Ideas for a new breeding loft? Help :)

[Gurbir]

Hi guys, well i'm getting some fancy birds that will go along with my current breeders. I have a small breeding loft but i wish to make a new one. How do these dimensions sound? 5 foot high, 6 foot long, and 3 foot wide. Or it can be 5 foot high, 7 foot long, and 3 foot wide. Does anyone have and idea's about his. I know that there will be a door on the side of the loft, from where i will enter. And on the front, there will be 3 small doors, Every 2 feet. These will help to help me clean the loft. They will rise upwards. Also I can probably have like...12 nesting boxes in there. Do you think this type of loft will work out good? (The loft will be divided into 3 portions. Each Having a 4 foot high and 2 foot long door. And each portion will be like, 2 and a half feet long, 3 feet wide, and 5 foot high. So i'm guessing 3 or 4 nesting boxes. (Long ones, so they have a place to nest too). What do you guys think? 1 nest box will be 1 foot wide, 2 foot long, and 1 foot high.

[risingstarfans]

The size of a loft depends on several things, which are: How many birds will the be the maximum you will house; whether the breeds you keep are fancy or flying; what breed they are; whether it is a breeding loft or pens for singles, such as young birds, and most importantly: the local climate..

It sounds like you are asking about a breeding loft, so I will respond accordingly.

Personally. when I have built them, I try to use the practical method of using the dimesions of the material I will be building with. Utilizing standard dimension plywood, which most of us do, 4' X 8', that means that any size is a multiple of this. the smallest of these would be the 4X8, and would adequately house up to 8 pair. The same size for single birds could handle about 16-24 singles or possibly more if you fly your birds regularly, and on the perch arrangement.

For breeding in an open loft, each pair should have a double nest box and the average sized pigeon needs only about a 9X9" box to nest in. Being a double nest, that's two nest boxes in a pair's compartment.. try something like 16" deep by 24" wide by about 16" high.

The design of the loft itself is strictly up to you, but please make it as attractive as possible, painted and well designed. For your climate (BC which is on the cooler side of mild) I strongly urge that at least one large window of no less than half the long side of the loft, screened ( I like 1/2" mesh hardware cloth or 1/2 X 1" welded wire.} Pigeons like darker areas to nest in, but they need plenty of fresh air and sunshine to stay healthy. The window(s) should face south if possible, and away from prevailing wids. I would also recommend a couple vents on the opposite wall to allow a slight cross ventilation.

One note: I have had the best luck with pens size that I can stand in the middle and touch all four walls....makes for more control and somewhat tamer birds...they know you can catch and handle them and are less likely to wildly fly around!

Personally, I do all my breeding in individual pens, each pair of fantails having a minimum of 6 sf and my young bird pens are divided into three sections, one each for young cocks and young hens, and a third for weaning and unsexed young.

[KIPPY]

I just put my pijes in a dog carrier.

[spirit wings]

this guy had a dream one night and he got up and drew this up and then he built it, I think it is a cool breeding loft. he can work in there and have everthing in reach....pretty neat.[IMG]1.[/IMG][IMG]3.[/IMG]

[LokotaLoft]

thats a lil more complicated then I could ever deal with , anything thats not at least square or rectangle is more then I can handle lol although I wish I had that kind of vision

[Gurbir]

LOL, i had a vision...a two story loft....might just do it...lol...i told someone else about it here on the PT...i think it was the mate trying to build a new loft but the city won't permit it because the only allow one shed/loft that can only be like 120 feet or something

[LokotaLoft]

here you can build bigger but you have to pay for the permit but I see people all over that get away with it as long as they do it on the hush hush basis and well they dont raise pigeons but most peopel wouldnt even have a clue that I have birds here as my birds dont ever land on anyone elses house either

[Gurbir]

LOL i see i see, here in Canada, Abbotsford, British Columbia to be exact, we don't need permits, you can keep almost anything..not horses cows and sheep but u get the point lol, and yeah i'm thinking of a 2 storey loft, neevr heard or seen one before, has anyone else?

[Jay3]

How big would you build it?

[Gurbir]

Make stairs inside the loft, that will lead to a second floor on top of the bottom floor...if i had the time i would make it...sounds awesome lol. Like if you make the base, 6ft, by 6ft. But you make the loft like 11 or 12 feet high. And you make two floors, the joint between the two floors should be really strong though, so that you don't fall down through. And just make small stairs that are covered leading to the second floor. And you can have 3 lights in the loft, one on the bottom floor, one inside the staircase since it'll be a bit dark, and one on the top floor. And you can have ventilation on both floors. (Chicken wire etc) I think it would work out great

[Jay3]

Sounds nice. I'd like to see one done like that.

[Gurbir]

Yep, being in a rural area you can put up a whole horse barn and they won't care lol. I'm going to try making it, won't be very hard. Just has to be strong. Lots of air circulation and light. 12 feet high...hmmm...thats 2 times as tall as me, plus 4 inches..lol. (The loft will be separated at a height of 6 feet)

[Jay3]

If you do, you need to share the pictures, and keep us updated. This I gotta see. Should keep you busy for a while. Might be fun and challenging though. LOL.

[Gurbir]

Has a 2 story pigeon loft ever been done before? And yeah i'm going to start making it soon.

[Jay3]

I'll bet someone, somewhere has done it. Wouldn't you like to see the plans? LOL.