# Drop trap - reinventing the wheel?



## S0L0 (May 29, 2010)

So... I am building this drop trap, and trying it in the opening where my bob-trap is, and it occurs to me... if there is no shelf inside the loft so the birds can't stop as they come through the trap, and if the opening (back to front) of the drop is only 5", does it need to have the dowels there to keep birds from going back out? The total width would be 17", so this would be a 17"x5" opening under a steeply slanted top. I think the angle between the wall of the loft and the roof of the drop trap is around 30-40*. 
Don't know if that describes it. The opening in the wall of the loft is 11" tall and 15" wide... the trap that I am building has a very steep front that is 12" tall and 17" wide... and it is obviously flush with the wall at the top, and then sticks out 5" at the bottom without dowels, versus sticking out 8" or more from the wall, with dowels in it. 

expert feedback much appreciated.


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## Shadybug Lofts (Mar 13, 2010)

I have seen my birds crawl up the wall by walking and flapping there wings I they did that they could go right out Right


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## S0L0 (May 29, 2010)

LOL.... that would be fun to see. 
would the dowels keep them in in this case?


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## Shadybug Lofts (Mar 13, 2010)

Yes with there wings open they can't get through


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## Matt Bell (May 5, 2010)

I have seen what Shadybug says as well. I have also seen traps sort of like you describe, but this is what these folks did. They cut the hole in the wall, the used a hinge and clasp on the board which was cut out, they could then prop this board open in order to allow the birds to trap, and then when it was all over they could lock it up and stop the birds from exiting. I would need to see a picture of what you are trying to do before I could say definitively whether it will work or not, but I have seen similar ideas work well.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

this is my very simple drop trap, they trap quick, but a few have gotten out of it.


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## S0L0 (May 29, 2010)

spiritwings.. it would be like that, but with solid sides. just open on the bottom 5".


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

S0L0 said:


> spiritwings.. it would be like that, but with solid sides. just open on the bottom 5".


sounds good to me, I like the fact you can close it all the way shut to keep critters out. esp at night.


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## Shadybug Lofts (Mar 13, 2010)

spirit wings said:


> this is my very simple drop trap, they trap quick, but a few have gotten out of it.


Mine would get up on that board below your trap and out they would go. I have one like that I built when I built my redrose loft because that's what they had. I have never opened it since I built the loft.


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## Shadybug Lofts (Mar 13, 2010)

Heres an idea. You could put solid triangle boards on the sides make a little 4' wide frame for the bottom with dowels 4" apart put them so they will go out the hole so you can still close it up. It will stick into the aviary. If you dont like that you can put hinges and fold the bottom up and out of the way and the sides in to. I hope this makes sense to you. You just push the door open fold the sides out and the bottom down and theres your trap.


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## Shadybug Lofts (Mar 13, 2010)

I can't let some of mine out they would try to go home to Utah. LOL


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Shadybug Lofts said:


> Heres an idea. You could put solid triangle boards on the sides make a little 4' wide frame for the bottom with dowels 4" apart put them so they will go out the hole so you can still close it up. It will stick into the aviary. If you dont like that you can put hinges and fold the bottom up and out of the way and the sides in to. I hope this makes sense to you. You just push the door open fold the sides out and the bottom down and theres your trap.


Out of my 30 something birds, only two have found out how to get out.
but really I don't even use the trap at that position any longer as my birds loft fly most of the time Im home, and if I do a release away from home hubby is there, so no need for my birds to trap in untill they want to. I would use it if we needed to go somewhere and could not be home, which I hardly ever do .. for racing, I suppose it would not be good for the bird to go back out..lol.. mine come and go as they please, at least in the summer. come fall, not so much.


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## S0L0 (May 29, 2010)

o.k. i think I have it done. I made it steeper than the drop traps I have seen online... so the openings are 3.5" X 4". The ones I have seen for sale are a shallower angle and each opening appears to be 6" or so by 4".. Is this (3.5"x4") going to be big enough for a homer to get through? It looks kind of like that picture of the door propped open (from Spirit Wings, above) but with sides on it, and dowels every 4" across the opening. 
btw- there is a door on the outside of this opening with a chain that I can pull to close this off completely to critters if need be. This would be critters that get past two German Shepherds and an electric fence.... I SUPPOSE it could happen.....


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## Roller mike (Aug 5, 2009)




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## Roller mike (Aug 5, 2009)




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## Roller mike (Aug 5, 2009)

Here is how mine are set up, hope this helps


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Roller mike said:


>


how do you close it to keep predators out?


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## S0L0 (May 29, 2010)

Thanks for the pictures, Mike. 

Can homers fit through a 3.5"x4" drop opening? 
I think I need to rebuild this again...


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## Shadybug Lofts (Mar 13, 2010)

Mine do OK at 4" but they have to pull there wings in to do it but that's OK then it is harder for them to get out


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

check out this drop trap from one of the members here..


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## Shadybug Lofts (Mar 13, 2010)

I mentioned that in a post the other day that I saw it somewhere on the net but people questioned weather they would be afraid to go through it.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Shadybug Lofts said:


> I mentioned that in a post the other day that I saw it somewhere on the net but people questioned weather they would be afraid to go through it.


.............


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## Matt Bell (May 5, 2010)

Wow, thats pretty slick, I like it.


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## Shadybug Lofts (Mar 13, 2010)

That might be hard to get old birds to use it but if you train them from babies I probably would work great.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Shadybug Lofts said:


> That might be hard to get old birds to use it but if you train them from babies I probably would work great.


I dunno, you might beable to teach old birds new tricks...


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## Shadybug Lofts (Mar 13, 2010)

spirit wings said:


> I dunno, you might beable to teach old birds new tricks...



My wife said it can't be done LOL


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## Guest (Jun 24, 2010)

would you want to crawl thru a pipe lol I think any of the drop traps should be much easier for your birds to adapt to


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## S0L0 (May 29, 2010)

I rebuilt my drop trap with dowels, and with 4 openings that are ~6" tall by 4" wide... I will have it up in a day or two and will take a picture. I hope the birds like it as much as I do.


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## Guest (Jun 24, 2010)

S0L0 said:


> I rebuilt my drop trap with dowels, and with 4 openings that are ~6" tall by 4" wide... I will have it up in a day or two and will take a picture. I hope the birds like it as much as I do.


lol one never knows til one trys ,pigeons are a very fickle bunch , hope they like it too


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

LokotaLoft said:


> would you want to crawl thru a pipe lol I think any of the drop traps should be much easier for your birds to adapt to


her birds seemed to drop in just fine, I do not think they cared how they got in, just wanted to get in and eat. you seem to be sharing your negative opinions more lately, are you in a bad mood?....lol...


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## S0L0 (May 29, 2010)

*Did it!*

Hope the picture comes through. I got the trap built, and today I installed it while the birds were out flying. So far, they have come back in and hopped right through it. There is one bird out sitting on a wire. I'll see if he comes back in. I think they like it better than the bobs, which I could tell they hated the feeling of.


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## Shadybug Lofts (Mar 13, 2010)

I can't see why that wouldn't work.


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## S0L0 (May 29, 2010)

so all of my birds went through the trap except one. She sat out on the landing board and the roof for a while. The trap looks different from a distance now. With the bobs you could see into the loft from a distance. With the drop trap, it looks like a solid wall, unless you get near it and look down inside the loft. She was willing to look at me from inside, but would not come over to investigate it. So I opened up my door and let her in that way. 
We'll try again tomorrow. ;-)


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## Guest (Jun 25, 2010)

looks good to me ,Im sure that last bird will catch on faster once it sees the others dropping thru it in front of it ..does that one screw sticking out mean your drill died lol hate when that happens


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## S0L0 (May 29, 2010)

that screw sticking out means that I stripped the head on it and need to pull it out by hand with a pliers and start over by PRE-drilling the hole <sigh> 
I hope that the birds will come in closer together and she'll see them go through the trap. She was happy to go through my door... I thought that was cute...


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## Shadybug Lofts (Mar 13, 2010)

I made one exactly like that. It took me all day. Then I decided not to use it because I though it would be to close to the floor of the aviary only about 10 " I thought they would jump up and go out so I came up with the one I'm using now You ill be OK because yours is far off the floor I'm assuming .


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## hillfamilyloft (Jun 22, 2005)

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f38/new-young-bird-loft-34557-4.html

Post of the ones I built. Might give you ideas and makeshift template.


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## Roller mike (Aug 5, 2009)

*The outside aviary is always closed when my birds are in*



spirit wings said:


> how do you close it to keep predators out?


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## Roller mike (Aug 5, 2009)

When they are flying I am "on gaurd" until they are all safely trapped in


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## cbx1013 (Aug 12, 2009)

S0L0 said:


> Hope the picture comes through. I got the trap built, and today I installed it while the birds were out flying. So far, they have come back in and hopped right through it. There is one bird out sitting on a wire. I'll see if he comes back in. I think they like it better than the bobs, which I could tell they hated the feeling of.


Solo:

That looks awesome... What are the dimensions of the total opening, width and height? Spacing of the dowels?

All:

My YB's really seem to fight the bobs... Is a drop trap a better solution? Can the birds get back out?

Don


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## Crab_Shrapnel (Jan 17, 2010)

spirit wings said:


> check out this drop trap from one of the members here..


What are the measurements on that? That seems pretty awesome.


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## S0L0 (May 29, 2010)

Thanks. The trap is 16" wide (it sits on the studs) and the top of it is 12" long. The dowels are 4" apart and the height between the dowels is 6". When I first made it, the height between the dowels was only 4" and I don't think the birds would go through it, so I re-made it and made it much taller. It looks very open, and except for the one bird that seems to just enjoy being on the landing board, everybody else figured it out very fast. 
I don't believe that pigeons can get back out of this because there is nothing under it for them to stand on, so if they hang on to it, they would have to be flapping their wings to hang on, so they would not fit between the dowels. 

The bird that likes to stay out, is going in a little quicker these days. She stayed out until 11 the second night. (I had to let her in my door the first night). Last night she went in around 9. Tonight just before 8 I went out and took the feeder out of the loft, so when she finally decided to come in, there was nothing for her to eat. Maybe tomorrow she'll be a little quicker to come in.


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