Cleaning a chicken coop can make you sick, so it is imperative to take precautions to minimize your risk of contracting diseases that can be passed from chickens to humans. Flock owners can contract diseases while cleaning a chicken coop either by direct contact or by inhaling chicken poop dust.
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Are You Getting Sick After Cleaning Your Chicken Coop?
Have you found yourself getting sick after cleaning your chicken coop? When you clean out your coop it stirs up a lot of potentially harmful dust particles. As an owner of chickens, it is important to know the dangers of inhaling chicken manure particles. Breathing in “chicken coop dust” can make you sick.
Cleaning the chicken coop can be quite the chore and I’m sure most of us that have done it have wondered, “Is the dust dangerous to breath when I’m cleaning the coop?” “Is chicken poop toxic to humans?” “What diseases can chickens transmit to humans?” and “What can I do to protect myself from getting sick while cleaning the chicken coop?”
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CLEANING OUT A CHICKEN COOP CAN MAKE YOU SICK!
Can Cleaning the Chicken Coop Make You Sick? (9 Tips)
Precautions do need to be taken while cleaning the chicken coop so you do not get sick. There are several different diseases that can be passed from chickens to humans either through inhaling dust particles during cleaning of the chicken coop or with direct contact of chicken manure.
This article will cover what diseases humans can contract from chickens, how the diseases are transmitted and 9 tips that you can do to prevent yourself from getting sick while cleaning the chicken coop or just handling your chickens.
Cleaning Chicken Coop Dangers: 6 Chicken to Human Diseases
What Diseases Can Chickens Transmit to Humans?
DISEASE
HOW TRANSMITTED
HUMAN SYMPTOMS
1. SALMONELLA (BACTERIAL)
MANURE, UNDERCOOKED EGGS AND CHICKEN
DIARRHEA, VOMITTING, FEVER, ABDOMINAL CRAMPING
2. CAMPYLOBACTER (BACTERIAL)
MANURE, UNDERCOOKED EGGS AND CHICKEN INHALING MANURE PARTICLES
CLEANING CHICKEN COOP DANGERS: DISEASES THAT CAN BE TRANSMITTED FROM CHICKENS TO HUMANS
Is the Dust Dangerous to Breathe When I’m Cleaning the Coop?
It is extremely dangerous breathing in chicken coop dust particles when you are cleaning the coop. Infected droppings can become airborne when disturbed (cleaning a coop). Tiny dust particles can carry fungal spores, bacterial and viral infections that can be inhaled into your respiratory system.
style="font-size:18px">If you inhale or get enough of an infectious virus or spores into your eyes, nose, mouth or lungs it can cause Histoplasmosis, Avian Influenza, Exotic Newcastle Disease, Campylobacter and possibly Salmonella as well.
DUST IS DANGEROUS TO BREATHE WHEN CLEANING THE CHICKEN COOP.
Is Chicken Poop Dangerous to Humans?
People can get sick with Salmonella, Campylobacter, Avian Flu, Histoplasmosis, Exotic Newcastle Disease and E. Coli by anything in the chicken’s environment that has come into contact with infected chicken poop.This includes the dirt, cages, nesting boxes, watering and feed bowls, shovels and rakes.
According to the CDC, humans can contract Salmonella from handling chickens or coming into contact with their manure. It isn’t only transmitted through eating of contaminated food. Chickens do not have to look unhealthy to transmit any of these diseases to humans.
How Do Chickens Transmit Diseases to Humans?
CHICKENS CAN TRANSMIT MANY DIFFERENT DISEASES TO HUMANS.
Humans can contract diseases from chickens not only by handling them, but also from coming into direct contact with chicken droppings. Droppings can be anywhere in a chicken’s environment, including the soil, cages, nesting boxes, waterers and feeders, rakes and shovels.
style="font-size:18px">Humans can contract diseases from chickens by inhaling manure particles. Infected manure particles contain spores, viruses or bacteria that can become airborne when disturbed, such as when cleaning the chicken coop.
While chickens can look healthy on the outside, their manure can possibly contain infectious bacteria, spores or viruses. Whenever you clean the chicken coop, it’s best to act as if the environment is infectious and take appropriate precautions to prevent becoming sick in the first place.
9 Safety Tips to Prevent Chicken to Human Diseases
1. Wear Protective Gear When Cleaning a Chicken Coop
Wear protective gear when it’s time to clean the chicken coop. Protective gear includes a respirator, goggles, boots, gloves and old clothes. If you do not have a respirator, an N-95 mask will suffice. It is important to make sure that your mask is sealed and your eyes are completely covered.
2. Don’t Wear Chicken Coop Boots in House
DON’T WEAR YOUR CHICKEN COOP BOOTS INTO THE HOUSE.
It’s a good idea to have special boots that you wear in and around the chicken coop, but never into your house. It’s ok to wear the boots around outdoors, but make sure that you spray the chicken poop off your boots before walking around other parts of your property.
Wearing boots that have been worn around the chicken coop runs a risk of contaminating your floors. A crawling baby can easily become infected and get sick.
Get into the habit of spraying your boots off every time you walk out of your chicken coop. Leave a pair of clean shoes by the entrance of your house to change into when you take your chicken coop boots off.
3. Change Clothes After Cleaning Coop
ALWAYS WEAR PROTECTIVE GEAR WHEN CLEANING OUT YOUR CHICKEN COOP AND CHANGE YOUR CLOTHES AFTERWARDS.
When cleaning the chicken coop, it is a good idea to have an old pair of clothes to wear. A long-sleeved t-shirt, jeans or overalls would be great. Change your clothes after cleaning the coop. Take your dirty clothes and put them directly into the wash, shower and put clean clothes on.
style="font-size:18px">Just as wearing your “coop boots” into the house can transmit bacteria, viruses and spores, so can continuing to wear clothes that you wore while cleaning in the chicken coop.
CLEAN THE CHICKEN COOP REGULARLY TO DECREASE THE SPREADING OF BACTERIA, SPORES AND VIRUSES.
To decrease the chance of spreading harmful bacteria, spores and viruses, get on a good coop cleaning maintenance schedule. Don’t let excessive droppings build up and if the coop floor gets wet, it’s time to change the bedding material. Bacteria thrive in warm, moist environments.
Apple cider vinegar and water mixed at a 1:1 ratio works well as a cleaner in the chicken coop. The apple cider vinegar is acidic and is capable of killing salmonella, E. coli and Lysteria monocytogenes.
style="font-size:18px">You can also mix ACV with lemon juice or baking soda. This is safe to use around chickens and will help to reduce the amount of pathogens to a non detectable level.
Vigorously rub your hands with soap and water for 30 seconds both before and after handling chickens, collecting eggs or working around the coop. This will help to prevent you from getting any chicken transmitted illnesses. Chickens can appear healthy, but still carry harmful bacteria.
WASH HANDS BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER BEING AROUND CHICKENS TO STOP THE SPREAD OF CHICKEN TO HUMAN DISEASES.
Teach your children to do the same. Have them sing the “Alphabet Song” 2 x while rubbing their hands with soap and water. Children under the age of 5 and adults over 65 are at increased risk of becoming ill if they are exposed because their immune systems are not as strong.
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As more and more family’s are beginning to keep backyard chickens, there are also more cases of Salmonella. According to a study done by the CDC from 1990-2014, of the patients that contracted Salmonella: 13% smooched a chicken, 49% snuggled a baby chick, 46% kept a chicken in the house and 10% kept a chicken in their bedroom.
YOU CAN CONTRACT SALMONELLA JUST FROM KISSING OR SNUGGLING WITH YOUR CHICKEN.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would like for everyone to please refrain from kissing their chickens. And from snuggling them. And from eating with them. And from inviting them in their homes.
Keep chickens outdoors. While this may be a no brainer for some, it can be quite difficult for others. There are many chicken owners that allow their chickens in their home. This not only puts the owner at risk, but also anyone else that comes into their home of developing diseases like Salmonella.
Chickens can look perfectly healthy and still carry many different diseases. Putting a diaper on a chicken is just not sufficient enough. Germs that you cannot see can also be on the feathers and feet of a chicken.
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COOK ALL MEAT AND EGGS THOROUGHLY TO DECREASE THE CHANCES OF SALMONELLA.
Salmonella lives in the intestines of infected chickens. This is why it is important to discard any eggs that are cracked. Fecal matter can be present and absorbed through the pores of the egg shell, contaminating the egg. Contaminated eggs and meat that are not cooked thoroughly can make you sick.
Certain people are more prone to contracting diseases from chickens because their immune systems are not as strong. All people are more at risk of developing disease such as E. coli and Salmonella during the warm Summer months of June-September, when bacteria thrive.
Who is at Increased Risk of Contracting Illnesses from Chickens?
INCREASED RISK OF CONTRACTING ILLNESSES FROM CHICKENS
UNDER 5
OVER 65
IMMUNOCOMPROMISED
THOSE TAKING STOMACH ACID REDUCING MEDICATIONS
THOSE THAT EAT RAW OR UNDERCOOKED FOODS
PEOPLE AT INCREASED RISK OF CONTRACTING ILLNESSES FROM CHICKENS
9. Avoid Touching Face When Cleaning Coop
Invisible bacteria lives on your chicken’s feathers, beaks, feet, nesting boxes, coop floor, soil and coop cleaning tools. It’s everywhere around the environment of your chickens. Picking up your chicken to give it a nice pet is fine, but avoid touching your face after doing so.
Conclusion: Cleaning the Chicken Coop CAN Make You Sick (9 Tips)
Cleaning a chicken coop CAN make you very sick. There are several diseases that humans can contract either with direct contact or inhaling dust particles of chicken manure. You can lessen your chances of becoming sick if you take appropriate precautions.
The two most important tips to take away from this are to avoid breathing in chicken coop dust and to protect yourself from coming into chicken manure by wearing protective gear while cleaning your chicken coop.
By knowing the dangers of inhaling chicken coop dust and following safety tips to prevent chicken to human transmission, you are decreasing your chances of getting sick after cleaning the chicken coop.
About the Author
Jenny is a chicken enthusiast and has raised a variety of different breeds of chickens in her Northern California backyard for the past 27 years.
She enjoys using incubators to incubate and hatch fertile chicken eggs so she can raise baby chicks from day 1.
Some of her favorites include Crested Cream Legbars, Marans, Silkies, Orpingtons and Olive Eggers. These breeds make a beautiful basket of farm fresh eggs!
Both she and her husband built their own chicken coop and she and her Dad built her current chick brooder.
Jenny likes to share tips and tricks that she has learned over the years to make it easier for others to raise happy, healthy and productive chickens.
Two years ago she released Cooling Herbs for Chickensthat helps to lower chicken core body temperature during extreme heat.
Currently Jenny is working on perfecting just the right warming herbs blend to offer your flock during the cold winter months. It should be released by later September 2025.
Can Cleaning a Chicken Coop Make You Sick? – https://www.backyardchickensmama.com/can-cleaning-a-chicken-coop-make-you-sick/
1 thought on “Can Cleaning a Chicken Coop Make You Sick? (9 Tips)”
Great article! Thanks for sharing! Real important reminders! Sometimes it’s easy to fall into a routine that isn’t necessarily a good hygiene choice. I needed these reminders to develop healthier habits when working with my chickens!
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Great article! Thanks for sharing! Real important reminders! Sometimes it’s easy to fall into a routine that isn’t necessarily a good hygiene choice. I needed these reminders to develop healthier habits when working with my chickens!