sand

[westy]

do you put sand on loft floor ?

[Guest]

Don't now. Was suspicious that I was bringing 'something' into the loft with it.

[Guest]

I've used sand in the loft before, I bought the pre washed play sand from the DIY supermarket.

[Chatrace]

We have dropping pans under the perches and they have sand in them. We used the Clean white Play Sand that is to be used in childrens sand boxes. It isn't dusty.

[MsPigeon]

My lofts are made from existing pole buildings with the ground as the floor. We bought course sand, the type sold at cement companies and put a good 6-8" down in all the loft sections. I use a kitty litter scoop to sift the sand clean. It works great for me and the birds seem to like it too. I also use a propane weed burner to sanitize after cleaning everyother month or so.

Carol

[westburylofts]

We have never used sand

but have used deep litter through the winter and not sure about that,

 

 Do not think you can beat SCRAPING OUT AND EVERY OTHER WEEK USE A BLOW TOURCH ON ALL THE LOFT  ie floor, boxs

 

 

 RAY

[jimmy white]

have used the gritty sand from certain beaches, sprayed with jeyes fluid,dried then mixed with harkers loft treatment, using shavings at the moment ,again sprayed and loft treatment added, when i used to race them , they were scraped and sprayed twice per day, every day  [ only sprayed if dry]

[Peckedhen]

Just using loft white, scrape every day but don't disinfect as I don't want to wet the loft!?

:-/

[Silverdale Lofts]

Ido same has you ray burn when ever i clean out.

[westy]

thanks evreyone it has been a grate help also some one told me about woodchip is this any good. i did use wood shaveings but i ended up all over the garden.

thanks all

martin

[carl]

martin i dont use sand at all just scrape out everyday is all i do.I dont spray anything down or use loft white unless i spill a drinker or so.Starting next year i will have my stock birds on deep litter to see for myself if its better or not,i will use horse dressing for the lofts starting when i start to breed.

[Guest]

I used to use sand in my old loft, but during a damp spell it got damp, and I left it down to long, although I was sieving it daily, the birds started dropping dead, with salmonella. I will never use it again. I use easibed shavings, they are expensive at £7/per section every 2 weeks but it stays dry. This is why if you read my past posts I am obsessed with keeping the loft free from damp.

[Guest]

SBELBIN

 

DAMP WILL NOT CAUSE SALMONELLA BUT MICE WILL ( LOOK FOR THEM )

[westy]

thankyou evreyone once again

[Guest]

No worry of mice now Heathcote my loft is rodent proof. The damp was is the old loft, which thinking back did have a few mice now and again. I have fitted fans in my new loft and roof chimneys which draw the damp out, and heating if the weather is really damp.

[Guest slugmonkey]

I fly deep litter as I think it keeps lofts drier and healthier it dosent really matter if you have moisture you have a potential problem -

 

 hello fire bug how did you do this year , well I hope!!!

[MsPigeon]

Well Hello there Slugmonkey, not bad, not bad at all.

Avg. speed in YB's (Bill got Avg. speed OB), Champion YB, and Champion loft both YB and OB.

And yourself?

Carol

[Guest slugmonkey]

Flew a horrible course this season but still won a lot of races out of turn including 1- 8 on a hundred mile race I think I am still overall champion for the year in the club and should have mopped up in my section

[Guest shadow]

I use deep litter using wood chip it is raked daily and every 2 weeks is riddled to remove any large amount of droppings and is then topped up with fresh wood chip has been down two years and the loft is bone dry and I have had no problems with any respiratory problems etc. plus the birds are winng, so I don't think there can be much wrong

 

quality not quantity

[Guest]

Used to have sharp sand as a 'sort of' deep litter, raking up the solids, bagging and binning them.  

 

But there was something going on there, which caused illness in the odd bird, and I got rid of it in Autumn 2004 after advice from the vet - he reckoned it was a poor susbstrate. I thought I was bringing something in with the sand, it seemed to draw moisture from the air, and attracted 'house' flies, - a good medium for them to lay their eggs?

 

I acknowledge what has been posted about rodents, but I've often wondered what part flies play in bringing disease organisms into pigeon lofts. We make a big enough deal of their ability to spread germs around the house!  

[westy]

shadow i have been told that wood chip is good for the floor

[Guest]

How often do you buy new sand's for lofts ?

[perk]

most sands you buy has a salt content which atracts dampness, that as you know causes problems with health.never use deep litter now just scrape out

[MsPigeon]

I don't have to purchase the sand that I use, there is a place where the dump trucks unload there excess or left overs at the sand and gravel company. I just have to load it myself. Since I start with it good & deep, about 6-8" and sift it to clean the loft, it does not need relpaceing very often, maybe topped off every 2-3 years. I make sure to do that in the summer when it will dry out quickly.

Carol

[westy]

ms pigeon that is very handy