Struggling With ,,,,,, Time

[andy Burgess]

I am honestly struggling with time at the loft . due to personal circumstances .seriously looking at putting down easi-bed again .have you any tips on using less effort and time at the loft ,yet keeping the birds well too ?

[greenlands]

Make sure vermin can't gain access and hopper feed.

[dal2]

I am honestly struggling with time at the loft . due to personal circumstances .seriously looking at putting down easi-bed again .have you any tips on using less effort and time at the loft ,yet keeping the birds well too ?

I have metal grills on the floor for the winter Andy. Raised 2" of the floor filled to the top with a mix of dry sharp sand and cat litter. Lasts about three weeks.

[Tony C]

Nowt wrong with Easibed Andy. I have it down in my y/bird & w/hood lofts but not for time saving. I find the pigeons are a lot more happier in this type of environment.

[Tony C]

A thing I've been doing for the last couple of years is not splitting the stock birds up. Instead of removing just the hens to another section I move all stock over into a different section keeping them together = one less section to feed & water. The section has V perches & slope back perches, no boxes or ledges for them to build nests in/on. I might get the odd hen lay but its just the odd one. Come pairing time I move them back over into the stock loft and they go down on eggs no problem.

[geordie1234]

Grills are a real time saver I believe

[andy Burgess]

A thing I've been doing for the last couple of years is not splitting the stock birds up. Instead of removing just the hens to another section I move all stock over into a different section keeping them together = one less section to feed & water. The section has V perches & slope back perches, no boxes or ledges for them to build nests in/on. I might get the odd hen lay but its just the odd one. Come pairing time I move them back over into the stock loft and they go down on eggs no problem.

well that's one for me to consider for the future .I cant see why old race birds couldn't be kept the same maybe ?

wouldn't try it just now though , they've been separated a while already .

[yeboah]

Used easibed a lot but bad for trailing into the house etc,now got grills down with a mix of course sand and lime which is first class ,even the lime and sand on the floor will work a treat keeps all clean atb mick

[andy Burgess]

Make sure vermin can't gain access and hopper feed.

yes Lindsay , have done it this way before ,only visiting the lofts every other day .

 

I have metal grills on the floor for the winter Andy. Raised 2" of the floor filled to the top with a mix of dry sharp sand and cat litter. Lasts about three weeks.

assuming the cat litter is the base the sand goes upon Steve ??

[dal2]

yes Lindsay , have done it this way before ,only visiting the lofts every other day .

 

 

assuming the cat litter is the base the sand goes upon Steve ??

I lightly mix it mate. The cat litter takes in the moisture very well

[andy Burgess]

Used easibed a lot but bad for trailing into the house etc,now got grills down with a mix of course sand and lime which is first class ,even the lime and sand on the floor will work a treat keeps all clean atb mick

thanks for the input Mick.

[geordie1234]

I remember a guy said to me grills were the lazy doo way the same guy has a deep litter about 2 ft deep and canny see his boxes fur sheite

[peter pandy]

When I was in Wales and went for 2 weeks holiday I had no one able to feed and water being in the middle of nowhere.

I had a large hopper made which could take up to 4 bags of feed which was filled and four 2 gallon pheasant drinkers with water filled to capacity. On the floor I put horse bedding quality heavy shavings about 3" deep and all was well for a fortnight.

[andy Burgess]

When I was in Wales and went for 2 weeks holiday I had no one able to feed and water being in the middle of nowhere.

I had a large hopper made which could take up to 4 bags of feed which was filled and four 2 gallon pheasant drinkers with water filled to capacity. On the floor I put horse bedding quality heavy shavings about 3" deep and all was well for a fortnight.

good post , it appears I have little to worry about then

[walterboswell59]

i use easybed to andy only clean floor twiced just be fore pairing and just before racing i put boards about 10 inch wide under the perches you just run along them with a shovel my boxes and perches get cleaned once a fortnight bye a local lad whom i pay and he changes the litter for me to when needed he used to have the birds himself and knows the score and a nice lad as mick says only downside is you tend to carry it on your shoes so i keep an old pair of carpet slippers for in the loft and its not as bad with me having pigeon lung scraping out is murder for me id love my loft to be spotless at all times but as long as its dry it does not make one bit of difference to the birds infact i think there better for it not getting disturbed every day

[William Reid]

am sure many think of me like that already Billy

[walterboswell59]

i use easybed to andy only clean floor twiced just be fore pairing and just before racing i put boards about 10 inch wide under the perches you just run along them with a shovel my boxes and perches get cleaned once a fortnight bye a local lad whom i pay and he changes the litter for me to when needed he used to have the birds himself and knows the score and a nice lad as mick says only downside is you tend to carry it on your shoes so i keep an old pair of carpet slippers for in the loft and its not as bad with me having pigeon lung scraping out is murder for me id love my loft to be spotless at all times but as long as its dry it does not make one bit of difference to the birds infact i think there better for it not getting disturbed every day

you can also make extra drinkers out of the 5 liter plastic bottles you can buy spring water in just cut a small hole about 2inch high 2 inch wide just over half way up this helps keep it clean then put a brick at the front so the birds can stand on and get the water as the level drops down i use this at holiday time to so my daughter does not have to change it as offten or forgets even

[Guest IB]

My birds are split, so down to 2 sections to care for. I've lights in the loft & deep litter on floor, raked out at weekends only. Weekday mornings winter routine : clean perches , change water & feed them - 45 MINUTES tops - then breakfast, washed & changed and away to work. After work, I lift feeders and dispose of any leftover feed - for me that is a MUST as if I don't I get signs of mice within days (I've tunnel traps down all the time).

[greenlands]

Andy,never part mine and never have done,never have any problems,just shut the nest boxes up.and let them get on with it.

[Fly_caster]

PM Sent.

 

ATB,

 

Steve

[blackdog]

hens on poles, easybed on floor, cocks boxes have grills with trays, easybed on floor, waters changed from the outside, aviarys have wire bottoms with pull out trays so when i want to bath them i just pull the trays right out.

[philg50]

I have advanced copd and heart problems and i know how bad the breathing can be ,i use a paper mask and i use sharp sand on floor my drinkers i have 3 in a 15-16ft x 8ft loft my drinkers are 5ltr so only changed every 3 days,i have 3 sections and weigh my feed according to how many birds in loft i find that cleaning them every10 days or so suits me cleaning a section a day ,my lay out is 3ft corridor and 3sections the 2 end sections are 4x5 and middle section 7 1/2ft x5ft .The end sections,one has 20 box perches the other 16 boxes suitable hopefully for hen boxes ,middle is nest boxes ,some may say i have to many birds but they all get a perch or box .I spend about 10 mins with my birds a day ,i feed them in after exercise if i feel well enough i will handle and spend more time with them ,and i forgot to mention i have 4ft door that is opened everyday as long as bad weather is not blowing in,under this regime the birds look great and they exercise well.

[andy Burgess]

thanks Phil

[Guest Owen]

I have done all I can think of to cut the work down to as low as I can. I race my pigeons on a Celibate system so I don't have to worry about hens. The hens are kept in an aviary. The loft floors are covered with Versa Laga loft floor dressing which requires a stir with a rake about once a week taking a couple of minutes. I feed barley in a hopper that takes a 25kg bag of corn. At the moment I use the Dolly Parton drinkers but I have invented low pressure automatic drinkers that I need to install. The basic materials for the drinkers can be bought at any poultry accessories supplier.

[andy Burgess]

I have done all I can think of to cut the work down to as low as I can. I race my pigeons on a Celibate system so I don't have to worry about hens. The hens are kept in an aviary. The loft floors are covered with Versa Laga loft floor dressing which requires a stir with a rake about once a week taking a couple of minutes. I feed barley in a hopper that takes a 25kg bag of corn. At the moment I use the Dolly Parton drinkers but I have invented low pressure automatic drinkers that I need to install. The basic materials for the drinkers can be bought at any poultry accessories supplier.

thank you for the reply Owen ,more for me to think about for the future .the term "Dolly Parton" drinkers made me laugh