Safety Precautions- Biosecurity with Recycled/Used coop materials

[JP101010]

The Scenario:
You score tons of free chicken wire / PVC Frame Materials from someone who has Respiratory illnesses in their poultry on the property

The gentleman said the materials were not used to house his sick chickens ,That they sat untouched for almost a year -however he may have said this in response to the horrified look on my face when he announced the respiratory issues- so i do not know for sure

I plan on bleaching the PVC piping mostly , does the chicken wire pose a threat?
There is no visible fecal matter or debris , just a few vines and a caterpillar cocoon or two.

 

[Hammond Egger]

Prolly wouldn't hurt to give it a bleach treatment but I think I would approach this problem like marek's disease.....difficult to find a chicken that hasn't been exposed to it.

 

[SteveBaz]

Wow Nice score. I might be tempted to dump the PVC and build a solid frame with wood to replace the PVC. If you run out go buy the missing amount and have a very inexpensive coop/cage/run. Great fortune

 

[wyododge]

Bleach the PVC (remember that it takes 1 minute for some pathogens to be killed by bleach so fill the pvc and let it set for a bit.

Run a weed burner, propane torch, etc over the chicken wire. NOTHING will survive an open flame, and it will get rid of little critters and any other 'material' in the weaves, kinks and nooks.

Not sure if you know, but you can heat pvc and bend it like rubber if you need to make radius' for turns or hoops. Just heat it over a large area, you will feel it soften, then it will get 'rubbery'. I have done this for sprinkler and irrigation systems to get to runs of pipe at different angles to meet up exactly. We did it with some 12" PVC irrigation pipe we ran as well (that war REALLY COOL) It is really kind of fun to do and reduces the need for fittings. You can let the PVC cool naturally or spray it with water to harden immediately. It will not effect the strength or integrity of the PVC either.

 

[JP101010]

Thanks , We feel we are so lucky to have been the first to reply & score it! Im not sure on the amount of chicken wire , but i can tell you it is an entire Isuzu Rodeo (4 door) full , and I mean FULL - and each roll is tightly and neatly wrapped and one large sheet folded tight like a blanket!

I plan to leave the bleach soaking for at least 10 minutes

Burning the chicken wire is a good idea , I just dont have the equipment or the will ( survived a house fire 2 years ago) to make a burn pit

wyododge , Thanks so much for telling me about bending PVC , i did not know that! I would like to use this method but as i mentioned i dont have any torch type equipment- can you think of a way around that? Im thinking the pvc has to get really hot ?-so maybe its not possible in my situation. Maybe an XL pot Boiling Water?

 

[wyododge]

Quote:
My folks made an arbor out of PVC by putting the top rounded pieces in the oven. Put a towel on the rack, put them in the oven, when they got soft put them on the counter into a little jig (flat board with dowels to hold the curve) so they were all the same. When they were just the way they wanted, spray bottle of water. I think the oven was at 180 to 200. Just play with it, if it is to hot, open the door, too cold, turn up the oven. It does stink a little, but no big deal really. Be sure to use schedule 40 PVC. The thin walled stuff does not roll, it bends and collapses immediately.

You can get a propane torch and a bottle of propane for about 10 or 20 bucks at HD or Lowes. Just warm up a big area. There will be burn marks on the pvc, but you have to hold it in one place for it to catch fire.

Take a scrap and play with it, if you can get it to work, great, if not, no worries you really have not lost anything (you just wont be able to call yourself a master pipe bender).

 

[chfite]

A mixture of bleach 10% in water will kill almost anything.

 

[CupOJoe42]

I've heard good things about Oxine. Don't forget, SUNLIGHT kills a lot of bacteria, so after you clean and disinfect, let it sit out in SUNLIGHT to dry.

 

[simplynewt]

Quote:
My folks made an arbor out of PVC by putting the top rounded pieces in the oven. Put a towel on the rack, put them in the oven, when they got soft put them on the counter into a little jig (flat board with dowels to hold the curve) so they were all the same. When they were just the way they wanted, spray bottle of water. I think the oven was at 180 to 200. Just play with it, if it is to hot, open the door, too cold, turn up the oven. It does stink a little, but no big deal really. Be sure to use schedule 40 PVC. The thin walled stuff does not roll, it bends and collapses immediately.

You can get a propane torch and a bottle of propane for about 10 or 20 bucks at HD or Lowes. Just warm up a big area. There will be burn marks on the pvc, but you have to hold it in one place for it to catch fire.

Take a scrap and play with it, if you can get it to work, great, if not, no worries you really have not lost anything (you just wont be able to call yourself a master pipe bender).

I have been an electrician over 20 years and wish I had a dime for every foot of pvc I have bent during this time. It is safe to say that a xl pot of boining water will not work. I typically use what they call a heat gun. It likes like an industrial size hair dryer. They work the best and will not damage the conduit in any way. You can find them relatively cheap at Harbor Frieght. You may also want to consider using the fire that you build to clean the wire you got. Dont lay the pvc directly on the coals but keep it in the flame and keep turning it. That is the key! Keep during the pipe while it is in the flame and soon it will start to soften. You can do about a 3' section at one time. Have a can of water nearby so when it is soft enough to bend what you want, you can quickly add the water to your newly bent pipe to cool it off and retain the bend you just put into it.

Its really pretty simple but it may take a couple tries to get the hang of it.

God Bless.