# Dirty Eggs



## Missouri_pigeon (Jun 7, 2009)

Okay, I have had this on my mind for a long long time but now since I have found this great site I shall ask. 

Does anyone else have dirty eggs when they are in the nest bowl? My pigeons lay the eggs but they are dirty by the next day. Mostly because my birds dont believe in having clean feet and anything clean must be pooped on.

I thought it was maybe just my birds but surely someone else has had this problem. 

If so, what do you do? Just leave the poop on the egg?Wash it off? 

I normally leave the poop on the egg (unless it becomes real gross) and they all seem fine in the end.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Once in a while, an egg will get dirty, but not very often. What kind of bowls do you use? MOST pigeons like for their nesting area to be clean.....well, at least until the babies hatch........I know I've got pairs that will spend all day in a box.......poop a million times and just make a total mess...but once the hen is on eggs, I seldom find any poop in the boxes. 
And, not saying this in a derogatory manner, because I don't know, but if the loft isn't kept clean and they have to walk in poop all day every day, well.....they're feet ARE going to get dirty and it will get carried into the nest box and bowl.


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## Missouri_pigeon (Jun 7, 2009)

Well, the bowls are those clay bowls from Seigals. 

The nest boxes are scraped every four days prior to babies and once the babies hatch I scrape them every other day as it gets pretty dirty in there. 

The perchs I scrape every two weeks or later if they arent dirty. 

The floor I scrape every week. But i dont have any floor coverings (shavings,corn cob etc) Just a plain plywood floor. Also the nest bowls are filled with calcium sand I got cheap at an old pet shop (made for reptiles) 

The lofts (5 total, Old bird, Young Bird, Breeder, Retirement, and weaning) are kept pretty clean. I hate going in there and steppin in poop thats why i clean it often. The breeder loft I normally clean it more often in front of the nestboxes (they like to hang their butts over).


Note: All of the above applies to all the lofts, besides when I am talking about nest boxes I mean for the breeders. My other lofts dont have nest boxes.


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## Missouri_pigeon (Jun 7, 2009)

Also, is it okay just to leave it on there like I have been doing? It seems to be fine but I dont know. I may be mentally damaging my birds or something.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

I honestly don't know if the poop on the eggs will hurt them or not. I don't think washing them is a good idea though. MAYBE wiping with a damp cloth....but then you take a chance on breaking the egg or God forbid, dropping it. 
I'll be honest with you. If I only scraped my floors once a week, I wouldn't like going in my loft very much. 
Our loft get cleans every single day. That's perches, nest boxes and floors. Doesn't take long.


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## Missouri_pigeon (Jun 7, 2009)

Oh yeah. I would hate to drop an egg. or crack it. Thats why I was afraid to do anything. 

I clean it once a week because normally I dont have that many pigeons though. But if i notice it getting dirty (normally the breeders or the YB's) I just go in and scrape it.

Clean it every day!?!? How many pigeons do you have? WOW.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Missouri_pigeon said:


> Oh yeah. I would hate to drop an egg. or crack it. Thats why I was afraid to do anything.
> 
> I clean it once a week because normally I dont have that many pigeons though. But if i notice it getting dirty (normally the breeders or the YB's) I just go in and scrape it.
> 
> Clean it every day!?!? How many pigeons do you have? WOW.


I've got 15 breeder hens and 15 breeder cocks in separate sections. I've got 42 young birds. And I've got 12 old bird cocks and 12 old bird hens in separate sections. Takes me and my husband about and hour to clean everything. If I do it all alone, which I do sometimes, it takes about 1 1/2 hours.


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## Missouri_pigeon (Jun 7, 2009)

Ah, I see why. Well there is no harm in being too clean! 

Now if you excuse me i must go clean the loft. It sounds dirty compared to yours.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Missouri_pigeon said:


> Ah, I see why. Well there is no harm in being too clean!
> 
> Now if you excuse me i must go clean the loft. It sounds dirty compared to yours.


LOL.........


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## Ed (Sep 18, 2008)

Missouri_pigeon said:


> Ah, I see why. Well there is no harm in being too clean!
> 
> Now if you excuse me i must go clean the loft. It sounds dirty compared to yours.


ROFL!!!


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## Missouri_pigeon (Jun 7, 2009)

You think I am kidding. I'm not. Half way done.


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## g0ldenb0y55 (Dec 23, 2008)

Lovebirds said:


> I honestly don't know if the poop on the eggs will hurt them or not. I don't think washing them is a good idea though. MAYBE wiping with a damp cloth....but then you take a chance on breaking the egg or God forbid, dropping it.
> *I'll be honest with you. If I only scraped my floors once a week, I wouldn't like going in my loft very much.
> Our loft get cleans every single day. That's perches, nest boxes and floors. Doesn't take long*.


I wish I had the time to clean my loft like you do Renee. Every picture I've seen of your loft it looks like you've just cleaned it. You do a great job and I'm sure your birds appreciate it! I try to clean mine 3 times a week but most of the time I only get to do it twice. It takes me about 2 hours to clean but this is a complete wash down with water and disinfectant spray.

For the dirty egg thing I don't think it is a problem. Just make sure that when the babies hatch mom and dad keep them clean and if they don't you can always wash them down with a wet paper towel to take the poop off of them.


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## Missouri_pigeon (Jun 7, 2009)

Thanks. I know. Renee's loft always looks brand new. 

Normally the babies are pretty clean. I have never seen a pigeon baby completely clean. But they do just fine. ...












I think


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

My lofts are not cleaned everyday, but the floors are not bare, so it stays dry in there. I ususally don't have problems with dirty eggs unless there's a lot of rain and humidity over a period of time, and the cages don't dry as quickly. Then the parents end up tracking mess back into the nest. But of course when that happens I clean.

Is the nest itself wet, or the nest box...orrr...? When the parents droppings get a little more watery, the nests can really get messy.


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## Missouri_pigeon (Jun 7, 2009)

The nest and the nest box isnt wet. The nestbox normally gets messing when growing babies are inside but i clean it more often then. But its never wet. They just walk through the poop when they are down eating/drinking/whatever and track it back. I might consider putting pine shavings or corn cob down that way it looks cleaner and I wouldnt have to scrape the floor, just sift i guess? I still scrape the nestboxes though. One thing I cant stand is a dirty nestbox. Its the equivelent of changing a human babies diaper once every couple of days. 


Okay, back out I go.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

g0ldenb0y55 said:


> It takes me about 2 hours to clean but this is a complete wash down with water and disinfectant spray.


Don't know if you've ever heard of John Sampson or not? http://www.sampsonbrothers.com/
Back in 2002, when I was getting ready to race my first YB season, my birds came down with what I assume was YB sickness. I freaked out. I called John Sampson. Never spoke to the man before. He had no idea who I was, but I had one of his videos and I was desperate to figure out what was wrong. He was very nice and helped me a lot. One of the things he told me, that I've never forgotten was "a spotless loft is one of the worse things you can do to your birds". I throughly clean my loft once a year. Other than that, all I do is scrape every day. A clean loft can be almost as bad as a dirty one. Your birds need to be exposed to some things to build up their immune system. My loft gets cleaned every day more because it bothers ME, not the birds. They could care less. IMO, you'd be better off to spend 45 quick minutes scraping every day than busting your buns twice a week to get everything **** and span.


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

And that is why I'm more concerned about a dry loft than a completely spotless loft. As long as it's not wet and icky (which is dangerous for the birds), then I'm not that bothered. So I don't spend a hour or two each day cleaning. When I give medications or wormers/coccidiostats, I typically clean the loft everyday through the course of the meds. That way they dont just pick the stuff back up. Otherwise, if they're healthy, the loft isn't that big of an issue.

Just remember that, like Renee quoted, a clean loft can be as bad as a dirty one, BUT a loft that isn't dry, can be deadly. Makes it extremely easy for bacteria and disease to grow, especially in the warmer months, when salmonella/paratyphoid and e coli grow the quickest.


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## g0ldenb0y55 (Dec 23, 2008)

Lovebirds said:


> Don't know if you've ever heard of John Sampson or not? http://www.sampsonbrothers.com/
> Back in 2002, when I was getting ready to race my first YB season, my birds came down with what I assume was YB sickness. I freaked out. I called John Sampson. Never spoke to the man before. He had no idea who I was, but I had one of his videos and I was desperate to figure out what was wrong. He was very nice and helped me a lot. One of the things he told me, that I've never forgotten was "a spotless loft is one of the worse things you can do to your birds". I throughly clean my loft once a year. Other than that, all I do is scrape every day. A clean loft can be almost as bad as a dirty one. Your birds need to be exposed to some things to build up their immune system. My loft gets cleaned every day more because it bothers ME, not the birds. They could care less. IMO, you'd be better off to spend 45 quick minutes scraping every day than busting your buns twice a week to get everything **** and span.


Thanks for the advice Renee I had no idea that a **** and span loft could be harmful for my birds. So far I have not seen or had any sickness in my loft since I've started with my birds. I'll make sure to keep that in mind and watch to see if my cleaning method causes any issues. Maybe I'll cut it down to 1 complete wash down a week with 2 scraping days.


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## Missouri_pigeon (Jun 7, 2009)

Thats true. Things like nest boxes, although I would love to clean them every day, or even twice a day because they start to look gross as the babies grow up. I dont because I thought it would be creating too much of a "plastic bubble" And now i know I am right. 

Things that dont get dirty as easily, IE: Perches,traps/landing boards,fly pens. I dont clean as often. 

And I am finally done with the cleaning. 







For now...


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Well, if you think about the feral babies and no one cleans for them. Those babies spend the first 30 days of their life in all that poop. 
I draw the line at having feed in poop though. I provide a bowl of seed in each nest box and the birds tend to make a pretty big mess looking for the "good" stuff, so I do clean around my nest bowls every day........sometimes 2 or 3 times if I'm around.


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## Missouri_pigeon (Jun 7, 2009)

*Renee's Loft*

See what I mean.





























Looks cleaner than my house! WOW!



Taken from... http://lovebirdsloft.homestead.com/TheLoft.html


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Now, what you DIDN'T say (and didn't know I guess) is THOSE pictures were before a pigeon was ever put in the loft. The loft was brand new...........LOL.......my loft is pretty clean, but not THAT clean........


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## Missouri_pigeon (Jun 7, 2009)

No, I ment what I said. Much cleaner than my house was new! Also much cleaner than what my loft was brand new. Also more professional looking. 

I seen your videos. I just didnt know hwo to put them right on the screen. Still, its cleaner than oxy clean.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

I have had a few eggs with a bit of poop on them, but I just tried to flick it off with my finger nail if it all did not come off, oh well, I would'nt clean them, as that may take what they call the bloom off the egg, which is a protective layer so bacteria can't get into the egg, with pigeons it comes with the territory I guess...I like it when I find those nice clean eggs with bit of shine and a nice thick shell, those seem to come from the same hens now that I think about it, some pairs I think are just cleaner than others, but because of the protective layer or the bloom, they should be fine.


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## Missouri_pigeon (Jun 7, 2009)

Yeah, I think it runs in the genes. I have two hens that lay nice "perfect" eggs and never dirty them. Their daughters do the same thing. I wish the rest of the crowd would follow. I was afraid i would either 1)Damage the egg, 2) Crack the egg, 3)Drop the egg 4)Somehow disturb the egg and it wouldnt hatch.

Or some other horrible thing.


The rest of the dirty eggs I had have hatched and become great birds. 

I guess I just wanted reassurance.


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