Loft Questions

[sarge]

I'm kind of new to Pigeons, I had dozens of pigeons when I was young but they lived in a barn and were free to come and go on their own, no real loft. Now I would like to get into some homers. I've been reading all the suggestions here and it seems most know what they're talking about. My question is about constructing a (new) loft. I've seen that air venting and circulation is critical to a healthy loft, but.. what about cold weather. I live in Ohio near Lake Erie and it gets cold, snowy and windy. Does the loft need to be "sealed up" during the winter when it's 0 degrees and windy? It seems to me that the pigeons at large seem to survive the winters here so should these be treated differently? In general, what's the best situation for a loft during very cold weather? Thanks in advance for your help.

[ohiogsp]

I am from near toledo. I have one open side on all my lofts and they face east so the wind is not blowing right in the loft and when it gets cold I put bisquene over most the opening. Good luck

[learning]

Hi Sarge,

First and formost, welcome to pigeon talk! It's always nice to see a new face around here, (o.k., maybe not new face...how 'bout new typing!) As far as loft construction goes I think it is one of those areas where everyone has an opinion and as you say, a lot of it is dependant on the local weather. I too am in the middle of the construction process but for me, being in Georgia, my concerns were more about summer heat and humidity. My thoughts on the matter tend to fall on the side of pigeons not being threatened nearly as much by the cold as they are from a lack of quality, fresh air. I know many fanciers in the Northeast that have very open lofts and are quite successful. I think in your case I would try to make it as modular as possible while addrssing the birds need for quality air at all times.

I am sure there will be plenty of folks from the great white north coming along that will share their experiences. Good luck and again, welcome.

Dan

if worse comes to worse you can always cover the open areas with platic to keep the drafts from blowing through your loft , thats what I do and all seems to work out well ,otherwise they seem to fair well no matter how cold it gets and they seme to have no problems raising babies in the coldest of winter too ..if you ask me pigeons will just rock your world no matter what

[Skyeking]

Hi Sarge,

Welcome to Pigeon Talk.

Thank you for your interest in homing pigeons/and design for coop.

I am moving your thread to the appropriate forum.

Just letting you know, so you don't wonder why/how it was moved.

[Heather-Mole]

I know Renee (LoveBirds) Built a loft not so long ago, although his loft is pigeon heaven his took quite some work because its the last one he will ever build...but he might be able to give you dome ideas?

[abisai]

Sarge . . . Pigeons are pretty hardy birds. They are found in the warmest and coldest weather. Long as they are well fed, away from drafts, and humidity, the cold itself won't bother them. Make sure their water doesn't freeze.

A.C.

[sarge]

Well thanks all for your input. I knew I could get a good answer here, thanks again.

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by sarge

I'm kind of new to Pigeons, I had dozens of pigeons when I was young but they lived in a barn and were free to come and go on their own, no real loft. Now I would like to get into some homers. I've been reading all the suggestions here and it seems most know what they're talking about. My question is about constructing a (new) loft. I've seen that air venting and circulation is critical to a healthy loft, but.. what about cold weather. I live in Ohio near Lake Erie and it gets cold, snowy and windy. Does the loft need to be "sealed up" during the winter when it's 0 degrees and windy? It seems to me that the pigeons at large seem to survive the winters here so should these be treated differently? In general, what's the best situation for a loft during very cold weather? Thanks in advance for your help.

Sarge, welcome to PT. The cold won't hurt the birds. The snow won't hurt the birds. But the wind is something that can harm them and they DON"T like it. The best thing to do is face the BACK of your loft to the prevailing winds. In some climates the whole front of the loft can be left open. We have two lofts. Our big loft has plenty of ventiliation, but a lot of smaller windows for access to the aviaries as opposed to our smaller loft which is has the top half fully open. Although no birds have suffered that I can tell, I DO worry about them in the winter time. Probably for nothing.......but I do anyway. The back of our big loft faces the NW and when the wind blows, it gets super cold in the loft, so I have to shut all the doors. The birds hate the wind, but they also hate being shut inside.......... So, basically our big loft is built so that it can be very "open" but when it gets super cold, all windows can be closed and it DOES make a difference. If I close up my loft at night when the birds are getting ready to roost, the inside is usually about 5 degrees "warmer" than the outside. Anyway, don't know if this really helps or not, but just some ideas.

[Baskar]

Hey cool, Ohioans! I'm in Ashland County, close enough to Wayne County though.

Just going through messages about loft info and this one answered some of my questions.

And lovebirds, I'm one of those people that is falling in love with that pigeon of yours....SOOO CUUUUTE, reminds me of Billy, my button quail(he's the last of the original bq's I got and he died recently...*sniffles*) only with a different type of bill. (and bigger of course)