# Loft/Flight with Plants?



## gtg287y (Dec 2, 2012)

(realized this might be more suited to this section, rather than general)

Pigeon Flight With Soil/Plants Floor?
What I want to do:


have a 4x8x8 foot flight with wire walls, ceiling and floor
 have a soil floor on top of the ground wire, in contact with the existing dirt underneath.
 plant pigeon friendly fast growing annuals in the floor
 have a small flock of 4-10 pigeons
 have a two foot by four foot section covered in plywood/slanted plywood roofing for nesting areas/rain protection.


Things that might make this a good idea:


the flight will be in my forest garden, already surrounded in various plants. It will look nice and not take up plant space
 plants seems like they would make the flight more interesting for the birds
 pigeon manure is supposed to be a good fertilizer



Things that might make this a bad idea:


the floor might make it hard to keep things clean
 several threads here say dirt floors are bad (though they don't seem to mean "soil and plants")


Things that might mitigate the bad parts:


killing off the plants periodically so I can shovel manure and existing dirt, and replace with clean dirt
 having only a section be full of plants, and more used section having a traditional concrete floor


That about sums up my current thoughts. Given all those, is my idea to have a soil and plant floor a terrible one? Would my thoughts on how to mitigate it help any? If I change the dirt out every so often, how often should I? How much manure would 10 birds produce? I've seen threads say to scrape the perches and scrub the floor every other day or so... Is this only for large flocks?
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## Shadybug Lofts (Mar 13, 2010)

I would think it would be more work than it would be worth. They would poop over everything and after a while it would not look very nice in there. They would cover the floor in no time. It would probably be better if you build it and did a beautiful landscaping job around the outside.I would think the birds would eat the plants. When weeds grow up through my aviary floor they eat the off.


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## gtg287y (Dec 2, 2012)

Half the point is to plant things they would WANT to eat (buckwheat in particular is VERY easy to grow and fast growing). I get what you mean about it looking messy, though. That's my main concern (sanitation,smell, etc.) Maybe I could just have a few potted plants full of pigeon friendly plants, then...


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## Shadybug Lofts (Mar 13, 2010)

It would be unhealthy for the birds to eat plants that would have poop all over them. It would make a big difference with a roof. I will give you a visual. You can see there's a clear difference between the two.

This is my aviary with a roof. I have to rake the poop out from under this one.









This is my aviary with no roof. I do nothing under this one.


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## Shadybug Lofts (Mar 13, 2010)

I don't think a smell would be a problem, its outside in the air.


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## gtg287y (Dec 2, 2012)

Shadybug Lofts said:


> It would be unhealthy for the birds to eat plants that would have poop all over them. It would make a big difference with a roof. I will give you a visual. You can see there's a clear difference between the two.
> 
> This is my aviary with a roof. I have to rake the poop out from under this one.
> 
> ...



So, is it the rain through the aviaries without roofs that make such a difference? I do see what you mean,though.


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## Shadybug Lofts (Mar 13, 2010)

Yes the rain makes all the difference. I haven't touched the clean one since I racked the yard in the spring. The dirty one I cleaned a month or so ago. I had about the same number of birds in each loft till just recently


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

gtg287y said:


> (realized this might be more suited to this section, rather than general)
> 
> Pigeon Flight With Soil/Plants Floor?
> What I want to do:
> ...


because it is only an 8x4 floor area I would go with traditional flooring you can clean.. this may work though in a really big aviary where the birds are only in there during parts of the day.. you have to be aware of worm infestation too with dirt without somekind of thick litter to cover it and compost it with help of natural microbs. in a small area I think it would be hard to keep that balance.


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## scott.peets (Dec 1, 2012)

I say go for it. It is as easy as removing the plants if there is an issue. I would follow the thread if you posted photos and progress. 

Everyone likes to have guidelines and mins and maxes for everything but you can make things work if your creative, patient, and observant. There are fanciers that dont even clean their lofts or think over crowding can be done without issue. Others will forbey it and tell you the way "it has to be". If you create the correct balance lots of things are possible and no harm to the birds.

Be an explorer!!


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

And also learn from others mistakes... been there done that.. the space is too small for a dirt floor aviary for it to be an easy clean up.. but if one wants to hassle with that.. go for it! IMO in the long run what is easier for the keeper is good for the birds as well.


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