Designing a loft...divided vs. a single large area?

[moonshadow]

Okay, I have two quotes coming in for building a basic version of your coop, Lovebird. I'll let you all know what they are when I get them. I'm still hoping to find a pre-built shed, cause materials are so expensive, but we'll see. If it's anywhere near by price limit I may consider having it built from scratch... It's sure be nice to have things new and to my specifications. Any other suggestions? Would you do things any different, Lovebird? I was thinking of making it a touch wider(deeper), but only if it was not too expensive to do so.

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by moonshadow

Okay, I have two quotes coming in for building a basic version of your coop, Lovebird. I'll let you all know what they are when I get them. I'm still hoping to find a pre-built shed, cause materials are so expensive, but we'll see. If it's anywhere near by price limit I may consider having it built from scratch... It's sure be nice to have things new and to my specifications. Any other suggestions? Would you do things any different, Lovebird? I was thinking of making it a touch wider(deeper), but only if it was not too expensive to do so.

Our little loft is 8 X 16. The lumber comes in 4ft panels, so IMO, if you make it bigger (deeper) then you might as well go 16ft deep, because any less than that, you'd be cutting off the 4ft lumber. It of course can be used for other things. My husband doesn't throw away ANY wood.
So, you're going with 2 sections?
What exactly are your plans for your birds? Are you looking to get more? Will you be raising babies?
My loft is in two sections but one is quite a bit smaller than the other and there's a reason for that, but depending on what your plans are, you may or may not want to do that.

[moonshadow]

I would like to keep a couple of teams of homers. Fly them for fun and for family enjoyment. I'm toying with the idea of doing white bird release on the side to off-set costs. I'd also like to keep some Parlor Rollers (for now since my son is 2) for my husband and son-they may perhaps migrate to a flying pigeon later on. We thought that would be more fun then the normal backyard rabbit. I guess I was under the impression that they breed/multiple quickly, so I thought a large loft would be better. I thought the cock side might double as the breeding coop, but other than that I hadn't thought about the size difference. Please share!!

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by moonshadow

I would like to keep a couple of teams of homers. Fly them for fun and for family enjoyment. I'm toying with the idea of doing white bird release on the side to off-set costs. I'd also like to keep some Parlor Rollers (for now since my son is 2) for my husband and son-they may perhaps migrate to a flying pigeon later on. We thought that would be more fun then the normal backyard rabbit. I guess I was under the impression that they breed/multiple quickly, so I thought a large loft would be better. I thought the cock side might double as the breeding coop, but other than that I hadn't thought about the size difference. Please share!!

Well, let's see.....homers, white birds for a release and Parlor Tumblers.
You need to build a barn.....a BIG barn........
Seriously though.........my small loft isn't near big enough to keep all those birds. And, your impression is correct. They DO breed/multiply quickly.
You COULD keep your white birds and homers together, but the problem with that is keeping the white birds white. They would mate up with the homers no doubt, cause that's "Murphy's Law" and before long, your white birds would be grizzles, blue check, blue bars, etc..........
An 8 X 16 could be divided into 3 sections of approx. 5ft each, so three 4 X 5 section would hold 10 birds each.
The reason my loft has a section bigger than the other, is so when I put my birds together....there's room for all of them. I keep between 12 and 15 (going back to 12 this year) pairs of birds. The small section, which is 4 X 8 will hold 15 birds. The larger section, which is 8 X 8, will hold 32 birds, so there's plenty of room for 24 or 30 when they are together.
It's a good idea to separate the sexes for at least part of the year, but it's not absolutely necessary. As long as they are together, they'll always be on a nest of eggs. The eggs of course can be replaced with plastic/wooden eggs, so you don't have to raise babies all the time, but IMO, the hens need a break for a while every year.
SO........let's say you DON'T separate your pairs........you could keep the breeders in the bigger side and put the youngsters that you raise on the smaller side, but you're still limited to 15 or 16 babies.
Once the babies reach 28 to 30 days old, they really should be moved out of the breeder section, away from the parents. By this age, the parents are starting another nest and will view their youngsters as just another pigeon. Lots of babies get scalped because of this. Between the parents and the other birds, they're just better off in thier own section where they can all be babies together and grow up together.
So, you get your breeders, you raise a few babies..........next year, your "babies" will now be a year old and THEY'LL want to make nests and have babies. Where will the babies go in two years? Where will the one year old birds go? You can put them in the breeders section, but then you've got to move out some breeders to make room...........it's really a vicious cycle and you can get overrun in no time, which leads to sick, unhappy birds which makes YOU unhappy and frustrated.........
I'm really not trying to discourage you. Just trying to make a point.
Now, if you are well disciplined and have good self control, you can make a loft the size you're talking about work, but if you're like the REST of us........we have NO self control when it comes to pigeons. My husband is the reason I don't have more birds than I do.
It really boils down to doing your homework, figuring out what you REALLY want to do and build what you need to build to do what you want to do.
When we started with pigeons, we build a small 8 X 10 loft. No sooner than we got through with it, we knocked out a wall and added another 4 ft.
When we moved here, we built the big loft. That was SUPPOSED to function and do everything we wanted to do with pigeons. The next year, we built the smaller loft. AND, if I had MY way....we'd probably have at least one more loft and maybe even two.
Sounds like fun???

[Hutchison]

Keep an eye out at the home improvement stores. They will often close out paneling designs/patterns or sell stock super cheap when doing a re-set in that area. I got 15 sheets of a lt blue denim pattern that I used for my dog kennel for 1.00 a sheet, normally 15.00, of course I worked there, but if you frequent a particular store and are "good" to the guys/gals on the floor and shop with that person often... they'll tend to give you better price breaks. You could also finish with 1/4 in exterior rated Luan (lou-wan) plywood. It will take paint fairly well if you use a good primer too.

[moonshadow]

So, you all warned me about checking with my city about keeping pigeons. I finally tracked down the guy in charge and he thinks Pigeon Coops would be illegal in my neighborhood. He said there is nothing in the city codes, so that makes them illegal. The problem is I know of people in my area that have them! Anyone have any suggestions? Is this it? Am I going to have to give up?

[Lovebirds]

We can't answer that. I guess try to go talk to some of the folks who have a loft already. You might get by with something small to house the 4 birds you've got, but you REALLY don't want to get into this, only to have someone tell you that you've got to get rid of the birds.

[moonshadow]

I've got the number for a pigeon guy in my area, so I'm hoping he knows what the rules are. Otherwise, I will sell my white homers and probably just get some parlor rollers for fun. I would only want one pair of those and they can be considered a caged bird. I can just go ahead with a garden shed and make a little section for my rollers. That would still be super fun, right?

[spirit wings]

Originally Posted by moonshadow

I've got the number for a pigeon guy in my area, so I'm hoping he knows what the rules are. Otherwise, I will sell my white homers and probably just get some parlor rollers for fun. I would only want one pair of those and they can be considered a caged bird. I can just go ahead with a garden shed and make a little section for my rollers. That would still be super fun, right?

I don't have rollers but....yea they do sound fun,...good thing your doing your "homework" before hand.....

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by moonshadow

I've got the number for a pigeon guy in my area, so I'm hoping he knows what the rules are. Otherwise, I will sell my white homers and probably just get some parlor rollers for fun. I would only want one pair of those and they can be considered a caged bird. I can just go ahead with a garden shed and make a little section for my rollers. That would still be super fun, right?

Well, Rollers are still pigeons and they are meant to fly and if you aren't supposed to have pigeons, if they fly, you get in trouble and I don't think it's fair to get them and NOT let them fly.
If you can get away with having a small amount of pigeons then I'd go with a breed that doesn't ever need to be out of the loft. Fantails, Satinettes, Figuritas, there's a whole bunch of fancy breeds.

[moonshadow]

Originally Posted by spirit wings

I don't have rollers but....yea they do sound fun,...good thing your doing your "homework" before hand.....

I think it was you or lovebirds that told me to check. Thank you-whoever it was! I was gonna spend like $2K on that coop too! That would have been quite the shock to find out it was illegal.

I passed up a super cute pair of parlor rollers at the swap too.

If anyone responsible is interested in my white homers-let me know! To a good home I would let them go for what I paid.

[moonshadow]

Originally Posted by Lovebirds

Well, Rollers are still pigeons and they are meant to fly and if you aren't supposed to have pigeons, if they fly, you get in trouble and I don't think it's fair to get them and NOT let them fly.
If you can get away with having a small amount of pigeons then I'd go with a breed that doesn't ever need to be out of the loft. Fantails, Satinettes, Figuritas, there's a whole bunch of fancy breeds.

Now I got to see Parlor Rollers at the swap and they don't fly. The breeder said they are flightless.

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by moonshadow

Now I got to see Parlor Rollers at the swap and they don't fly. The breeder said they are flightless.

OH, my mistake. There are Rollers and there are Parlor Rollers. Rollers turn flips while flying up high. Parlor Rollers roll on the ground and yes, they are flightless.

[spirit wings]

Originally Posted by moonshadow

Now I got to see Parlor Rollers at the swap and they don't fly. The breeder said they are flightless.

flightless parlor rollers....now that is a new one for me

[Lovebirds]

Parlor Rollers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq47IvBuo6M

Rollers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y3fuso4J8E