CHAPTER XIII 

 CARING FOR THE LOFTS 



Cif-anliness — Whitewashing- and Spraying — Repairing- Lofts — Results 

 of An 111 Kept Loft. 



Pigeon lofts should lie kept clean Ijut it is indeed surprising 

 to note how many lotts are kept in a helter-skelter fashion witli 

 absolutely no regard to cleanliness. 



The A\ise hreeder kno\^■s that he is not expected to keep his 

 lofts absolutely s])otless but he does kno^\- that he should clean 

 up each and ever\' loft about once eveiy ten da>.s or two \\eeks. 

 All manni-e should lie carefully scraped out of the spare nests, 

 all old nests shoidd be renioved from th(> lofts and Inirned, ne\\- 

 nesting material must be jiut in the crates as soon the supplv 

 therein showns signs of becoming depleted antl so on. Watch 

 the ground in the flys, don't let it get sou.r but turn the dirt over 

 once in a while b>- spading it up and each time you do so be 

 sure to add a top coat of clean sharp sand. Be ever on the 

 alert to see that the health grit container has an adequate sup- 

 ply of grit in it and do not overlook the crushed charcoal and 

 the necessary lump of rock salt. The fountain and the bath 

 pans should be scalded once a \\eek to make svu'e that all filth 

 and disease germs in them are killed. 



At least twice a >-ear the entire plant, inside and out, should 

 be: given a thorough ideaning and a good thick coat of white- 

 wash. I believe it is tlie V. S. Department of Agriculture that 

 has an excellent formula ft)r Axhitewash. This may be had by 

 wiiting to the proper authorities in Wasliington for it. Spray 

 it with a good disinfectant so as to get rid of all vermin. I 

 have found tliat it is a much easier task to keep a pigeon loft 



92 



