# Loft Help



## Taunt (Jun 24, 2008)

Hi, I'm new to Pigeon Talk. I have a pretty big loft (don't know the length and width) but I'm having some problems with it. To start off, we built the cage at ground level and learned that it's best to have them off the ground Then, last year, I went ahead and put in the shingles on the roof but I was using so large nails that they appeared on the INSIDE of the cage I them down so they won't be sticking up as to cause the pigeons any harm. And finally, we thought it would be best to have a dirt floor but poop and sand DO NOT mix well together. I was thinking about putting in plywood flooring. Is that good? Would I have to take out the nails? the shingles are all stuck together so that would be a pain. Any suggestions would help.


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## philodice (Sep 30, 2007)

It's time for you to take some aviary netting and hang it on the inside of your roof to protect the birds. Pounded down or not, those nails are dangerous. If your birds get frightened I don't want to think about it. It's a good thing you mentioned this.
Dirt floor? Time to get rid of that. I'm assuming you don't have a stone wall around it that goes 2 feet into the ground all around, so your birds are in danger of a raccoon, coyote, or rat attack. Time to seal that up. Plywood is fine, and you can put in a layer of sand as litter. Regular old dirt isn't secure enough. Take it from us, we've seen people cleaned out of birds entirely from these loft design errors.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Taunt said:


> Hi, I'm new to Pigeon Talk. I have a pretty big loft (don't know the length and width) but I'm having some problems with it. To start off, we built the cage at ground level and learned that it's best to have them off the ground Then, last year, I went ahead and put in the shingles on the roof but I was using so large nails that they appeared on the INSIDE of the cage I them down so they won't be sticking up as to cause the pigeons any harm. And finally, we thought it would be best to have a dirt floor but poop and sand DO NOT mix well together. I was thinking about putting in plywood flooring. Is that good? Would I have to take out the nails? the shingles are all stuck together so that would be a pain. Any suggestions would help.


Don't suppose you've got any pictures you could post? These things can be fixed. Is the sand INSIDE the loft or are you talking about in the aviary, or both?


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Taunt said:


> Hi, I'm new to Pigeon Talk. I have a pretty big loft (don't know the length and width) but I'm having some problems with it. To start off, we built the cage at ground level and learned that it's best to have them off the ground Then, last year, I went ahead and put in the shingles on the roof but I was using so large nails that they appeared on the INSIDE of the cage I them down so they won't be sticking up as to cause the pigeons any harm. And finally, we thought it would be best to have a dirt floor but poop and sand DO NOT mix well together. I was thinking about putting in plywood flooring. Is that good? Would I have to take out the nails? the shingles are all stuck together so that would be a pain. Any suggestions would help.



Hello and Welcome To pigeon Talk,

Inside the loft/coop, where air circulation is not its best, the floor should be off the ground and plywood works well for most people. A dirt floor can cause dampness and other unsanitary conditions for the birds.

Now, in your aviary you can use sand, I had a sand floor in my aviary when I was 10 years old, with air circulating on all four sides,( as it was enclosed with wire), it dried quickly and you could easily scoop the dried poop out with a cat litter scooper (clean one). It wasn't an issue of dampness at all, and the sand was replaced frequently.


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## Taunt (Jun 24, 2008)

Lovebirds said:


> Don't suppose you've got any pictures you could post? These things can be fixed. Is the sand INSIDE the loft or are you talking about in the aviary, or both?


Here are some pictures. Also I should note that the front of the cage is all wire mesh.


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## Taunt (Jun 24, 2008)

Lovebirds said:


> Don't suppose you've got any pictures you could post? These things can be fixed. Is the sand INSIDE the loft or are you talking about in the aviary, or both?


Here are some pictures. Also I should note that the front of the cage is all wire mesh. The other wire mesh you see used to hold chickens bu I gave them away. I was thinking of cleaning it out and putting a bath for the pigeons. I also need to find space to put in more nest boxes as I only have 5 and they are ALWAYS fighting over them. They sometimes even knock the nests off the roost with is VERY dangerous for the babies inside. I then put blocks of wood in the front of the nest so they wouldn't move anymore.


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## hillfamilyloft (Jun 22, 2005)

Unfortunatly this was my situation when I got back into the birds. Wife said that I had the goat pen and a limited budget. Dirt floors etc. The first thing I did was to put wood flooring in. Built a subfloor in the loft one section at a time. Now I am working on the walls. Not the best, but the birds are healthy. I would love to have the thing two foot off the ground. Have all the usuals with having a ground floor loft, rodents, snakes, cats and so on. 
Have a friend that has his youngbird loft on top of his garage. This would be nice. Keep it dry, use wood deep litter or whatever, but keep it dry. 
I think the big thing is that with a ground loft, be careful not to over feed. Breeding season is the only time that I have a morsal of food in the feeders other than feeding time. This eliminates many of your issues. It is dry where I live so I just used subflooring. As long as it stays dry you are in luck. Plywood would be better for wet climates. 

Randy


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## hillfamilyloft (Jun 22, 2005)

Keep in mind, that if you can get in the loft so can rodents. The thougth that putting a loft three feet off the ground is mice free is a daydream. If you have stairs leading up to the loft its over. Yes an elivated loft is better. Good luck.

Randy


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## hillfamilyloft (Jun 22, 2005)

Taunt

When I get some of the finishing touches done to my loft, I will try and find a way to send you some before and after. There is definitly hope. I have transformed a goat pen, two walls and a roof into a 16 x 16 four section loft. I have also managed to use most of what was there. It is a work in progress. 

Randy


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## Taunt (Jun 24, 2008)

Thank you all for your help. I would appreciate ALL pictures that can help me with my loft. I started off with 10 birds that were given to me from a breeder across the street/ He has a HUGE loft that has about 100 pigeons. The 10 he gave my were either young, had a damaged wing, or were sick. From there I obtained over 30 pigeons alone form those 10 birds. I also know what you all mean by the loft being off the ground. I once found a cat inside the loft sitting on top of one of the shelves that the pigeons used to walk around. luckily, the roof is quite high and they were high in the roost. I also have a area on the side of the coop that is very large. I was thinking about building an extension to the cage but I don't know yet. I'll post up some more photo's to see what you guys think. Thanks again for all the help and god bless everyone one of you


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## Taunt (Jun 24, 2008)

Taunt said:


> Thank you all for your help. I would appreciate ALL pictures that can help me with my loft. I started off with 10 birds that were given to me from a breeder across the street/ He has a HUGE loft that has about 100 pigeons. The 10 he gave my were either young, had a damaged wing, or were sick. From there I obtained over 30 pigeons alone form those 10 birds. I also know what you all mean by the loft being off the ground. I once found a cat inside the loft sitting on top of one of the shelves that the pigeons used to walk around. luckily, the roof is quite high and they were high in the roost. I also have a area on the side of the coop that is very large. I was thinking about building an extension to the cage but I don't know yet. I'll post up some more photo's to see what you guys think. Thanks again for all the help and god bless everyone one of you


Well I too some more pics. The first pic is the front view of the cage. The second pic is the side of the cage in which I can build an extension (please feel free to suggest what to put there). The last pic is the old chicken cage which I NEED to clean out today


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## Taunt (Jun 24, 2008)

Would anyone know how to elevate a loft of this size? It's really heavy so it's gonna be hard to sliip something underneath. Should I put bricks?


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## TheSnipes (Apr 9, 2007)

Mine was adapted from an older structure too, and had a dirt floor in the aviary as well as the coop/loft. I removed some of the dirt inside the loft and laid down a floor of concrete 1/2 block (4" thick solid blocks, very heavy). You could try something like that...


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## Taunt (Jun 24, 2008)

This weekend I'm going out to Home Depot and getting some plywood for the flooring. I do have a problem though. The front and side of the cage are all exposed and rain can partially come into the loft. Is there anything I can put up so the loft is kept completely dry?


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Taunt said:


> This weekend I'm going out to Home Depot and getting some plywood for the flooring. I do have a problem though. The front and side of the cage are all exposed and rain can partially come into the loft. Is there anything I can put up so the loft is kept completely dry?


Extending the overhang might help some. I would also put the floor at a VERY slight angle from back to front to help any water that does get in, run off. Maybe put some 1/2 sheets of plywood on the front? When you have a lot of openings or complete front openings, you're going to get rain water, but as long as it doesn't sit and doesn't come in contact with their feed, it won't hurt them. You just can't allow it to stay on the floor for days and days.........that would be a problem.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

idea for modification.....those are weather sheilds..if you bring the floor up with wood, you can put some gravel or granite dust under it, might help with the dampness.


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## Taunt (Jun 24, 2008)

bringing up the floor with wood is a great idea. I'm just worried about the ground itself. The loft itself is set upon very soft earth and sinks very deep. I do have cinderblocks as well but with that huge gap between the loft and the ground, won't pests make there home underneath the loft? Other then that, awsome ideas and I'll be sure to take them into consideration.


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