Ideas for pigeon coop bedding

[purslanegarden]

My pigeon coop is a converted chicken coop on the ground. It's tall enough for them to fly around in. No more chickens, but I currently have 9 pigeons.

I used straw for the chickens, and while they kicked it around, they would also kick it back, so that there really were not any bare spots exposing the ground. Every 2-3 months, I then remove the soiled straw to put in my compost pile, and then I put in some fresh, new straw.

The pigeons don't kick around in the straw, but they get to fly and flap their wings. This basically creates a situation in which the straw is moved out all to the edges of the coop, and the ground is exposed in the general middle of the coop where there is a lot of flying activity.

I wanted to see how other pigeon keepers solve this problem. Did you use different floor bedding material or a raised coop off the ground, or even just have them in small cages so that there isn't much flying around (eg some YT videos I see, people just keep a pair of pigeons in a cage for them to eat and breed) ?

I have thought of ideas like pine shavings that we use for smaller pets, or actual wood mulch like what we use for our home landscaping areas. For the pine shavings, I'm concerned they would still get overly wet in the case of rains and water wicking, and they might still be light enough to get tossed around, too. And then for the wood mulch, I'm concerned that it doesn't actually hide/dry up all the pigeon poop, and then we just see big piles of poop on top of the mulch.


Thanks!

 

[backyard pigeons]

Hello. I use straw in my lofts. How much are you putting on the ground? I use 6+ inches. I have never had this problem.

I have also used pine needles. I liked them, but there aren't many on the ground by my pine trees right now.

I don't recommend using mulch. It isn't absorbent, and it can give them splinters.

I hope this helps. I am guessing you just arent putting down enough straw.

 

[purslanegarden]

Thanks for the info. I did consider pine needles also, but I don't have enough on ground and they are more expensive than pine shavings or straw where I am. Ok I'll try to add a thicker layer. The way the straw looks is that you think you have put down a thick layer but then over time, it seems to settle in and you realize, it wasn't as thick as you thought. But I always figured that was just going to happen. So then I think i can make it thicker if there is a good example of a thicker layer being the better choice to not have straw flying around over to the edge of the coop.

Thanks!!