Cedar or Pine for Pigeon Coop Flooring

[willygog]

Well i am using pine shavings on the floor of the loft the last couple months.. but recently i thought i might use cedar shavings instead to possibly help with mites, (dont have them) but prevention, also hoped it might help a bit with odor control..

But i have also read that cedar is toxic?? never heard that before.. so i did some research.. and found that one study showed that both pine and cedar caused issues, respiratory, skin conditions... etc.. some say corn cob is best.. then i read that is bad, if engested it can cause more issues.. sand ,, perhaps, but that seems like something i w ould prefer not to use due to cleaning methods,, and were to dump sand with PP in it .. i dont want sand in the compost pile.. so what else is there to use,, i used straw for years, but only cause it was cheaper.. now i can afford cedar shaving, or pine shaving, .. straw is nice for spreading on veggie gardens, but not something i want to spread around the yard in all gardens, .. IDK not sure what is best,, i'll likely go with straw,, or pine shavings again. but i did want to question your flooring choices.. And or ideas on the toxicity of these products..

I had thought it might prevent flies/ mosquitoes, that type of thing with cedar.. pine dont seem to concern anyone including the flies/mosquitoes, we have a pretty heavy mosquito issue here atm..

 

[Rick1951]

I'm using wood pellets for horse stalls,works ok but am going to change,tried natural clay litter,to dusty,Pune shavings,blows everywhere,wood pellets,turn to saw dust when pooped on and sand hold moisture and the birds eat it,that spreads disease,straw is the best but full of bugs,I'm going back to a bare wood floor and floor dressing,scrape twice a week apply floor dressing and sweep it around to cover wet spots,then mop with bleach and water every few months.

 

[JackDias]

I use sand, but its a sea shell sand that I found in the middle of rocks, the grains are bigger and my pigeons like to eat it, since I put the sand in the floor, no more soft eggs, and my quail love to play in it, you can see a big smile on their face.

 

[Rick1951]

I never tried sand but here pro's and con's about it,I thought i might put felt roofing paper down on the floor, then coarse sand on top and give it a try,I use black roofing felt in all my nest boxes with pine shavings,works great and easy to clean,just pull out felt and dump,spray off with bleach and water,dry and place back with new bedding,keeps the nest box dry,you can buy a huge roll for about $15 and last a long time.

 

[loftkeeper]

never had the money to afford it but cement floor would be the best clean and scrap it that's all you need some put shaveings down but not nessaery

 

[paramount]

I was always taught by old timers to keep a scraped floor with deep litter (you'll find the same suggestion in Levi's books), but it's pretty dusty and is certainly a leading cause of Breeder's Lung among pigeon fanciers. Despite this, I still use the old fashioned deep litter method. (Old habits die hard).

Clean DRY sand is also good. The cleanest loft I ever saw utilized sand, but the old timer who had it also spent every minute of the day scooping up droppings too. But ... if you have a lot of birds, sand will take on the same characteristics as old fashioned deep litter if you don't clean it up every day or two.

Cedar and Pine shavings both have benefits of repelling insect pests, but their downfall is that the flapping of the birds wings will blow it into water founts and feeders. It can also get blown outside the loft if that matters to you. It makes a HUGE mess.

You can get the same anti-insect benefits by providing an excess of pine needles for nesting material. Not only will these repel mites/lice on your breeders and squabs, but as the birds select their material, they will scatter plenty of it around. Eventually, these loose pine needles get broken up and scattered all over the loft in small quantities, which after breeding season will continue to repel parasites. That is part of my deep litter program and I have not needed to spray my birds for YEARS, with the exception of new birds coming in to the quarantine pen.

At one time, I did try cob litter. I liked it a lot, but eventually discontinued using it because I was concerned about pesticide residues on it.

Whatever you do, do NOT use straw or hay for litter. It actually attracts red mites, which can be difficult to get rid of once they get well established.

 

[Hokum Coco]

I tried pine shaving that did not work well for me. The pine shavings is relegated to the sides of the loft when they fly inside the coop the wind pushes the shavings to the side and the middle stays bare. I use feed bags to line my nest boxes and a nylon tarp over the floor. I change the feed bags in the nest box when ever needed and I pull the tarp out when ever needed to bake in the sun an flex the dropping off in the compost bin.

 

[paramount]

I tried pine shaving that did not work well for me. The pine shavings is relegated to the sides of the loft when they fly inside the coop the wind pushes the shavings to the side and the middle stays bare. I use feed bags to line my nest boxes and a nylon tarp over the floor. I change the feed bags in the nest box when ever needed and I pull the tarp out when ever needed to bake in the sun an flex the dropping off in the compost bin.

Yes, that is another problem with shavings. They DO end up piled up along the walls where they have no real effect.

 

[willygog]

well i think in hind site, i used sheet tin on the floors of my loft some twenty + years ago,, it was a walkin, so the area was easy to clean with a hoe, and a spade scraper.. then just vacuumed it up.. threw into compost pile.. I think i'll price that out and see what the cost would be,, save the deep litter and shavings for winter months.. and pile it real deep.. seems weekly scape and cleans would be acceptable.. as age moves along it does present some work slowdowns LOL.. youth.. wasted on the young oh and a bleach wash and air will dry in mins.. just not to much bleach, i believe a half a cap in 5 gal just for the floor..

Forgot to add that them bigger piles, just scrape them up and toss in a pail.. but the dry chunks seem to go up the shop vac pretty slick.. if you dont want the vac in there.. get a replacement hose and link them up... and for sure wear a dust mask.. or sock the exhaust..

Any way what do you guys think about that scenario? I know it worked back then , ,but i also had a 8x12 fly pen outside..and the loft itself had a large ventilation fan.. just for cleaning.. walls bowed in when i turned that bad boy on.. i originally housed parrots/parakeets for show 11yrs,, but went back to pigeons., I kept the tin floor.. now here i am again LOL and that tin floor just popped into my mind...??

 

[paramount]

I've never seen it done that way, but I don't see why it won't work well. It seems to me that it would be a lot easier to clean a tin floor than a wooden one. No cracks or porous areas for the stuff to get into and no gouging the floor up with a scraper.