# Need advise on building my first loft!!



## HippieChick (Apr 26, 2011)

Hi all,

I know that there are bunches of designs out there for new coops but I am kindof in a unique situation and I need some advise to get my birds a healthy start. I don't have my birds, yet. I intend to get 4 white homing pigeons for the time being but I may keep as many as 10 at my current home. The home that I am at currently allows me to have the birds but my neighbors might get cranky if I had too many or if my coop were too big. Also, I plan on moving soon (within the next year) and I will be building a new (and better!) coop at my new place but, because I know that I won't be here very long, I don't want to waste unnecessary time and money building a gigantic coop that will be torn down by the next home owners. We can have very cold winters and I would like to avoid building a permanent building for them so I figure my best bet would be to shelter my birds indoors during foul weather and at night. First of all, is it acceptble to keep birds this way? If they are getting plenty of excercise and outdoor time will this arrangement keep them happy? Second, What dimensions would be acceptable for a loft to shelter them all from predtors and such? Does anyone have any clever ideas for a small loft that would suit my needs? I also don't know very much about pigeons' nesting habits...if I had a daytime coop and a nighttime coop, I would assume that I would put the nesting crates and such inside. Is that assumption correct? And finally (and than I will end my rant of a post) I want my birds to be in good shape. I intend to take them on long-distance flights once a week or so once they are trained. But how much daily, outdoor time would my birds need to keep in good shape? Would it be wise to leave them in the loft unattended when I was off at work (I might be trying to baby my babies too much )? Thank you all for your wonderful posts!!!! I have learned soooooo much from this site!!!


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## Birds (Apr 11, 2011)

Build you a 4x4x7 that you can take down in 4 sections so that when you move , you can take it with you , then duplicate the same and put the two together at your new place .. just one of hundreds of ideas .


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## ptras (Jun 29, 2010)

HippieChick said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I know that there are bunches of designs out there for new coops but I am kindof in a unique situation and I need some advise to get my birds a healthy start. I don't have my birds, yet. I intend to get 4 white homing pigeons for the time being but I may keep as many as 10 at my current home. The home that I am at currently allows me to have the birds but my neighbors might get cranky if I had too many or if my coop were too big. Also, I plan on moving soon (within the next year) and I will be building a new (and better!) coop at my new place but, because I know that I won't be here very long, I don't want to waste unnecessary time and money building a gigantic coop that will be torn down by the next home owners. We can have very cold winters and I would like to avoid building a permanent building for them so I figure my best bet would be to shelter my birds indoors during foul weather and at night. First of all, is it acceptble to keep birds this way? If they are getting plenty of excercise and outdoor time will this arrangement keep them happy? Second, What dimensions would be acceptable for a loft to shelter them all from predtors and such? Does anyone have any clever ideas for a small loft that would suit my needs? I also don't know very much about pigeons' nesting habits...if I had a daytime coop and a nighttime coop, I would assume that I would put the nesting crates and such inside. Is that assumption correct? And finally (and than I will end my rant of a post) I want my birds to be in good shape. I intend to take them on long-distance flights once a week or so once they are trained. But how much daily, outdoor time would my birds need to keep in good shape? Would it be wise to leave them in the loft unattended when I was off at work (I might be trying to baby my babies too much )? Thank you all for your wonderful posts!!!! I have learned soooooo much from this site!!!


If you move once the birds are homing to your loft, there is a really good chance that the birds will continue to home to their first loft.


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## HippieChick (Apr 26, 2011)

I intend to learn with my first birds. I have never trained pigeons before and I imagine there will be alot to absorb. After I move I intend to keep the birds as breeders and the end goal is to train thier offspring to the new home.


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## Jaysen (Jun 21, 2010)

That's a good plan (as in responsible). If the move is soon you may want to hold off though. While prisoners are common, it is better to not _have_ to keep the birds locked up.


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## HippieChick (Apr 26, 2011)

Since we are on the topic...I heard from a friend, who used to keep pigeons for food (she lived in a tiny mountain community). She told me that once she moved, she kept her birds locked up until they layed their first clutch of eggs and then she re-trained them and she never had any birds leave. Is there a good way to re-train them or does it vary from bird-to-bird? Everyone seems to have thier own oppinion...


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## sky tx (Mar 1, 2005)

My loft is 6 X 16 --3 sections for birds and 1 for Storage and be loaded on a trailer and moved
http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showpost.php?p=451707&postcount=10


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## Goingatitagain (Feb 5, 2011)

sky tx said:


> My loft is 6 X 16 --3 sections for birds and 1 for Storage and be loaded on a trailer and moved
> http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showpost.php?p=451707&postcount=10


 Great looking loft SkyTX. That looks to be quite the moving job though.

Can it be broken down into sections for ease of move ??


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## sky tx (Mar 1, 2005)

It can be pulled up on any trailer large enough to haul a Car.--Its only 6 foot wide -16 foot long. 6 or 7 foot tall - maybe 7 1/2 foot tall-Just disconnect the electric and water. It is build on Skids.


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## newtopidgeons (Mar 11, 2011)

sky tx said:


> It can be pulled up on any trailer large enough to haul a Car.--Its only 6 foot wide -16 foot long. 6 or 7 foot tall - maybe 7 1/2 foot tall-Just disconnect the electric and water. It is build on Skids.


Why did you disconnect it?


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