# Pregnant and chickens?



## CNCfamily (Sep 13, 2010)

You know how pregnant women aren't supposed to mess with cat litter because of some toxic thing that can hurt the pregnancy? Is there any problems like that with chickens? I just had this random thought today when i fed my hens! I'm 10 weeks pregnant, and i really hope i'm not exposing myself to something strange that i shouldn't be!


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## mommathea (May 27, 2009)

I doubt it. Just as a precaution though, I'd have someone else clean anything really poo'ey, and dirty, and avoid breathing in a lot of the dust from the coop.

I've never heard anything though, and an ER dr we saw one time said he had over 30chickens and his wife who was pregnant at the time took care of the feeding and cleaning the coop.


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## WstTxLady (Mar 14, 2009)

No need to worry. Just practice what you already do now. Just as the trimesters go, dont do any heavy lifting. Plus like anyone (pregnant or not) try not to breathe in the dust.

And CONGRATS !


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## CNCfamily (Sep 13, 2010)

No heavy lifting! HA! My husband is out of state for work, and someone around here has to haul hay, unload 1000 lbs of grain bags, stack firewood, fix fence, muck stalls, etc, etc, etc......Looks like that's ME!  So far so good though, as long as i dont over-do it, i think i'll be ok. 

I'm just glad to know there's no toxic junk with chickens like there is with cats! 

Thanks for the congrats!


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## FunnyRiverFarm (May 25, 2010)

I've always heard that a pregnant woman should avoid contact with any type of animal feces. Chickens don't carry toxoplasmosis but there are plenty of other poo "bugs" that a pregnant woman is more susceptable to. General care like feeding and watering is okay, but I would leave the chicken house cleaning to someone else. If you have to do it, wear a mask.


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## CNCfamily (Sep 13, 2010)

I'm thinking i'll get some masks. I want to get some anyways because i'm SO allergic to the horses and hay, so it's like self-induced torture twice a day when i feed! Lol! It wasn't so bad before when i could take Zyrtec, but now i'm stuck with just Benadryl. But i think the masks would help when i mess with the horses a lot, or haul hay.


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## strawhouse (Aug 7, 2010)

I had the same question when I got preggers again. My midwife said there was no worry. I'd wear a mask anyways, dust is no good no matter what.
And you can do heavy lifting! Just don't do something you wouldn't have done before you were preggers.
Pregnancy is a nice excuse to get out of things sometimes though!
I told my husband that breastfeeding women can't clean the litter boxes too. (which is true, for the first few months...) It's got me out of cleaning cat poo for 2 years though!!!  And now I'm pregs again, I can enjoy another 2 years of not cleaning cat poo! Yay!
Congrats on the pregs, take it easy (when you can). I hope your not feeling sick!


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## rabbitpatch (Jan 14, 2008)

Birds actually can carry toxoplasmosis. My boss's daughter had some medical problems earlier this year, including breathing problems, and one of the first things the dr. asked her was whether she had a bird in her house.

The best precaution is to wear a mask and gloves when handling anything dusty or that could be soiled with feces.

http://www.dhpe.org/infect/toxo.html


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