# Question regarding disinfection



## pigeonwriter (Jul 13, 2009)

I have a feral pigeon family living on my balcony since March last year. They are completely free to go and come as they like. As this is not a long time of experience I am still new to many things. So in fact I wonder about disfection the balcony and the boxes some of them sleep in.

The first thing what I am doing in the morning is cleaning the balcony floor and the boxes where they have left some poop. Each box will receive a fresh layer of paper every day and their sleeping posts - I am using pottery saucers for flowerpots - are covered with fresh kitchentowel so that they don't sit in their own poop during the night. I have the feeling that they love this arrangement.

I am using apple vinegar mixed with water of course for cleaning and disinfecting the balcony balustrade and 2 times a week the balcony floor. I also try to remove all poop whenever it occurs. If there is too much poop on the walls of the boxes (rarely) because they poop in the wrong direction  - they are replaced by new ones. Also I spray the boxes inside with vinegar/water and wait until they are dry.

Would this be sufficient in order to avoid sickness from my side? I honestly do not like that heavy chemical stuff because I think that will do more harm than postive. But I want to make sure.

Since a few weeks I also add some vinegar (1 teaspoon in 1,5 l) in their drinking water - they seem to love it too. They drink in deep gulps. I did not dare to put in more because of the smell that might repell them. But I am not sure about this.

Any advice is very much appreciated!


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

if your balcony is cement you can scrape the poop with a paint scraper screw the scraper on a long handle and put the scrappings in a bucket and and throw away, you can wash things down with bleach water every now and again.


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## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

Hi Petra

Thin unscented bleach in hot water is fine, washed down with plain water afterwards. Sometimes I even use washing up liquid.

As to drinking water, d'you mean ordinary vinegar? Several people on here recommend apple cider vinegar in the water - supposed to be good for them. 

John


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## pigeonwriter (Jul 13, 2009)

Thank you for your answers.
Bleach is actually not an option as I cannot wash it away - the liquids would run on the balcony beneath ours and I don't think that the people would be very happy about it.
I remove the thicker parts already while scraping them off but I thought this would not be enough. 
It is organic apple vinegar I put into the water - they seem to love it. I am not sure whether this is really enough to prevent a few problems but I hope so. I don't know what I could do else besides giving them good food,specifically declared for pigeons.

Additionally I am feeding sunflower seeds without shell from my hand - so I have control who gets how much.


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

I sometimes use a product called Avicleanse, but it is very expensive.

I love the expression on the pigeon's face in the third picture. They certainly seem to know that they are being well looked after.

Cynthia


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## pigeonwriter (Jul 13, 2009)

Thank you Cynthia - very kind of you to say. And yes - i love "my" pigeons and want the best for them....


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## Siam Sam (May 16, 2009)

We put down Dettol disinfectant once a week or so and wash it away, but then we have a drain and drainage system out on our balcony.

We have a rectangular flower box we fill about 2/3 with dirt, and then the pigeons build their nest in that. We don't put paper down, and even though they do often soil the nest, it gets worked down into the dirt over time. We've never seen the birds manure-encrusted, and they stay pretty clean and healthy. We change out the box every two egg clutches.


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