Back with more questions

[Qwerty3159]

Hi all, I joined around this time last year with some questions pertaining to pigeons. I'm finally back with a new loft design hopefully to be completed this week or next week. I'm still having trouble finding squeakers so if anyone in Rhode Island or the surrounding area has or plans to have any young homers available I'd love to know.

Here's the basic plan. That smaller box on the left is going to be a small aviary made of hardware cloth, and the aviary itself will open up as a door to the outside. I'm probably going to end up buying a bob trap online since I don't think I'm handy enough to build my own but if anyone knows any other simple trap designs I'm all ears.
The back, sides, and roof will all be solid plywood and the floor with be a hardware cloth grate. I'm thinking I want to make the doors out of hardware cloth and in extremely cold weather I might nail some plywood over the doors. Would this be too hot for the birds in winter?

This is the space I have to work with, probably gonna end up moving some of that scrap out of the way.

 

[CCUK]

Hi all, I joined around this time last year with some questions pertaining to pigeons. I'm finally back with a new loft design hopefully to be completed this week or next week. I'm still having trouble finding squeakers so if anyone in Rhode Island or the surrounding area has or plans to have any young homers available I'd love to know.

Here's the basic plan. That smaller box on the left is going to be a small aviary made of hardware cloth, and the aviary itself will open up as a door to the outside. I'm probably going to end up buying a bob trap online since I don't think I'm handy enough to build my own but if anyone knows any other simple trap designs I'm all ears.
The back, sides, and roof will all be solid plywood and the floor with be a hardware cloth grate. I'm thinking I want to make the doors out of hardware cloth and in extremely cold weather I might nail some plywood over the doors. Would this be too hot for the birds in winter?

This is the space I have to work with, probably gonna end up moving some of that scrap out of the way.

Hi. Looks like a good design. If you look on 'my coop' you can see my loft build that is similar to your design. I also made my own trap with bob wires. It was fairly easy but I'm used to creating stuff out of nothing! The other thing you could do is get a sputnik trap. I have found that my birds seemed to have problems looking for the entrance so a sputnik would have been better but they can be quite expensive.

 

[Qwerty3159]

Thanks, I'll definitely look into making my own, I'll probably use some wire coat hangers

 

[biophiliac]

There are quite a few different designs. This is one I saw recently...

 

[Qwerty3159]

I like that one a lot! I'll see how my DIY bobwire trap turns out first, hopefully it won't be a total failure lol.

No more progress on construction today due to some pouring rain but I managed to frame the loft and aviary and attach all the plywood sides. Hopefully by Wednesday or so I'll have the doors framed and meshed along with the aviary.

 

[thinkyesi]

looks like a nice design you got there, I would suggest though that you put metal roofing on top and let it over hang a little on all sides so your wood doesn't get wet and rot over time. and make sure to paint your wood with a good paint that's meant for sealing wood or use some outdoor house siding, works too and doesn't rot if its meant for being outside.

 

[Qwerty3159]

Thanks! I'm planning to get a sheet of corrugated plastic and put it up on the roof at an angle.
Got the doors on and the aviary framed today, as soon as I add the wire, paint, and a proper roof I'll be set.

 

[Qwerty3159]

Another question, this time about feed.

What do you all feed your pigeons?
I've been reading and it looks like they can do just fine on chicken layer pellets, correct me if I'm wrong. I hope that is the case because the local store sells premade bags of pigeon feed but they come in 2 pound bags for seven dollars which is ridiculous. I also planned to buy some whole corn and mix that in during the colder months because I read the extra calories help them in the winter. Maybe I'll mix in a little wild bird seed as well.

 

[jak2002003]

Yes they are OK with basically anything edible.

I feed mine chicken layer pellets when they are breeding or molting feathers.

But, I would not feed them that all the time as I found it makes their poops runny (as they drink more water with the pellets). Also, people advise not to feed layer pellets to chicken roosters and chicks as too much calcium over time will cause them to get ill. I guess that might me the same with pigeons.

Does you feed store say mixed grains / pigeon scratch? Your birds can eat this as the basic diet and mix in a few of the layer pellets. (don't forget to provide grit and minerals).

PS you coop design looks perfect.

 

[biophiliac]

Another question, this time about feed.

What do you all feed your pigeons?
I've been reading and it looks like they can do just fine on chicken layer pellets, correct me if I'm wrong. I hope that is the case because the local store sells premade bags of pigeon feed but they come in 2 pound bags for seven dollars which is ridiculous. I also planned to buy some whole corn and mix that in during the colder months because I read the extra calories help them in the winter. Maybe I'll mix in a little wild bird seed as well.

I buy a pigeon seed mix in 50 pounds bags for $20 per bag. Small bags of pigeon/dove mix from the pet store is way too expensive.