# Loft size: for 10 pigeons?



## Chitee&Pumba

Hi Guys,

For 10 pigeons, what should be the size of the loft. I am clueless.

Please help


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## Shan

Dr. Jon Esposito, former president of the Pigeon Veterinarian group, suggests one cubic yard for every two birds (pair). That's 3 feet x 3 feet x 3 feet = 27 square feet. That's based on a European model. Translated, that means a 6 foot x 8 foot loft should comfortably house 20-22 young pigeons and, my suggestion, no more than 6 to 8 breeding pairs, although the equation indicates 9 pairs. The Europeans DO NOT crowd their birds into small spaces; I've seen 50 pigeons in American lofts of the above. mentioned size.


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## Jaysen

Shan, there is no translation from cubic to square. The "surface footage" for a 3x3 cube would be 9 units per side. There are 6 sides to a cube which makes that 9x6 or 54sq. ft. of surface area. I think what you meant was that 27cu.ft for a pair. That would be a 3x3x3 ft cube which is 27 cubic feet.

For 10 birds in a closed loft that would be 27x5 or 135cu ft. Assume a 6ft ceiling and you need 23 square feet. A flying loft with lots of outside access or large aviary could put 10 birds in a bit less space than that.


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## Shan

Yes, you nailed it. Old guys tend to miss a few things, especially if they are math deficient. 

And to clarify EXACTLY what the European veterinarians state:

...the ideal is about 20 young pigeons in a house measuring 2 x 2 x 2 m[eters]. There should be no more than 9 breeding couples in a loft this size.

Thanks for fixing my math error.


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## Jaysen

That would be roughly 6x6x6 ft or 216cu. ft.

Divide that by 20 and you have 10.8cu. ft. per bird.


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## ND Cooper

This all depends on how often, and how much daily exercise (free flying) your pigeons get. Every Day, Even when you are gone visiting your grandmother!
Allways supply enough flying space for your caged Pigeons! This means that if you confine your Pigeons for more than one day, you must supply enough room/flying space Inside the loft!
I would not recommend cramming Pigeons inside a loft thinking that I would allways be around to let them out. 
If you can pull that off, come on over, and teach me so I could do it too!
Allways supply enough room for your Pigeons, overcrouding (sp) leads to problems.


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## tony.ritter87

How does this apply to closed pairing lofts? How big should a pairing pen be? I've currently got 12 birds. First pan is 23.5 cubic feet and I had up to 12 in there, and they all happily trapped in, but it was crowded. And sometimes the only get to fly a couple times a week but it has plenty of airflow.

I just added 2- 8cuft pairing cages and got 2 pairs out of the first pen. I'm working on setting up a 66cuft box (61" hx39wx48d) and another box around 44cuft.


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