Should I wear a mask?

[SusanD]

I've had a mild cough the past few weeks, and my mother was panicking (unecessarily, I think) that I might have caught histoplasmosis from taking care of our chickens. I plan to check into testing to appease her.

This does beg the question though, of when/if I should be wearing a mask to take care of them and what other people do. My main care duties that might be problematic are picking up (I wear gloves) their droppings (including their overnight ones) and replacing their shavings once every two weeks or so.

my plan right now, is to give them to a coworker in October (my Dad doesn't want to have to deal with keeping the chickens off our lawn while we replant our grass - I don't want the chickens to be running around in a muddy area), but I was hoping I could enjoy them for another month or so until our fall rain starts..

 

[BullChick]

Most of us wear a mask for cleaning the coop. As long as you don't have bronchial problems, you should be fine the rest of the time IMO.

 

[SusanD]

That sounds reasonable since that's the most likely to kick up dust.

 

[Folly's place]

Also wear a good mask when dusting either birds or the coop. If you are having issues, then wear that mask more often. I get the N95 masks in the paint department of the big box stores, ten for about $20. Worth ever dime! Mary

 

[SusanD]

I will keep that in mind if I do dust them. So far, I haven't seen anything to make me think they have mites or lice, so maybe I've been lucky

I'm hoping whatever's going on is not chicken related and will let you know what I find out.