasted food is scratted from the feed urns and water is topped and dribbled - it's also where bugs and spiders come to find tasty morsel.... As do the chickens!! From here, mid-composted matter is shovelled through to the run, usually when it is too wet to compost down, indicated by a need to wear wellies instead of flip-flops!
3. In the bedroom where they roost and poop, I add fresh straw once every couple of months or so. When the chickens see the wheelbarrow going in there, they rush in from the orchard area (it can be really difficult forking out and into the feed area with hens that are getting in my way in anticipation that I might dig up something extra special for them. They love to dig in it and turn it over and over. I remove the wooden roosts to clean them, hose down the floor and finally put down fresh straw before replacing the roosts and ladders and add the steps up to the nest boxes (because now the floor is much lower than before, until a few more layers of straw are added!)
This results in much more sanitary conditions and this is really noticeable because I have COPD so would choke badly if I were to breathe in contaminants, however I don't need a mask - though definitely I wear rubber gloves for touching their poopy roosts!!!
Whoever originally posted that article - FANTASTIC, IT REALLY WORKS!
Thanks, darling! Some days I feel young! Others, eh, not so much!
