# building a small loft. need help.



## tim_r95 (Aug 21, 2015)

So I'm gonna be trying to build a small loft for just a pair or two of pigeons. I have a design in mind but I'm not sure if it would be the appropriate size. I'm thinking of making an inside area that's 3'x3'x5' tall with a sloped roof being six foot tall in front. With an attached 3'x3'x3' outside area made on 1/4" hardware cloth. I'm not sure how to set up the inside on the coop like perch placement etc. But I was thinking of using 1"x1" framing wood and just cutting them about 3" long and placing a few on the walls. Along with a 1"x6" board along one of the sides for a nesting area. Any suggestions or criticisms are welcomed.


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## rpalmer (Mar 10, 2011)

tim_r95 said:


> So I'm gonna be trying to build a small loft for just a pair or two of pigeons. I have a design in mind but I'm not sure if it would be the appropriate size. I'm thinking of making an inside area that's 3'x3'x5' tall with a sloped roof being six foot tall in front. With an attached 3'x3'x3' outside area made on 1/4" hardware cloth. I'm not sure how to set up the inside on the coop like perch placement etc. But I was thinking of using 1"x1" framing wood and just cutting them about 3" long and placing a few on the walls. Along with a 1"x6" board along one of the sides for a nesting area. Any suggestions or criticisms are welcomed.


A long board for a perch area will lead to fighting and no one getting any rest. Your board need to have dividers.


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## tim_r95 (Aug 21, 2015)

Would making like 6"x6" boxes be better? Or what size should a nest box be?


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## tim_r95 (Aug 21, 2015)

Also, should the inside area have a closed floor? Or is it okay to use hardware cloth? It would be easier to clean, but I want the best for the birds.


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## rpalmer (Mar 10, 2011)

tim_r95 said:


> Also, should the inside area have a closed floor? Or is it okay to use hardware cloth? It would be easier to clean, but I want the best for the birds.





tim_r95 said:


> Would making like 6"x6" boxes be better? Or what size should a nest box be?


A lot of people use a floor that lets the droppings fall through. I do not because I want to see the droppings and cleaning them out is part of the hobby. Secondly and most important for me is I want the squabs to have a solid floor to learn to stand and walk on and they also learn to eat on their own at about 21 days. I can not recommend a grated floor.

If you can make the boxes that is the way to go. The birds will claim a box as their space. This goes along way in keeping stress levels at a minimum. The bird can lounge in them, something that can't be done on a perch. And boxes make a nice and easy way to catch any bird you want to. I would not make them any other size that what you have here. Too big and you have plenty of room for two to fight in.

Nest boxes.... they need to be big enough for the nest bowl (about 9 inches) and have room for the squabs to move around in as they grow and before they fledge. So that said the usual 12 inches high X 24 inches long X 16 inches deep is a good size. If you can not put a front on it at least put a "lip" of about 3-4 inches on the bottom front.

I hope this helps. You can see my loft in my album on this site. Maybe that will help you in some small way. 

Best of luck. 

BTW... In my loft all the birds are kept together at all times. This poses some challenges but I believe in "the family flock" and my birds seem to agree. They are all racing/homers.


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## tim_r95 (Aug 21, 2015)

Thank you. That is very helpful advice. I will keep all that in mind when putting mine together. Will probably be going with a solid floor. How many nest boxes should there be per pair of birds? I'm only planning on having like 2 pair of them.


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## rpalmer (Mar 10, 2011)

tim_r95 said:


> Thank you. That is very helpful advice. I will keep all that in mind when putting mine together. Will probably be going with a solid floor. How many nest boxes should there be per pair of birds? I'm only planning on having like 2 pair of them.


"They" say 1 1/2. But two per pair is needed. You will find that they will lay eggs in one nest while their young are still in the other.


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## rogerven (Aug 22, 2015)

http://www.farmnyard.com/ 







click on pigeon coop

I think my neighbor may not complain about this, but my wife will for the price. LOL.

it won't allow me to paste an image

Also a nice article: http://www.silvio-co.com/pigeons/don-glionna.htm


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## tim_r95 (Aug 21, 2015)

That looks a lot like the loft I'm planning on making. But mine Will have a small aviary area attached.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

They do like 2 boxes, but if you can give them a large enough box each, like 20 or 24 inches long, then there really is plenty of room. They will usually want to lay more eggs before the babies they already have are grown up and gone, but they should be close to leaving the box by the time the second clutch has hatched.


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## tim_r95 (Aug 21, 2015)

I'll probably be replacing most of the eggs with dummys until I'm in a better position to have a larger loft and flock. Will they try and lay two clutches at a time even if they only have one nest box each?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

They can lay when their first babies are anywhere from 10 days old to a month old. But they don't usually wait till the babies are gone from the box, although some do. The hen will be on another nest, and the male will take over the feeding of the babies. Although some both feed the babies till they leave the box.


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## tim_r95 (Aug 21, 2015)

What's a good "nest" to use for them? I've seen people use like terra cotta water collector things. Like the things that go under the pots. Or could I just give them twigs and stuff to build their own nest?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Some people use nest bowls and some do not. Half the time my birds were laying eggs beside the bowl, so I took them out. I use them for the birds that like them. I put out straw and the long 11 inch pine needles, and they like to collect that to build a nest with.


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