Bedding / Deep Litter ???

ive been using easibed horse bedding for a while now, raking over and removing droppings alternate days more or less, topping up approx. once a week with fresh bedding.....but now im thinking its more trouble than its worth, and thinking of going back to scraping out and putting whitener down.

any thoughts people...?

You cant beat scrapping out everyday its quicker and easier in my eyes

Plus you can see the condition of the pigeons better than having the pigeons on deep litter

JMO I KNOW NOTHING

only use it when pairing up and then lift it as soon as I can, just don't like it

ybs deep litter for me to build immunity the rest though can have a scrape out daily ...in fact I am thinking of lifting ybs deep litter when they come off the dark

ive come to the conclusion it harbours desease, or encourages illness......even though mine is normally very dry because I turn it over and refresh regularly, if its raining all day it tends to make the bedding damp, plus when you walk in with wet shoes it also makes it damp.......no, its not for me now, im starting removing tomorrow, and will do a section per day until its gone.

didn't need much persuading david, I think you already decided

yes, more or less had rog, been bothering me for a while now, but couldn't just quite decide as on the surface litter gives the impression of saving you time, not having to scrape out all the time, but yet keeping it ok by raking over and removing droppings alternate days, but I think for health reasons it could harbour desease without noticing it.

it could harbour worm eggs and bacteria both good and bad no doubt about that ,,,it has to be bone dry or will cause problems

Clean floor for me dave tried deep litter didn't like it birds looked well on it but to mess tried floor grills couldn't stand seeing the droppings underneath and the ammonia smell no not for me

For me Deep Litter is not a very good idea long term.  The reasons are as follows:-

1. No matter how good the deep litter, or how well cleaned it has been, by its very nature it harbours dust, and for any of us who can be a bit chesty, any sort of dust is not a good idea.  Also, if it is dusty for us, it is dusty for the pigeons.

2. For the reasons stated by others, re harbouring germs, worms, and other unwanteds, for me it is a no-no, even though it might help to build immunity.  The same thing can be achieved just by leaving a small pile of droppings in one corner of the section.  I know of a few top European fanciers who do this.

3. No matter how careful you are trying to pick up droppings, there are still those that get mashed into the litter.

4. Because of the above, one tends to pick it up on one's feet and drag it out of the loft.

5. I agree with the statement made that it is impossible to check the quality of droppings when you have got deep litter.

For young birds, the ideal situation for me would be to use a good covering of Sterilised Silver Sand.  Silver sand doesn't cause much dust at all, and can be sieved daily to leave clean sand behind.  It is easy to see what sort of droppings your pigeons are producing, and in my mind makes for a nice clean loft.

However, I know we have members who are not very keen on using sand, but there is a big difference between builders' sand, which most people have used, and silver sand.  If all else fails, I think it is still possible to buy Sterilised Sand for childrens' sand pits, which may be just as good.

Just my opinion!

Phil

some good points raised by members there, and I fully agree with them re health etc......today I will make a start removing it, the onlt problem is getting rid of it because it doesn't burn .

David wrote:

some good points raised by members there, and I fully agree with them re health etc......today I will make a start removing it, the onlt problem is getting rid of it because it doesn't burn .  

Would the local tip take it? If not put it all in a big bag and dump it in Horsforth, there is plenty of sh..t there.

Phil

not sure phil, I normally put it in the wheely bins, but with the amount I will have from 5 sections will leave no room for household rubbish..........once its out and I`m cleaning just pigeon droppings, the local allotments might take it.

David wrote:

not sure phil, I normally put it in the wheely bins, but with the amount I will have from 5 sections will leave no room for household rubbish..........once its out and I`m cleaning just pigeon droppings, the local allotments might take it.

From my experience here David, the allotment types     just love the stuff etc. On the dust issue, one must always remember pigeons breath differant to us humans as such & is not as much of a concern to them I believe. Remember years ago watching a video of a Belguim champion at the time & it was like a dust storm when anybody walked into his loft there . At the end of the day it pays not to bring any of it inside ones house if one want's a harmonious relationship also I've found .