# Tiny Loft/Crazy weather



## Neoflash (Jun 13, 2012)

Hi,

First of all, I know nothing about pigeons, well, almost nothing, save for the confusing and contradicting information I have gleaned from the internet. For a few weeks now I have been combing the net for information on raising and caring for homing pigeons and I am more confused than ever. Hopefully some of you experts will be able to answer my questions and get me started in what seems like a wonderful hobby.

I have a lot of questions and will try to be as concise as possible, put I can already tell this is going to be a long one, so i apologize in advance.

I live in a suburb of Montreal, QC, Canada. The temperature here varies wildly from one season to the next, sometimes one week to the next. For example, last week we had a day where the temperature was 31C (38C with humidity factor) and this week we had a rainy 13C day. In the winter, we can get several -20C to -30C days and in July and August we often get several 30C to 35C days. 

Can homing pigeons survive outdoors in those kinds of temperature extremes? If so, what kind of features should my loft have in order to accommodate these temperature extremes?

Now, on to loft sizes. At first, when researching loft designs, I simply entered the terms "pigeon lofts" in google. After seeing the kinds of bird mansions that were depicted, I modified my search to look for "small pigeon lofts": ARE YOU KIDDING ME, I don't think you pigeon folk have the same definition of small as the rest of us. So I started searching for "incredibly tiny pigeon lofts" and finally, I stumbled upon a "loft" of the size I was looking for. I live in the burbs and have a pretty small backyard, there's no way my wife would allow for a pigeon loft to be the main decorative feature in our yard. Here is a link to what I have found (the second picture) : http://www.faircountclub.com/faq_whyraise.htm

I would like to know if, in your opinion, it is possible to keep, breed and "train" 4 to 6 homing pigeons in a loft of that approximate size, maybe a better design, but about that size?

I don't plan to race the pigeons and I don't need to train them to do fancy stuff and obey whistle commands and all that stuff. All I want them to do, is come back to the loft when they are released some distance away. Speed is not an issue, style is not an issue, all I want is reliable homing. What kind of "training" will be sufficient to achieve this goal?

I have more questions but I'll keep them for later. Your answers to these first questions will no doubt help me determine if my project is feasible or not.

Thank your for your help.


----------



## Shadybug Lofts (Mar 13, 2010)

If you read that loft holds 1 pair of pigeons, that will end up being 12 pigeons the first summer. You can't breed more than one pair in there and then you need to have somewhere to put the young when there weined. Pigeon are addictive, you just can't raise one pair. I would suggest talking your wife into a bigger loft, lofts can look very nice in you yard if you build it nice and landscape it well. Everyone that visits my house say mine looks better than my house. Pigeons can take the harsh weather. If you get that loft you will be kicking yourself in a few months time. I hate to be a downer but thats the truth. I built a 3x6 then a 6x8 and I wish I would have built both of them bigger. I started this season with 7 pairs. I raised 35 babies so far and I said I never wanted to keep more than 10 in each loft. My birds are sick at the moment from overcrowding and when you get sick birds you better have some money or meds on hand. It can get very expensive. I'm not saying you shouldn't keep pigeons. I think you should get 2 hens and raise and enjoy them for a while it won't take long till your begging your wife for that nice new big loft in your back yard. When you start begging don't forget to offer her something in return. Also get her interested in them so she wants a loft. Most of the time its ok for them to have something but not you. That means if she wants a loft there will be one in the yard in no time. Just my words of wisdom. Good luck


----------



## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

You could paint this to match your house or apartment and it would look nice.
Dave


http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...r8nhAQ&usg=AFQjCNGWGdp9KUFqcCLaa0CtCvawOnHBpg


----------



## maniac (Sep 27, 2009)

I am located on the north shore at Oka so we suffer the same temps. I built a modified redrose loft that cost somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 bucks in material and took a few days to build, I dont heat it in the winter and it is not insulated, the vents are left open all year except during wind blown snowstorms but my loft is backed up close to a very tall cedar hedge. I have never had sickness in my loft (touching wood ) and never medicate although if I owned some expensive stock I might. They are fed chicken scratch that I augment with peas, lentils, sunflower seed, popcorn and barley. At the feed store a 90 lb (40K) costs about 18.00.
Feeders and waterer's are available at most Unimat hardware stores. 

Good Luck


----------

