Deep litter

[Andy]

After the youngsters knocked the top of the drinker yesterday and had a bath in the drinker making the floor soaking wet I had cleaned it up and put down some loft powder to dry it out. I have been considering putting down some deep litter for the winter for sometime. This morning I went to scrape out but the floor looked so good with the white powder on it and was so dry that I decided to try the deep litter in this the young bird loft. A went down into the shop and grabbed a bag of the wood pellet cat litter. I went into the loft with the bag and cut it open. The birds went made. I don’t think they liked the bag. I tipped the pellets out and spread them around. Quite soon the birds came down onto the floor and seemed quite happy. I checked them this afternoon and all was fine. Birds happy and unconcerned about the litter on the floor. I could do with putting a bit more in but will see how it goes. If it works I may well do the same in the other loft.

[Buster121]

Hope it works for you I bought a bag of the granules few years ago and still in shed untouched just not a fan prefer the powder

[Andy]

Hope it works for you I bought a bag of the granules few years ago and still in shed untouched just not a fan prefer the powder

The last time I used the wood pellets was a few years ago when I had paramyxovirus. The loft then was awash with wet droppings and the pellets certainly helped dry the loft up. They take any moisture out of the droppings and crumble to a powder. It will be interesting to see how well it works.

[Murray]

Give it a try, Andy, especially since you have ready access to this kind of stuff. We all would like a pet shop full of useful stuff.

i have tried all sorts of things over the years, but always go back to the scraper and pan. When an idiot pigeon knocks a drinker over or something, I scrape up as much water as possible then put newspaper down on the floor. A few hours later the water is lifted up and next morning it is all dry.

[George and Morgan]

can't see my reply

[Buster121]

can't see my reply

I had one yesterday same for some reason never posted

[Andy]

This is in the loft this afternoon.

As I said I probably need to add a bit more.

[Buster121]

Looks dry enough, how do you clean them out, sieve it or leave it a while

[Andy]

Looks dry enough, how do you clean them out, sieve it or leave it a while

What I’ll probably do is scrape the perches but leave the floor. I think if it works as I think it should the litter should take out all the moisture from the droppings leaving just very dry droppings that disintegrate into the deep litter. I may rake the top off if it gets a crust on it and top the litter up from time to time. As I said I think I need to put a bit more in first.
I have been into Phil’s loft where he has had the same deep litter down for 4 years. To be honest you wouldn’t know it when walking on it. It is bone dry.

[George and Morgan]

i know they say clear the flights during the moult i don't mine are still there for when they nest