# New Loft Design



## CGull (Mar 26, 2013)

I was going to wait until spring to build a new loft but I've quickly realized my 4x4' loft is way too small. I think I am going to go with a 10x6 or 10x8. 

Is 2 sf/bird adequate room? 

How big of an area should I have set aside for raising young birds? 

Right now I have 10 birds but would like to get my loft to 30-40 birds.


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## doveman2 (Jul 22, 2012)

I have a 6 x 12 x 7 tall and have had 34 birds. I also have a 3 foot by 6 foot hall dividing it into . one side for young birds and one side for old or breading. in the winter all cocks are on the nest box side and the hens are in the other side. but me I will not have that many birds again. besides I have white bird


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## doveman2 (Jul 22, 2012)

racers that I also use for weddings and other events. but that size loft will be good for you just don't crowd them and you'll be ok.


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## CGull (Mar 26, 2013)

Assuming I go with a 10x8 loft. What separations should I have for young birds? 

I'm new to the pigeon hobby but is there any reason that once my young birds mature I can't fly them and breed them year round, or should my breeding birds not be flown?


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## hthomas (Aug 7, 2013)

I'm just finishing up my loft and already finding that longer and narrower would have been better than the cube i built, i went with full 8ft measurements cause i figured it would cut down on wasted scraps. i made an 8x8 loft with a 4x8 aviary if i were to re-do it id go 12x6 interior and 2x12 aviary, same foot print but it would be better use of the space

how did those 2 birds workout??


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## CGull (Mar 26, 2013)

hthomas said:


> I'm just finishing up my loft and already finding that longer and narrower would have been better than the cube i built, i went with full 8ft measurements cause i figured it would cut down on wasted scraps. i made an 8x8 loft with a 4x8 aviary if i were to re-do it id go 12x6 interior and 2x12 aviary, same foot print but it would be better use of the space
> 
> how did those 2 birds workout??


Those two birds surprised me. Both escaped. The first bird escaped 3 days after I got it from you and I figured I would never see it again. It was gone for four days and the next morning I went out to the loft to fly the birds I already have and the escaped bird was in the loft.

A day later I was cleaning the loft and the other bird flew out the door as soon as I opened it, I zigged and it zagged and it went around me. Once again I thought it would take off but it flew around the yard a few times and landed on the house. Later that night it homed back to the loft.

I think I am going to go with a 10x8 loft. Build a separate 4x8 area for breeders and the remaining 6x8 area for the young birds that I will regularly fly.


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## doveman2 (Jul 22, 2012)

good choice. y not put a hallway in it like i did . no bird escape. same size as urs
2-4 foot x 8 foot sections and a 24-30 inch hallway. keep feed and baskets and everything else dry


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## doveman2 (Jul 22, 2012)

i like easy better than hard


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## doveman2 (Jul 22, 2012)

oh i also have a 4 foot doorway to each side cant have enough room to move around in. i chase them out in the pen and then clean or whatever


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## CGull (Mar 26, 2013)

Here is what I have planned, so far. Loft will be 12'x8'. The pen for breeders will be 6'x8', hallway is 2'x8', and the young bird area is 4'x8'. The young birds will be used to replace any birds that don't come back from flights, etc. and any surplus birds will be sold off once they are old enough. 

There is enough room in the breeders section for 20 nesting boxes which are 24" wide x 12" high x 14" deep. Nesting boxes will be stacked 5 high. I figure I can comfortable fit 12 pair of birds into the breeders area, leaving a few nest boxes open. 

How necessary is an aviary? Should I build one that extrudes from the loft or just build a large window into the pens? NY winters are quite cold, keep that in mind. 



I still need to figure into the loft where I'm going to place the trap door/landing board and a few other things.

Recommendations?


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## hthomas (Aug 7, 2013)

i myself built a separate section that is 4'x8'x6' onto the front of my loft and screened it in to work as my aviary, 90% of the ones ive seen are simple little boxes that extrude about chest height from the body of the loft, cant say as ones better than the other i havent been doing it long enough, but seeing as the "box" form has been done for generations it seems to be fine.

the nice thing about aviarys are you can get the birds out in them and trap them out while you clean, also for bathing to keep moisture out of the loft. as for the cold weather a simple hinged board to cover the opening should keep the wind from blowing through and can act as a landing board

the blue print plan looks awesome! let me know if you need a hand working on it, i dont have alot of spare time with the family running in all directions but would love to help if our scheduals mesh up at all


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## CGull (Mar 26, 2013)

I think the box type is what I'm going to do. I just have to grab some dimensions and add it on.


Can anyone tell me if I move my loft about 50 ft. away so that it is behind my outbuilding if this is going to cause any problems with the birds homing back to it?


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## hthomas (Aug 7, 2013)

if you keep them locked up for awhile (for instance through the winter) they should figure it out, the aviarys will help with that too


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## CGull (Mar 26, 2013)

I started clearing the site out for the new loft last night. I had to dispose of some old pallets that were used to stack firewood but now the area is clear and I can start laying out the cement blocks to build my foundation on.

The area if flatter than I thought so it should make building the loft a bit easier than originally expected.


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## Andy Bach (Nov 12, 2013)

Why do you need a hall way to waste of space. I would a do a wall divider with sliding door and another slider in breeder's loft.


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