Smelly Bird Room! Why?

[Mands]

Hello.

I have my birds in a room at the back of the house. Nice big cages and a couple of smaller ones. I am neurotic about cleaning the cages. Everything including all perches, containers, toys, it's all done in boiling water at least twice a week, grit is changed as well.

Yet I can smell them. My son who is across from them is also complaining about the smell. It's not bothering me as much, but as I said I can smell something.

Am I just smelling the normal birds themselves? There is 13 in the room.

I know I can't open a window as it is winter here and they are right in front of it.

Is there anything you know of that I can put in here to take the smell away? An old wives tale or something? I know I can't burn a candle or anything smelly.

Hopefully someone can help me.

Thanks.

[chirpy]

I can't really help you out (remmeber I am a big big newbie ) but my chicks nest smells "earthy"... with all the poop!

I know you clean out your cages.. i wonder what it could be! be waiting on answers.

Hope all is well with you down under! I miss it there!

[Mands]

chirpy

Thanks. I have grown in numbers a lot since I joined. I am totally obsessed with them. I don't think there is a finch site I haven't visited to try and learn everything I can. The sales on the weekend were so much fun, I had to control myself, even so I came home with 7 more and a new big cage. Going through seed like a grain site now.

You have done well to control yourself Chirpy.

It's winter here but we just had the hottest July on record so it's been really nice.

[chirpy]

Mands If i were alone.. I would be doing the same same sammmme thing! I jsut have to contain myself because my husband isn't bird loving as most husbands on here.. he will tolerate it but he is making me get rid of my vertical dumb for birds cages so I dont try and house any birds in there LOL.

BUT like we talked about his hobbys harley, mines finches.. its a fraction of the cost so i dont see what the big deal is...
there is a part of me thats scared though, I dont want to have to do musical birds and swap them and see how the coexist! I am scarrred of that and birds getting sick since my tiel died horribly.. maybe I am scarred! hopefully hell come around and im mentally ready ;)

I've seen your numbers grow and I am living through you and others that have fancy and brightly colored birdies!

[Casper]

you can try putting little dishes with carb soda in it! One of my cages has little ones in it so I have not cleaned it and it smells, but I put some carb soda in a dish near the cages and the smell is better! the other thing I did was hang a bunch of mint near them!

[Mands]

Casper

Thanks for the tip.

That sounds like a good plan to me. I will go out and get some right away. The mint sounds like a nice touch too. How much do you use in a jar?

As i said i am neurotic about cleaning, maybe i am just smelling the birds themselves. I can't wait until weather is better so i can open a window or two.

[Smurf]

I'm only a newbie myself so can't be 100% sure as to how much difference this would make but certainly worth a try and can't do any harm. How about trying a HEPA air purifier in the bird room, they can be wall mounted or free standing.

Maybe another member has experience with these and can give thier views as to whether it would help or not.

Padraic

[debbie276]

First of all I'd like to say birds do not smell, nor should their poop. If the poop smells there is something wrong.
Most times the smell is from your bedding getting wet from water bottles or baths. Only other thing may be food spoiling but that doesn't seem likely.
Sure hope you can figure out the source

[debbie276]

Birds don't smell nor do their poop, if it does something is wrong. Most likely it is the bedding getting wet from water bottles or baths, what bedding are you using?

[Mands]

Debbie

They have wicker nests with only a little bit of swamp hay and some feathers, but not enough to be wet or smelly. The bottom of the cages are covered in grit which i change twice a week.

I spoke to my pet store lady today, and she told me that "Birds have their own smell" and that's all it is, and as they are in a room with no window open it is going to smell "like birds"

I am probably just being neurotic and paranoid.

[cindy]

Like Debbie said something is getting wet. Certain seeds at the bottom of the cage can smell if wet, egg food that sits on the bottom and gets wet smells.

Sometimes the nest and nesting material can smell if there are to many young in the nest, it is humid and the droppings from the young are not drying out. I have not heard of swamp hay, is this something you gather from outdoors, perhaps try another bedding in the nests like Timothy grass (pet store) or long cocofiber cut in half.

To clean cages try some white vinegar, it will act as a deodorizer and antibacterial cleaner. Do not boil the vinegar, add it to some cool water and wipe the cages down, using a separate rag or paper towel per cage. Boiled water in a bucket going from cage to cage may not be enough to clean and disinfect the cages.

Do you use water tubes or cups to water your birds....are there seeds in it when you go to change out the water....that can have a slight odor to it as well. I know brown top seed smell a bit if wet or has been sitting in a water tube.

[Martie]

Somehow we got a duplicate of this topic, so I merged the two.

I think I know what you're talking about, Mands. It's not a choking stench - just a light, but unpleasant odor. A number of birds in a small room with little ventilation do develop an odor very quickly.

I like the idea of a hepa air filter - and in a small room, you shouldn't need to have a great big one. The other thing I would suggest is to change your bedding routine. Try a week of using newspaper changed daily - or even twice daily. Wipe down trays and grates every day. If this makes a difference, you have found your problem and can decide how to proceed - whether changing the grit every day or switching to some other type of bedding.

Changing bedding twice a week is just fine in most cases, but in a small closed room, may well be the source of the problem as Debbie suggested. I have a small quarantine room here with two 18 x 30 cages. If I don't change papers and wipe the cages down every day, I will notice an odor there.

Good luck!

[debbie276]

When you say grit are you talking basically sand? When I used sand in the bottom of my aviary I had to keep it away from the water dish because that was the first thing my husband complained about, the smell from wet/damp sand, even high humidity was making it smelly. Since switching to the cheap clay litter I never had that smell again.

[Sally]

I think part of it is also how sensitive you are to smells. I don't have a good sense of smell, so I don't notice things as much as others might. My sister-in-law has a good sense of smell and picks up on things right away. I was using the oi-dri clay (similar to cat litter) as bedding, and when a friend visited, she said there was a very noticeable smell about it--I had not noticed it.

[DanteD716]

I know what you mean.. Since moving my birds into my bedroom (it is quiet large, so I thought why not have them somewhere where i'll see them more!) from my front room/birdroom.. My room has smelt wierd. My siblings and mom notice it as soon as they come up the stairs leading to my room. I'm thinking of boiling a bit of water, with vanilla to make it smell better when I am done cleaning today.