Official BYC Poll: Do You Wear a Mask or Respirator When Cleaning Your Coop?

[Liz Birdlover]

If you cough or blow your nose & see brown dust in your hanky afterwards, it means you should have worn a mask. I have seasonal allergies & asthma so I do wear N95 masks whenever I am running sanders, spray painting, or when shoveling/cleaning in coop or pigeon loft. A few times I had only planned on briefly scooping under poop perches, but then decided to do more...well you know if you kick up dust, the PDZ stuff, & see it in the air, or wheeze & find you need to get some fresh air outside, you might as well get a mask. It is worth it, give your lungs a break.

 

[Iluveggers]

If your coop is that dusty, it's bad for the chickens, too

Most of the time the dust/dander isn’t “smellable” when doing daily chores like collecting eggs and scooping poop. However when doing a deep clean (a few times a year), the dust is kicked up while working, and when wiping down the wood boards along the roofline. I have no problem breathing and there is no odor when I am in there, but definitely hard to breathe during deep clean. I don’t think some coops are that dusty on a daily basis. Same as a dry dirt field…if you get out there and start raking and hoeing the dust comes up but just walking on it normally isn’t dusty.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

If your coop is that dusty, it's bad for the chickens, too.

Most of the time the dust/dander isn’t “smellable” when doing daily chores like collecting eggs and scooping poop. However when doing a deep clean (a few times a year), the dust is kicked up while working, and when wiping down the wood boards along the roofline. I have no problem breathing and there is no odor when I am in there, but definitely hard to breathe during deep clean. I don’t think some coops are that dusty on a daily basis. Same as a dry dirt field…if you get out there and start raking and hoeing the dust comes up but just walking on it normally isn’t dusty.

I was going to say the same thing in answer! I don’t wear a mask out there every day simply because I don’t need to. It isn’t dusty unless I’m cleaning it out, in which case all of the chickens are locked out in the run for a couple hours so that they don’t breathe in all the dust. If your coop is that dusty all the time, then yes, you have a problem. I don’t think that is very common though.

 

[CloneFly]

View attachment 3746024

We all know how much dust those birds can create, so I'm just wondering who wears some kind of respiratory protection when they are in and around the coop - and when!

Have you had any issues from not wearing a mask?

Please vote and leave a comment below!

Having chickens inside for 6mos may or may not have given me asthma But I still avoid wearing a mask like the plague since I feel like I'm suffocating when I wear it. Just hold your breath and scoop!

 

[Perris]

If you cough or blow your nose & see brown dust in your hanky afterwards, it means

your chickens are breathing that in all the time. How are their lungs?

the dust is kicked up while working

don't your chickens scratch in the coop? How far are their nostrils from it?

if you get out there and start raking and hoeing the dust comes up

as it does when a chicken scratches. Doesn't the deep litter method rely on chickens scratching in it?

 

[cluck queen]

Meh, my coop is outside and the door is wide facing the north wind. I just pop the coop doors open and rake and shovel away the wind sucks all dust and particles out thru the opening to the south of me. My coop has a plexiglass floor insert so I just scoop and go. Plan to use the manure for my raised garden beds this year!

 

[Iluveggers]

don't your chickens scratch in the coop? How far are their nostrils from it?

Not really. I don’t use deep litter, as I scoop poop every morning. All food is kept outside in the run, so they spend 95% of the day outside scratching in the run, garden and yard. I only really see them in the coop when they lay eggs, or are waiting for their favorite nest box. When they go in at night, they jump up on the roost to find a spot.

 

[RaesChicks]

I stand outside the coop to stir the compressed pine bedding if I can’t scoop the poop off. If I’m moving buckets of soiled bedding I wear a mask or cover my face with my shirt. I don’t wear a mask in the coop if I’m adding bedding or moving things but I keep my hair up and covered if I’m in the run for any amount of time just because it’s only 4’ high and the squirrels like to chill on top. If I see dust with what I’m doing I cover my face. Honestly after reading some posts here I did order a respirator and some new masks. I never saw anyone talk about masking or gloving up so I felt silly wearing them before.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Not sure why some folks are poo-pooing on people wanting to protect their lungs, but the birds aren't in the coop while I'm digging up their poop nuggets each morning, I am. Meanwhile the chickens are outside (as they choose to be the vast majority of the day) enjoying fresh air - or voluntarily rolling themselves in dry dirt and making dust clouds that I also try to avoid. I've never had a bird with respiratory issues or eye issues, and I don't have respiratory issues, but I've watched hubby hack up a lung enough times that I don't want it.

 

[Perris]

Not sure why some folks are poo-pooing on people wanting to protect their lungs, but the birds aren't in the coop while I'm digging up their poop nuggets each morning, I am. Meanwhile the chickens are outside (as they choose to be the vast majority of the day) enjoying fresh air - or voluntarily rolling themselves in dry dirt and making dust clouds that I also try to avoid. I've never had a bird with respiratory issues or eye issues, and I don't have respiratory issues, but I've watched hubby hack up a lung enough times that I don't want it.

my comments were prompted by some of the responses on the previous 6 pages