# Bullet proof loft



## 95SPORTSTER (Jun 30, 2011)

Hi all I am going to be building a new loft because where I live between bop, racoons,skunk,possum,weasels,mink and fishers anything not bullet proof has/will be broken into. So I am thinking of using a 24x24 concrete slab that used to be a garage before the house burned down and concrete block also using metal flashing for the first 4 ft of the bld to keep the critters from being able to climb the walls with a steel door. I hear you thinking what overkill but weasels chewed through a wooden door a fisher literally ripped a section of 3/4 plywood roof apart. As for the fly pen I will be going with 1/4 hardware wire that will be electrified after dark.and I may even keep it on during the day as I have had a coopers and a peregine tear through 1/4 chicken wire to get in needless to say they didn't get out.

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated as I miss having birds but after losing over 50 birds (never mind the cost) to the various predators around me I just had to give up  I could not in good concience keep putting birds in the loft. Things sure have changed from when I was a kid raising birds back then we never had bop issues and the only real threat to your birds was maybe from a neighbors cat or losing some to a neighbors loft which was fun cause sometimes you lost sometimes you won.

I also am thinking 2 stories flying out of the bottom breeding up top. I am in the process of clear cutting as many trees as I can to lessen ambush points for the hawks and moving the loft to a more open centralized location on my property so that it is a good 50 ft away from any tree line.


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## bigislerollers (Jan 20, 2008)

Instead of the 1/4" hardware cloth, use expanded metal. Nothing should get through that plus you don't have to electrify, (which comes with its own problems).


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## CBL (May 13, 2014)

Sounds AWESOME, I want to live in it lol


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## CBL (May 13, 2014)

Big, what is expanded metal and how does it work keeping out critters? Im surprised to hear that weasels ate thru plywood and hawks busted thru wire, makes me good and nervous?

I have barnwood that is similar and hardware cloth as well as thicker half by one inch wire. Now u got me worried it may not be enough.


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## bigislerollers (Jan 20, 2008)

CBL, expanded metal is the material that they use for metal grates, catwalks, ect. 

http://www.metalsdepot.com/products/hrsteel2.phtml?page=expanded


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## CBL (May 13, 2014)

Wow I bet that will be bullet proof, as long as the spaces are small enough. Heavy too I would image.


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## Roger Siemens (Nov 12, 2011)

ok i have the same animals here, i want to see this loft. sounds very bullet proof and i know these wild things really dont stop trying. i ve fixxed repaired and revamped a few times now my loft has four rooms about 10 feet square in an old shop, i used 1/4 wire on the landing pad doors, the hawks can not get in and it is lighter than steel expanded metal. your garage floor of cement sounds like a good idea too very easy to clean. please post pictures


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## Vova (Mar 27, 2012)

Sounds awesome, Hope you post picture when its built


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Expanded metal has holes that are too big. Rats could get in, and mice. Unless using the 1/4 inch. 
Would think that heavy 1/2 inch hardware cloth would be safe, as long as you also cover the edges of the cloth with wood strips so that nothing can grab it and pry it back. But use the heaviest gauge you can get. Some hardware cloth is just not heavy enough and things can chew through.


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## 95SPORTSTER (Jun 30, 2011)

This is going to be a couple month project once spring breaks the slab used to be a garage and I am going to be recycling the block from the house foundation that used to be there. I was going to build a house on it but it got flooded and the back wall blown in from tropical storm Irene a few years ago so it is worthless so I figured might as well use the block and maybe put a pond liner in the hole for a fish breeding pond/swimming hole.with the way the critters are around here probably use some of the glass blocks through out the walls to help with lighting and cut down on openings.Maybe a woodstove to warm it up earlier in the year for breeding as I can have 30 deg days and 20 deg nights up until mid may have had snow drifts in June. Although I have gone deer hunting in November in a tee shirt lol definitely not the norm though. I will definitely put up pictures once its done.

The avairy wire is probably the weakest link but since I am thinking that it is large enough that the breeders can have a large open area and on the ground floor small avairys 4 ft off the ground shouldn't be a problem. If your not aware what a Fisher is try a 35-45lb weasel with a badgers temper. Although I could be wrong as I do have a big bear running around. Just have to get another big dog for the critters and take my hits from the bop.

Yeah the nice part about the floor is that it has a drain so you can hose down the floor and away it goes. Nice thing about living in the country is no worries about zoning or neighbors. I got all my friends and neighbors watching pigeons now as something more than a winged rat. If I call it farm then I can get a tax break on the property and the feed. So I know anything with the name farm raises concerns on here but I just want to fly and breed and I have the space and materials so might as well make use of it and take advantage of what I can. Now if I can just convince one of the local farmers to plant pigeon feed instead of corn or soybeans lol.

I used 1/2 chicken wire and it was during a long stretch of extremely cold and snowy weather so that and the fact that squirrels might have helped chew the wire as I had a real issue with them and trying to get in to get to the grain. Chipmunks are another major pain with chewing through hence the electrified idea but with the flashing 4 ft up on the walls and metal poles to help support avairies will be a huge step in the right direction. Rats and mice can get through incredibly small spaces so door has to be metal and super tight probably going to have to look into some sort of sliding track system that when latched pulls tight and seals. That and keep encouraging the snakes to live in my yard lol.

If you google earth me 177 larry hill rd schoharie ny you can see the layout of the property and the surroundings. Didn't have my lofts up when they did it but made the mistake of putting the up against the tree line instead of out in the open. I am in the process of slowly clearing the woods on the downhill side and that will give me a large open area for landing. Can't do any thing with the woods behind me but not complaining.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

They shouldn't be able to chew through 1/2 inch hardware cloth if it is of a heavy gauge. The lighter gauges won't stop them from coming through.


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## 95SPORTSTER (Jun 30, 2011)

Thanks all for posting!

I have been doing some thinking on the floor as it has been weathered quite a bit and also it will be 2 stories. There is a product that they use to refinish concrete floors and it is self leveling and quick to set (sorry can't think of the name right now and all my construction buddies are back home upstate while I am down here on Long Island for the 4-6 months) so I will use that on the ground floor as for the upstairs I think that if I shim it up on the outside edges a 1/4 inch and the lay down hardy backer and roughed up ceramic tile with a drain pipe into the drain down below it should make it easier to clean. Thinking about the walls and nest boxes I am thinking of 1x3 strips with perches for the walls and I am curious what others are using for nest boxes. I was wondering about vinyl siding as I have seen it in 4x8 sheets that look like T-111. I am just trying to figure out the quickest easiest cleaning. I will be able to run both power and water through out.

Mmmm wonder if the Ag college would be a good place to try and get some help using intern's to help with upkeep and record keeping. It might be a good way for them to get some hands on experience with genetics as while I have a very very basic knowledge I really have not taken the time to learn them.

Also have been thinking that it would make more sense to breed upstairs and fly out of the downstairs as with it being 24x24 I could manage more kit type setups and with small landing boards trapping into each individual team area easier to walk around on the ground then have to build a deck around the whole thing. 

But that leave me with what to do for my breeder's as I want them to be able to enjoy a decent sized fly pen. I have a really tough time with not letting birds fly since that is what they have been born and breed to do. But I learned the hard way can't do it without experiencing heavy loses.

Really enjoying looking through the different lofts on here and seeing and gathering great idea's.


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