Please help!! I might be Allergic to Chickens?!

[Horse-n-bunny]

Hi All,

I have had a flock of 12 beautiful red start pullets (just turned 6 months) and since then I have had trouble breathing and congested. I thought it was a cold but its been 3 weeks and I feel fine other than I cant breathe through my nose. I have never been allergic to anything ever and now it seems possible i am having a reaction to my flock which I Love and have put my heart and soul into giving a beautoful coop and building a nice run... any suggestions would be great. does anyone out there have allergies to chickens but still has a backyward flock? thanks in advance for any helpful suggestions...

~Horse~

 

[realsis]

wow that's awful! you can try this new product I've seen on TV for allergy. you can get it at any rite aide or store. its a nasal spray that blocks the incoming allergies. it puts a barrier in the nose. I can remember what its called but it has no side effects and won't cause sleepyness. that should help! perhaps its the dander your allergic to.that nasal spray should help. I have allergies and I take a pill from the doctor called singulair it does not cause ANY side effects or make me sleepy. its covered by most insurance too! you could ask your doc for a script. it works great! I have a slight allergy to my house cats and singulair really helps! its a great product! if you can't get to your doctor I'd try the nasal spray. I hope this post is helpful! I wish you the best! I know you can beat these darn allergies! good luck to you!

 

[CedarAcres]

Allergies can just pop up out of the blue, unfortunately! But it might not be your chickens... it could be a number of other things. After not having any allergies my entire life, suddenly last year I developed them. My doctor has me take zyrtec once a day and use the nasal spray flonase once a day. It works wonders for me! I'd talk to your doctor & see what works for you

 

[Horse-n-bunny]

Great!! Thanks realsis and cedar acres fo the advice... Ill consult my doctor next week...I just bought a small package of claritin to help me through the weekend.... Hey cedar acres do you think FLONASE is the spray that realsis was reffering to? it stops the in coming allergens? thanks again for your help peeps.

Peace 4 real

 

[missnu01]

Allergies are easy to combat...and now that you mention it everyone in my house has been ill for what seems like forever, and it really might just be allergies. We use hay as bedding, and it is known to cause even non allergy sufferers a bit of sneezing now and then. Just take some allergy meds like everyone has suggested and hopefully you can enjoy your chickens without the itchy watery eyes, scratchy throat and clogged nose.

 

[CedarAcres]

I don't think it's the same one because Flonase is a perscription. There's a generic one that's cheap. Nasonex is another one, but it's very expensive since there is no generic. I could be totally wrong here, but I thought Flonase works by stopping the inflammation in the sinuses to make you feel better. So combined with an allergy medicine (zyrtec/claritin) it helps knock out more symptoms. Hope that helps!

 

[shmccarthy]

I got what I thought was a cold a few weeks ago and it ended up being me being allergic to the dust from the shavings in my chicks bedding. I took DayQuil because I thought it was a cold but eliminating the dust and switching to a different bedding helped a lot.

 

[Time-Out]

Could it be something related to the chickens? The bedding, for example? Have you used that bedding before (I guess you have a rabbit?).

 

[PandoraChick]

I have bad allergies too that have worsened in the past year since we got the chickens. I do not think it is the chickens as much as it is the dust from them, like when I clean out of the coop. I bought a respirator for when I do this now and I think it helps. We have a large walk-in coop and use the deep litter method and it can be pretty bad.

I also use Zyrtec and it works wonders.

Hope you get better!