# clean loft!



## SouthTown Racers (Jan 14, 2009)

How does everyone, really, deep clean their lofts and how often? This is a 2 part question. Im doing my best to chisel away the frozen droppings, but I only have so much time in the day. If the droppings are rock solid, is it important to get them up every day? The nest boxes I can clean, but the floor is like concrete. As soon as it warms a bit, I would like to do the deep clean. Thanks!


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

I know some people that clean every two days, and some that clean twice a year.
I've been arguing for a long time about cleaning so I don't feel much like explaining what I do, but I will tell you that a dry loft is much more important than a perfectly scraped, clean loft. IMO. Your loft could be cleaned from top to bottom but when their droppings hit the floor, chances are they won't dry up as quickly as they would if there was something else there like some type of bedding or more droppings, to help draw out the moisture. Then they step in it, food could get in it, etc. Whereas you may have a loft that you can't even see the floor through the droppings, but its dry, and the birds can walk all over it and nothing gets spread around as much. I went in a loft recently that did that. Had a few inches of shavings down, and after a while more inches of droppings accumulated. Everything was perfectly dry and the birds looked WONDERFUL. The loft looked like crap (no pun intended ), but that's okay. But of course if rain were to get in and the floor were to get wet, it would be like a breeding ground for bacteria and all things bad. So you've got to have a good control on humidity and such when using the deep litter method.
Keeping it spotless may look better and make you feel better, but as far as which way is better for the birds, that's up to you to decide.


As far as deep cleaning, which is what _we_ call completely scraping down, spraying and sanitizing the loft...we generally do that at least once a year, in the summer time.


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## RodSD (Oct 24, 2008)

I clean my floor every other day. Now I started cleaning every day. It the poops get stuck I just spray disinfectant spray liquid to loosen them up, then I just scrape it. I have no experience scraping frozen poops though.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

This from birdhealth.com
Clean loft
Pigeons love a clean loft and rest better when the perches and floor are cleaned free of droppings. Sand on the floor looks good, but is not recommended during the cold months of the racing season. At this time the birds may suddenly over-engorge on it and lose form because of the resulting "gut ache". Pigeons love to lie down on straw but it must be perfectly fresh, clean and be free of dust or moisture. Black marks and a musty smell to the straw indicates mould on the straw, which can damage the pigeons airsacs when inhaled.

The loft is cleaned at least once and even better twice daily during the racing season.

Twice daily cleaning allows the fancier to monitor the health of the race team very closely. A change in the droppings is then recognised very early and the appropriate remedy (either rest, water cleanser, medicines, loft heaters etc.) can be quickly and effectively prescribed. The design of the loft must be such that scraping is made as easy as possible. The floor should be perfectly flat and smooth and the perches must be wide enough and brought out from the wall for easy scraping.

http://www.birdhealth.com.au/bird/pigeon/race-loft.html


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## SouthTown Racers (Jan 14, 2009)

Charis said:


> This from birdhealth.com
> Clean loft
> Pigeons love a clean loft and rest better when the perches and floor are cleaned free of droppings. Sand on the floor looks good, but is not recommended during the cold months of the racing season. At this time the birds may suddenly over-engorge on it and lose form because of the resulting "gut ache". Pigeons love to lie down on straw but it must be perfectly fresh, clean and be free of dust or moisture. Black marks and a musty smell to the straw indicates mould on the straw, which can damage the pigeons airsacs when inhaled.
> 
> ...


I dont want to put down a floor dressing because of the dust. Frozen droppings - can they cause any problems?


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## maine123 (Sep 21, 2007)

Frozen droppings, I have them too. Just thinking that them being frozen that would stop bacteria from growing. But I think that would perserve them until it heats up, so you should try to get them out. But Im not completley sure, that is just what I am guessing.


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## hillfamilyloft (Jun 22, 2005)

Well I will just add a few things here to think about. 

A friend of mine does not clean his loft during breeding season. He lets it pile up. His theory is that the environment allows the birds to build up a good immune system. Don't know if this is the way, but he seems to think so. 

I clean my loft once a week in the summer and about every other week in the winter months. I live in a very dry climate and find the loft stays dry. I do not medicate and with my system have only lost one bird in four years to disease. When I do clean I get about two gallons of droppings from my larger compartments. Great for the garden. 

Oh I forgot to mention that my friend won the San Diego Classic in 2001. His young bird must of had a good immune system after all. 

Many have a theory on this one. I usually clean when I can. 

Randy


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

maykuhn loft said:


> How does everyone, really, deep clean their lofts and how often? This is a 2 part question. Im doing my best to chisel away the frozen droppings, but I only have so much time in the day. If the droppings are rock solid, is it important to get them up every day? The nest boxes I can clean, but the floor is like concrete. As soon as it warms a bit, I would like to do the deep clean. Thanks!


Like others, there are some interesting theorys out there. Some fanciers actually follow a "Deep Litter" policy, allowing stuff to pile up to several inches on the floor. 

When it is below freezing like now.....I don't bother trying to chisel it off. When it warms up, I have a "Loft Boy" come and clean every square inch, and during race season and the like, that is done weekly. Not the cleanest in the area, but not the worst either. Depending on how lazy I am, I adopt my theory to fit my level of clean.


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## whitesnmore (Sep 9, 2004)

At 40 below wind chills we are not chiseling away concrete poop. When the loft warms up to above freezing and things soften up we clean up. Breeders are in individual pens so cleaning is done on a weekly basis since they are inside a heated garage. When the birds are healthy the chance of Sal Bac and ecoli infection is less. Use lots of garlic, ACV, and ground fresh onion on the feed and you should have no problem waiting longer between cleanings.
Ken


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

I clean mine everyday, because I don't like walking in poop. if it is frozen then I just leave it untill I can scrape it, which is not often here in Va. I understand about not wanting dust to buld up, but when it is rainy and damp and the poop holds the moisture and is slick and yucky I sprinkle stall dry for horse stalls(basically clay cat litter) out and it absorbs the moisture and makes scraping easier. it also depends on how many you have in what size space, if you are full to the max it would seem you would have to clean more often. I use oxine or nolvasan solution in a spray bottle after scraping and it seems to dry up the stains left on the floor and keeps the bacteria down. my birds also seem to perk up after I clean, they walk on the floor more and do that happy wing flap dance, I think they perfer a clean floor. if i want to skip a day I use pine shavings under the perches to soak up some of the droppings, but I us it only when it seems damp in the loft. other wise it is just a plain wood floor. in the summer to deep clean, I kick everyone out for a loft fly, and scrape real good and then use a pump sprayer with oxine or nolvasan and soak every thing down and then offer the birds a bath the same day and let dry, they dry in the sun and have a nice free day outside on a nice day....that is if no BOP are around.


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## windyflat (Jul 19, 2007)

In the winter i use horse bedding in the lofts and rake out the clumps weekly. During warm weather i scrape stock birds once daily... race team twice daily
Tom


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## Pegasus (Feb 6, 2007)

Since we have some freezing weather here, it's hard for me to scrape the floor and the nestboxes...Whatever I can take from the top portion of the pile, I'm happy with it...I remember when I lay my floor down and it was so poop-less, I don't want them to drop a single poop on it but I realize that I can't stop them from doing what they have to do so I scrape what I can and leave the rest for the next day...I suggest that once in the summer, clean it thoroughly or deep-down clean, vacuum and spray bleach everywhere or pesticide the inside and outside of the loft...


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## SouthTown Racers (Jan 14, 2009)

spirit wings said:


> I clean mine everyday, because I don't like walking in poop. if it is frozen then I just leave it untill I can scrape it, which is not often here in Va. I understand about not wanting dust to buld up, but when it is rainy and damp and the poop holds the moisture and is slick and yucky I sprinkle stall dry for horse stalls(basically clay cat litter) out and it absorbs the moisture and makes scraping easier. it also depends on how many you have in what size space, if you are full to the max it would seem you would have to clean more often. I use oxine or nolvasan solution in a spray bottle after scraping and it seems to dry up the stains left on the floor and keeps the bacteria down. my birds also seem to perk up after I clean, they walk on the floor more and do that happy wing flap dance, I think they perfer a clean floor. if i want to skip a day I use pine shavings under the perches to soak up some of the droppings, but I us it only when it seems damp in the loft. other wise it is just a plain wood floor. in the summer to deep clean, I kick everyone out for a loft fly, and scrape real good and then use a pump sprayer with oxine or nolvasan and soak every thing down and then offer the birds a bath the same day and let dry, they dry in the sun and have a nice free day outside on a nice day....that is if no BOP are around.


Thanks everyone! Spirit wings, what is oxine and nolvasan? Ive been using bleachwater. Is it ever too cold to give a bath? BOP--birds of prey?


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

here is a nolvasan link, for use in the water
http://www.siegelpigeons.com/catalog-drinking.html

here is another link for a disenfectant, we use it at the vet to clean wounds and flush ears on dogs and cats, I cleaned a hawk victim's wounds with it too, so it has many uses.
http://www.petvetsupply.com/dismfra001.html

here is the info on oxine, I really like this product
http://www.foyspigeonsupplies.com/catalog/749.html


and yes BOP means birds of prey......


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