Loft Advice

[learning]

...And the Father- In -Law said "Let there be lights"....











...and it was so....







Attachment 7540

Attachment 7541

Attachment 7542

[Lovebirds]

WOW!!! ..............very very nice...........

[TerriB]

What an inviting view for your birds to come home to! Lovely spacious cubbies!

[learning]

Well...sort of.

Can you believe it!? Anyone that has been following this thread for the last two years will know what a long journey this has been. What started out as a search for a strong, performance based, inbred family of pigeons boiled down to two names, Ludo Claessens and Warren Smith. This has resulted in much more than I could have dreamed.

Yup, you guessed it...in the imortal words of Scotty from the Star Trek movies...(spoken with a heavy Scottish brogue so you gotta kinda roll the "r")

"...Cap'n... therrr be whales here!"

only this time, it's pigeons...and not just pigeons, but some of the finest birds I could imagine, straight from the loft of Mr. Warren Smith of Smith Family Loft fame. Through the course of this search of mine, Warren has been much more than a possible supplier of pigeons. He has answered every question, listened to every gripe or complaint, and gently...o.k. sometimes not so gently...steered me in the right direction. A great bond of trust has grown. So much so, that when it came down to brass tacks, I had no reservations about leaving the actual selection of the birds to be relocated up to him. What I received was beyond my wildest dreams.

Needless to say I am beyond thrilled and since receiving the birds, Warren's interest and support has only gotten stronger...so much so that there may be an announcement on his web site soon! I will let him address that.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you guys know that this will probably be the last post on this thread since we have finally made it to the actual delivery of my initial stock! (Even though the loft itself is far from complete. ) so...thanks to everyone for your words of advice and encouragement. I thought you would enjoy seeing this thing finally come to a close.

Thanks again everyone,

Dan

P.S. Yes...now I have to scrape poop too, just like the rest of you!

Attachment 7602

Attachment 7603

Attachment 7604

[TAWhatley]

How exciting, Dan! I'm so glad your lovely loft is now populated by equally lovely birds! I'll look forward to more updates!

Terry

[Lovebirds]

I LOVE LOVE your nest boxes!! Got a comment about the perches though?? Are those permanent or temporary?
Good looking birds to I might add.

[learning]

Renee,

Those perches are the result of getting a call from the post office a full day early saying "come get these birds out of our post office"! They are as temporary as you can get! They will be replaced ASAP.

Dan

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by learning

Renee,

Those perches are the result of getting a call from the post office a full day early saying "come get these birds out of our post office"! They are as temporary as you can get! They will be replaced ASAP.

Dan

Good enough for me. I won't say a single thing now.

[italianbird101]

Beautifull Birds

[TerriB]

Congratulations!!! Lovely birds! Love your set-up! Looks like the birds approve of the loft and have settled right in! I know you will enjoy spending time getting to know your new flock!

[Pigeon lower]

for a second i thought those we same bird in all pick one hen looks like a cock in another pic of urs the brown one with a white tick near its eye

[SmithFamilyLoft]

OK Learning,

You have been working on this loft for two years now, and you now have the loft stocked. So when is this beauty going to find it's way onto the American Racing Pigeon Union's "Show Case Loft" section ?!?!

http://www.pigeon.org/showcaselofts.htm

[learning]

Originally Posted by SmithFamilyLoft

OK Learning,

You have been working on this loft for two years now, and you now have the loft stocked. So when is this beauty going to find it's way onto the American Racing Pigeon Union's "Show Case Loft" section ?!?!

http://www.pigeon.org/showcaselofts.htm

Warren,

Only my hairdresser knows for sure!

Oops...I guess I am dating myself here with that comment. I forget that most of the members here are too young to remember those commercials.

To answer your question, I am trying to finish up the racing side of the loft interior now. Seems I am staying one section ahead of the breeders! I finished the first young bird section the week before I weaned the first round. I just finished the second section and the second round will be ready to wean in about two weeks, etc., etc. I just need to finish three more young bird sections, the widowhood section and the widowhood hen's section, then build the aviaries in the back, then build the shelves, then build the perches, then build the nestboxes for the widowhood section, then put in the counter in the storage section, then install the sink, then...

...Oh crap, I just need to resign myself to the fact that this thing is never going to be done!

I will try to get some more recent pictures up soon. The first round babies are really very cute.

Dan

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by learning

To answer your question, I am trying to finish up the racing side of the loft interior now. Seems I am staying one section ahead of the breeders! I finished the first young bird section the week before I weaned the first round. I just finished the second section and the second round will be ready to wean in about two weeks, etc., etc. I just need to finish three more young bird sections, the widowhood section and the widowhood hen's section, then build the aviaries in the back, then build the shelves, then build the perches, then build the nestboxes for the widowhood section, then put in the counter in the storage section, then install the sink, then...



Dan

Darn, you made me VERY tired all the sudden. I do not envy you, that's for sure.

[SmithFamilyLoft]

Dan,

Here is the hard and sometimes cold facts. A fancier's loft is never done !!! It is really more like a work in progress, because as soon as you complete your list you have there.....at some point, you will want or need to tweak or change something. If you used something like drywall screws, then moving a wall or door...or whatever is rather simple. I would find it highly unlikely, that you have built such a perfect master piece, that you won't be making some changes here and there over the years.

At any rate, I hope you are keeping a photo diary of all this, so you can load up the AU servers with your picture downloads, when that day comes. Of course, don't forget those pretty window boxes with pretty flowers, and the welcome mat, and make sure you color cordinate the staining of the deck with the siding, and.....well I guess you have enough on that list already.
Finish up and then us here in the peanut gallery can add more suggestions !!