Who wears a mask cleaning up after their chickens?

[chickschool]

I use a mask because of the dust but I recently did something that has cut my cleaning down tremendously. I noticed that the majority of the dropping were directly under the roost so I put a drop pan under it. It's the kind you'd usually under a rabbit cage. Now I simply slide it out and dump it into the compost. It works like a charm.

 

[carladababe]

Anytime you're working with poop and dust you should wear a mask. It's the safe thing to do. I have allergy induced asthma, so not only do I wear and mask and gloves, but I clean when the girls are in the mobile tractor, so I can open up the door and window for ventilation. Then wash everything afterwards. Better to spend a little more money on a quality mask.

 

[lynniev45]

Good topic. I hadn't thought of using a mask, but it makes sense. We're new at this. Our girls are just shy of a month old. So it'll be a little bit before they're out of the brooder. Even now it gets pretty dusty. I will have to look into getting masks. I definitely would use gloves for anything poop related!

 

[JodyJo]

I stir up my shavings, the chickens mostly sleep in the run on the roosts, so not bad inside, when I clean, I usually just use the shop vac and suck it all up! No dust, no muss!!
(I suck up the dust that is, the shavings all get scooped out...) but I do keep a mask on hand, better safe then sorry)