Thanks to Frank Weidlocker for the very information article in the last issue of the Bulletin about different types of material and their preparation. I would like to add to that article with the method that I use and have found very good over the past 25 plus years.

I start out with a totally clean loft, scrapped and swept out completely. Wooden floors serve me the best. Then I spray the entire loft and all the surfaces of the feed containers, not the area where the feed goes, with Malathion 50%.

After that is dry, I then put down a sprinkling of either Flowers of Sulfur or the agriculture Sulfur which is a very small, flat pellet that looks like a small lentil. The pellet will turn to a powder and work just like the Flowers of Sulfur.

The last step is to put down about 2 inches of the least expensive cat litter or oil dry you can buy. This method makes it very easy to rake and pick out the clumps of waste and the feathers during the molt. I pick out and rake about twice a week. It takes me about half an hour to one hour to do 5 lofts.

The cat litter or oil dry is a type of dry clay that I understand they get from Missouri. When you rake and pick out the loft, it makes for good compost for the yard or garden.

As for adding any of the chemicals that Frank referred to, I do not do that but will look into the matter further.