# Loft Size for 4-8 pairs?



## LuisO (Nov 14, 2005)

Hey Everyone,

Headed back up north...TODAY! I'm excited! Myself and the birds will be loaded up on the truck and headed 18 hours North. 

I have been planning on building a loft for my birds and now I will have the space to build one. I plan on housing about 4-8 pairs of birds. I would like to know what everyone thinks is a good overal size and type of loft I should make for them.

Let me know what you think would best suite the birds. There are cold winters so I think I wouldl like something that is completely enclosed that gives the birds the option to go into the aviary portion of the loft.

Thanks!

Luis


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Your already in New Jersey........where the heck are you going to drive 18 hours???? LOL
There's a pretty big difference in what you need for 4 pair vesus 8 pair. The best thing I can tell you is plan, plan, plan...........As big and as thought out or "planned" as our big loft is, we STILL had to build another one!! It really depends on what you plan to do with the birds.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Lovebirds is right, you can never build TOO BIG, most people build to small.

We started with a small coop, that my sons built, that we renovated and added two additional coops and a large aviary to! LOL. It was a lot more work then it could have been.


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## pigeonkid1046 (Nov 16, 2005)

Hey Luis. I live not to far from you......but where are you now?! LOL. I'm about 30 min. from Phildelphia. Are you still in New Jersey? Back to the question, my loft is 4 feet X 8 feet and mine handles 35 birds easy. My answer is if you have enough perches, and nestboxes, it will hold as many as you want. BUT......make sure you have more then enough nestboxes (2 per pair). I would go with a 4 X 8. Looking back when we built the loft, we should have went with a 4 X 12. I'd go with a 4 X 8 or 4 X 12.


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## jimmyrenex (Mar 27, 2005)

Hey Luis....
I agree with Treesa... You can never build one that is too big.  Even if you build one only for the birds you have now, keep in mind that more will be on the way. If your resources only allow you to build a smaller one, position it in a place that will allow you to add on for the future. If you breed them, you will need some room for the babies. If you are worried about bad weather, you can section off a portion of the cage that you board up in the winter. Then leave the rest as a flight pen that you can open on those nice days during the winter. It is always easier to build it right the first time. It may take a bit longer, but it will save you time and money later on...
Good Luck...

*PigeonKid-Tim-* You house 35 birds in a 4x8? Is that just the coop? Do they have an aviary as well? One of my coops is 16x8, and houses only 8 pairs and I still think that is a little tight...


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## pigeonraiser (Mar 23, 2001)

Luis;Figure out how much room you need for the birds you have then build it about 3 times that size you'll need it down the road.Good luck with your birds.pigeonraiser


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## re lee (Jan 4, 2003)

A loft also has to support the breed. Now You need to look at haveing a young bird pen a spare bird pen a hen pen And maybe a feed sick bird area. plus the breeding area that doubles for the cock side in off season.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

there is no way that 35 birds should be in a 4 X 8 loft. Our hen section in our widowhood loft is 4 X 8. I will not put more than 12 hens in there. It's designed to hold only 15. The rule to figure how many birds will go in any size loft is this
width X depth X height divided by 15 = # of birds.
So......your loft:

4 X 8 X 7 = 224 divided by 15 = 14.93 (assuming it's 7 ft high)


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

Luis,

Hi again !  I agree with those who say you can't build one too big. There are things called zoning, building permits, and how much money you have to put towards a loft. 

So first of all start with the money question. If you only have a few hundred or a few thousand dollars, there is no use discussing 14 x 44 12 section breeding lofts, and then a couple 12x12 YB sections, now is there ?

Second point, if you have the funds, but not the zoning to build something onto a pint sized lot, then no point going into larger loft sizes either.

So first of all figure your budget, and the zoning, permit issues etc. and build the largest one you can afford. But, before you run off and hire a contractor to build you a loft, know what the heck you a building. BIG difference between a loft and a shed. So, it depends on the level and degree that you want to house pigeons. 

If you are thinking racing, there are quite a few real "Lofts" in NJ. It is not difficult at all to put $20,000+ into contractor built racing loft. And that does not come close to putting you at the top of world class lofts, which can run well in excess of a $100,000 plus.

After having said all that, keep in mind, that most people will end up over crowding their lofts. So, if you build a loft for four pair, and start with that amount, do not plan on breeding any birds, cause that will put you above the capicity of your loft. And since pigeons can live 20 years, plan on looking at just those birds for a very long time.

Bottom line, you have to do alot of home work.

PS. Check out "LoveBird's" site, and their award winning loft ! Beautiful !


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

SmithFamilyLoft said:


> Luis,
> 
> Hi again !  I agree with those who say you can't build one too big. There are things called zoning, building permits, and how much money you have to put towards a loft.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the plug Warren...........


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## LuisO (Nov 14, 2005)

Hey everyone,

First full day back here in NJ and its FREEZING! I got my grandfather brainstorming on the loft and he wants to find or make a nice size shed as well as making a nice Aviary for the birds to fly around in. I was thinking on smaller, but he wants to be able to walk in everything including the flight area. So hopefully we will get started this week. I'll update from time to time.

Luis


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Luis, glad to hear you made the trip safely. 

Maggie


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## LuisO (Nov 14, 2005)

Thanks Maggie, North Carolina was an easy state to drive through. Virginia gave me a snow and rain mix for about half the way. The rest of the trip was great. We will be starting the flight part of the loft tomorrow.

Luis


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## ZigZagMarquis (Aug 31, 2004)

Louis... I've heard the number 16 to 17 cubic feet of loft space per bird thrown around.

Good luck!


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