Proper loft ventilation?

[trailbound]

OK, I am in the midst of a small scare, and tomarrow one of my birds is being euthanized and sent to a pathology lab in I believe WA State. I have felt for a while something was not right with a few of my birds, and after talking with my vet yesterday, that is the course of action she thinks is best. Ornithosis is what I am pretty convinced is what is going on, but we will see when the results come in. Anyway, I am hoping to get some real advice on what is necessary for proper loft ventiltion without drafts. My YB loft has an opening (approx 25"x15")for the birds to move freely from the loft to the aviary, and then another opening (same size) on the same wall where they trap in after being out to fly. Sufficient or not at all? My old bird loft and breeding loft has just one opening, allowing access to the outside aviary, as when I open the other window to allow access to the aviary at the other end, there is too much of a draft, so I ended up keeping that one closed, and allowing only one open. My OB loft feels damp when it is humid or raining outside, and I know this can not be good for the birds. So, my question is exactly what is the best way to ventilate and at the same time prevent drafts? Is it best to ventilate high on a wall, or low? The ceiling? I have searched all my books and such, and good ventilation is stressed heavily, but none of them really get into detail what is required. Anybody?

[abisai]

TrailBound . . . Good Morning. From what I have heard, you can light a cigarrett (not advising that you smoke it) inside the loft and watch the plume of smoke. It should "ventilate" from the bottom to the top ventilating ports.

Abisai

[Trees Gray]

Originally Posted by trailbound

OK, I am in the midst of a small scare, and tomarrow one of my birds is being euthanized and sent to a pathology lab in I believe WA State. I have felt for a while something was not right with a few of my birds, and after talking with my vet yesterday, that is the course of action she thinks is best. Ornithosis is what I am pretty convinced is what is going on, but we will see when the results come in. Anyway, I am hoping to get some real advice on what is necessary for proper loft ventiltion without drafts. My YB loft has an opening (approx 25"x15")for the birds to move freely from the loft to the aviary, and then another opening (same size) on the same wall where they trap in after being out to fly. Sufficient or not at all? My old bird loft and breeding loft has just one opening, allowing access to the outside aviary, as when I open the other window to allow access to the aviary at the other end, there is too much of a draft, so I ended up keeping that one closed, and allowing only one open. My OB loft feels damp when it is humid or raining outside, and I know this can not be good for the birds. So, my question is exactly what is the best way to ventilate and at the same time prevent drafts? Is it best to ventilate high on a wall, or low? The ceiling? I have searched all my books and such, and good ventilation is stressed heavily, but none of them really get into detail what is required. Anybody?

You should have ventialtion all around every wall of your loft, under the eaves, just below the roof. This will give them adequate ventilation. Be sure to enclose with hardware cloth.

They also should have aaccess to an open aviary where they can sun and take baths.

[roxtar]

I've also read that EXHAUST (pulling old air out and fresh air in) ventilation is better than having a fan just blowing around inside the loft.
I think that this could be easily accomplished with a couple of bathroom exhaust fans purchased at a hardware store and placed under the eaves of the loft, these fans are rated for wet locations usually so humidity from rain shouldn't be an issue. It may be time consuming, and you may have to do some modifications to your loft but I think it would be well worth it.

[warriec]

how has this been effecting your birds, are there any signs

[learning]

I don't know if this will help or not but I will tell you what I am doing in my new loft in the way of ventilation. Now, keep in mind that my loft is about 800 square feet so it is a bit larger than most but the priciple should be the same. I am in Georgia so my concern was with the intense heat and humidity that we get down here. My loft sits on a platform that averages about 5 feet off the ground because it sits on the side of a hill. The temperature on the platform averages about 15 degrees hotter than under the platform. I wanted to take advantage of this fact.

I will have 8 seperate 1' X 4' cutouts in the floor that will be covered with extruded steele grating. I will be able to cover these in the winter if needed. This will allow the cooler air under the loft to ventilate from the bottom. Around the roof, under the eves all the way around is open for ventilation and covered with 1/4 inch hardware cloth. I also wanted to be able to turn the air over quickly when I wanted to to avoid dust and stale air so I will have three attic exhaust fans installed up high on the back walls that will turn over all the air in the loft in about 5 minutes.

We will see how effective it is once I get birds in here in about a month or two. If you want to see pictures of how it is going you can check out the "Loft Advice" thread on this site.

I know that some might say this is overkill but I just don't want to have to fool with all of the problems associated with poor vintilation.

Dan