# Toxic mold



## Dima (Jan 15, 2011)

It was posted in one of the threads the following link about good people taking care of birds; at the end of the column professor specialized in homing pigeons warned:

"he warned that toxic mold can grow on pigeon droppings" 

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens-couple-takes-wounded-pigeons-wing-article-1.1024613

I have a few questions:

1. When, in what conditions the mold grows on droppings?( i would think humidity)
2. Is it toxic for humans and /or birds?Who is more prone to get sick first?
3. What kind of sickness can be developed ?( i would think some respiratory)

Any opinions?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

That's why it is a good idea to scrape your loft daily. I don't even worry about that. BTW, think of all the bacteria that grows in droppings, and that is a good way for your bird to pick up worms and cocci, among other things.


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## Dima (Jan 15, 2011)

Jay3 said:


> That's why it is a good idea to scrape your loft daily. I don't even worry about that. BTW, think of all the bacteria that grows in droppings, and that is a good way for your bird to pick up worms and cocci, among other things.


What do you do about the dust after scraping and the dandruff from the feathers? Ventilation system is good enough?Vacuum? Is that bad also for pigeons?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Well, I scrape morning and night and usually sweep. Sometimes have used my shop vac. If you clean that often, the dust isn't all that bad, and besides, I put the fan on. Also, occasionally, I wipe down the walls with a damp sponge or clothe.


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## Jaye (Mar 13, 2008)

I also damp-toweled the entire loft today, all of the surfaces....walls, shelves, boxes, perch areas, etc...besides a thorough sweeping and providing good cross-ventilation. It was amazing the air quality after the damp-toweling (came after scraping and sweeping).

I think the sicknesses referred to were Pigeon sicknesses...although, again, it was much nicer to breath the air of the cleaned loft than the dusty one....


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Installing a fan that will, in a matter of minutes, pull the old air and dust out and pull fresh air in, makes a huge difference. And it's easy to do.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Dima said:


> What do you do about the dust after scraping and the dandruff from the feathers? Ventilation system is good enough?Vacuum?* Is that bad also for pigeons?*





If you mean is the dust bad for the birds, then yes it is. Lots of things can be spread in the dust of a dirty loft. Good ventilation and fresh air are important. You don't want them breathing in lots of dust either. A fan does work wonders, and fresh air moving through.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

I wear a dust mask when scrapping the loft. oxine works well to keep the dust down to.. I use it in a pump sprayer, the ones used for plants or the garden.


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## Dima (Jan 15, 2011)

We are in the process of designing a loft. Scraping is not an option for my BF. He prefers washing the floors with a hose i guess, drain the poops, and vacuum to dry the floor. Now the questions is what kind of floor, tile, can be used that also is not slippery for birds. He said a hole( with a mesh against squirrels and other animals) with a flap is sufficient as a ventilaton.

I guess this could be discussed in other threads.

Thanks for the answers. I understand that humidity is highly dangerous and for that, against it, works hand in hand good cleaning and ventilation system.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

you want the loft dry, not like a dog kennel that you hose out.. scrapping is really not hard and it is faster than doing all that with a hose..a wood floor with a scrapper and mist the loft with oxine. done.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Seems like a lot of trouble to clean the floor of a loft with a hose. The outside aviary, I can see hosing. If you are going to hose it down, then probably isn't going to get done all that often? Better and healthier to clean it often.

As far as ventilation, you would need more than just a hole. How big would it be? You could check out some of the threads on here about lofts and ventilation.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Kinda hard to get around scraping if you keep pigeons. As sw says, it really isn't hard, and doesn't take long.


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## Dima (Jan 15, 2011)

I would do the scraping every day; he would probably use the wet vacuum once a week. He thinks scraping is hard; but for me is another way being around pigeons.

I cannot answer how big the hole would be. It seems that he will do the design as he goes along, because he doesn't have answers.He says he has it all in his head. I show him from this site all kinds of lofts and other things...He is a very good critic; i guess his loft will be unique...lol no idea how will look like..i 'll put pics as he's constructing it..may be i'll get ideas from yous to pass it to him.

Thanks Jay3, Jaye, Spirit Wings.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Dima said:


> I would do the scraping every day; he would probably use the wet vacuum once a week. He thinks scraping is hard; but for me is another way being around pigeons.
> 
> I cannot answer how big the hole would be. It seems that he will do the design as he goes along, because he doesn't have answers.He says he has it all in his head. I show him from this site all kinds of lofts and other things...He is a very good critic; i guess his loft will be unique...lol no idea how will look like..i 'll put pics as he's constructing it..may be i'll get ideas from yous to pass it to him.
> 
> Thanks Jay3, Jaye, Spirit Wings.


he needs to build it for the pigeons AND the person doing the cleaning..if he is not familiar with keeping pigeons he may not build one with ease of cleaning in mind.. a pigeon loft should not have water in it...unless it is a cement floor open to the outside that can dry quick.


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## Grimaldy (Feb 25, 2007)

Hi Dima,

I think the author of that article was referring to Histoplasma encapsulatum, a fungus that is always associated with pigeon droppings by the pest control people and the pigeon haters.

It is quite true the fungus may be found in the droppings but the problem these people ignore is that the medical literature has never reported a case of H. encapsulatum attacking a human in the past 35 years or so that has been attributed to a pigeon. The fungus appears quite frequently in nature however from other sources and is somewhat common in the Ohio River Valley, also known as "spelunker's disease". The disease responds well to medication and is rarely fatal.


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## Dima (Jan 15, 2011)

That's interesting. Symptoms sound like avian flu from what i read...only it not contagious.


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