What's with all this dust!?!

[wannahavehens]

Hi all. I have searched and looked all over the site and don't see anything about all the dust in the coop. OMG it's on everything. It's a very fine dark dust and I can't tell where it's coming from. Is it from the chickens themselves? I do put pine shavings, dried grass, straw and leaves on the floor of the coop and I know the pine shavings are really dry, but I can't imagine it's all from that... Any ideas? Thanks.

 

[vtsarahb]

My coop is also coated in dust... I'm guessing it's from the wood shavings, since the chickens like to take "baths" in them sometimes.

 

[Katy]

A good portion of it is probably dander from the chickens themselves.

 

[BarkerChickens]

Dander! It's horrible! How old are your chickens? Chicks are especially bad because they are losing their down to grow new feathers. And the dust is bad when they molt too.

 

[cmom]

Between the birds dusting and the pine shavings, my coop is loaded with dust. Almost immediately after cleaning it is back to being dusty.

 

[funkychickenowner]

its dander after they amture it will go away for the most part

 

[citrusdreams]

My chickens have always made dust all over the henhouse and some of them are three years old now.

Chickens are notorious for their dust. I don't think it ever goes away.

 

[consdrs]

yep chicken dander, pine shavings, dirt from out side and the all important ingredient in this fine dusty mess.... dried chicken poo.....
with a cherry on top....

 

[Nostalchic]

Your chicks are losing their fluff and growing feathers, right? This is chick dust - pretty impressive isn't it? It will diminish as their adult feathers fill in.

 

[wannahavehens]

Thank you all. I sure hope it lets up. I just can't keep ahead of it. They are a year old this month, and I expect they should have their first molt soon.