Beginner to Pigeons!

[biophiliac]

Thanks for that link! Being in the smallest state I don't seem to have lots of local options but I'm not getting birds anytime soon anyway, I'm going to get the actual construction all done first. Admittedly I wanted to keep the loft the size it was in order to buy the smallest amount of 4x8 plywood sheets but whatever is better for the birds. Also typo on my part lol, I meant less than 10 birds.
I hear what you're saying about the aviary being on the larger side, I'll probably trim it down a lot. If the floor of the aviary was also covered in hardware cloth would it still not be safe? I mainly wanted it to touch the ground so I could put some sand or something down for easy cleanup and also so that I could step inside it for whatever reason.

Oriented Strand Board is less expensive than plywood but you do have to add a weatherproof finish either way. I'm finishing the build of a small loft and if you want you can see the step by step fotos of my setup under the media tab on my profile page. I will upload a pic of the perches I installed soon.

Your drawing program is pretty cool!

 

[biophiliac]

Hi all! A few months ago I found a pigeon with an injured wing at night and cared for him for a few days. Long story short I sent him back to his owner in a neighboring state and the experience rekindled an interest in pigeons I've had. I've been doing a ton of research however I have a few questions.

I'm pretty confident on the design of my loft and aviary (I plan to give the birds some outside space because they won't be let out to fly constantly) which I hope to begin building sometime over the holiday season. I'm planning on having a loft similar to the one in the below video except with mostly solid sides as opposed to screen since I live in New England and winters get rather cold. I'd like to keep the mesh strip on the floor from the loft in the video and I'd add one somewhere near the top for ventilation.

I'd like to modify the design to have a decently large aviary of at least 6 feet in height attached to the rear side of the loft. I'm planning to wrap all sides in hardware cloth including the bottom for safety. The loft and aviary would be next to/against the north side of a shed on my property. Is this not ideal?

As for the birds themselves I'd like get regular old homers and let them fly but it would probably not be more than once a week or so, hence my idea for a rather large aviary. If I'm letting the birds fly then I've been lead to believe that I should start with young birds so that they can see my loft as their home and not try to fly back to wherever they came from. I've also read that it is a good idea to purchase adult birds and have those breed, then fly the offspring. However I don't want to build another loft/aviary for the birds that can't fly, so would young birds be my best bet?
If you've made it this far into such a long post, thanks for reading!

The choice of starting with a breeding pair or two, or beginning with squeakers is what I am confronting now. It took so long to finish the loft I think it's past the ideal time to get squeakers although some should be available if I look hard enough. I haven't ruled out starting with maybe 2 pairs. I'm going to contact the nearest racing club to see if I can get some advice/birds. Worst case I wait til early spring.

 

[Qwerty3159]

Thanks! It's Google Sketchup, pretty easy to get the hang of. I used the free version.

Nice photos, by the way. Looks like a nice loft. I'm hoping to get the housing done pretty soon so I can grab some birds when I get the chance.

 

[cavemanrich]

Your sketch looks good. Here are some thoughts for you to consider.
Pigeon math is same as chicken math. Your flock of pigeons will expand faster than you think. You can easily get 3 to 4 hatchings from Spring to Fall. From one Pair. Do you have a plan as to what to do with your extras??? It is easy to get attached, resulting in overcrowding. As you get into pigeons deeper, you will maybe decide to get more selective as to which you want to breed and such. I am not suggesting you start out with a barn, but would suggest a larger loft. Lamarshfish thought he had the ideal, and now sees that he needs bigger. Sometimes it is better to build once rather than twice. This is true for you since you are in the planning stage now. I'm not sure of the space you have, but if possible, double the size of loft to 5feet x 6feet. Also build all the way to ground. Install a narrow walk-in possibility (north side). Much easier to do what you need to inside. Don't be worried that upon opening door your birds will try to jailbreak. Just watch as you enter and leave. A nearby pigeon fancier (friend) has a walk-in and keeps about 150. Does not encounter escapes as he enters to feed and water and clean . West side near the top install the trap. South side into aviary make a closeable port door. 3 to 4 feet off the ground. Also install a good size window on that wall. You do need natural light in loft during daylight hours. Keep aviary size you have. Good to have earth ground in aviary. Provide a means to enter aviary from outside like a gate or such. Inside aviary place some tree limbs in your desired fashion to have pigeons sitting in a tree environment. You can make lumber perches, but tree branches look better. During the day you will see that your pigeons prefer to hang out in the aviary. Give food to them inside the loft area . This way they associate the loft with food. You can keep a birdbath in aviary, as they do like taking frequent baths.
Now I understand money does not grow on trees, and that is a consideration many have when building things. Consider getting secondary lumber from your home center. They may have slightly damaged plywood/sheeting for 50%off. My Menards near me keep their seconds in a pile. I have picked out really nice sheets with just some corner missing or other minor damage. I still cut out sizes that I needed with no problem. For your window, you can use storm window panes that peeps throw out curbside. Another option to consider is Craigs list, listing... Building Supplies as well as Free Stuff. Easily get stuff from leftover projects that peeps will part with cheap. Don't expect to find all you need in 15 minutes, but if you keep checking, things will surface. You are not in such a great hurry anyways. Do things at your pace as time and budget allow. I also suggest you make the loft floor cement. You may be thinking..... WT 7734. . Let me explain. Frame out the 5 x 6 floor area and make a thin floor, maybe 2 inches thick. It is predator dig proof and will not cost all that much. I bag of Portland cement and 5 cubic feet of sand will do the trick. You do not need anything stronger/thicker since your loft is nothing in weight to consider heavy. If you have never done cement, no problem. Watch Youtube, and the job you do will be just fine. No one will see it except your pigeons and you.
Well if you read all the way down to here you may be exhausted like me. I'm going to hit the hay now.

 

[LamarshFish]

West side near the top install the trap. South side into aviary make a closeable port door. 3 to 4 feet off the ground.

This is important for the somewhat rare times you have a strong, colder south wind in the winter. We try to face our largest openings south because generally wind does not come from that direction, and when it does, it's usually not too cold. But sometimes during the winter we get south winds that are chilly and to avoid drafts it's nice to have the choice to close off the aviary (especially at night) and keep that wind out. I just did this last night, we have strong south winds here right now in Michigan, and it was nice to be able to shield my birds from those drafts overnight.

As far as lumber goes, I used that Smart Siding stuff that comes in 4'x8' sheets like plywood, except the outside portion of it is already finished (does not need painting or sealing). Not sure what it's made of, but appears to be some kind of engineered particle blend. It is not cheap, $30 something per sheet, but it does not need to be finished on the outside, which I think saves a lot of time and money and mess. Here's a link to what I used for my loft walls, https://www.homedepot.com/p/LP-SmartSide-SmartSide-48-in-x-96-in-Strand-Panel-Siding-27874/100055901

 

[Qwerty3159]

West side near the top install the trap. South side into aviary make a closeable port door. 3 to 4 feet off the ground. Also install a good size window on that wall. You do need natural light in loft during daylight hours. Keep aviary size you have. Good to have earth ground in aviary. Provide a means to enter aviary from outside like a gate or such. Inside aviary place some tree limbs in your desired fashion to have pigeons sitting in a tree environment. You can make lumber perches, but tree branches look better. During the day you will see that your pigeons prefer to hang out in the aviary. Give food to them inside the loft area . This way they associate the loft with food. You can keep a birdbath in aviary, as they do like taking frequent baths.

Thanks for your help!
I was planning on installing a small door on the south side, should've put it in my sketch. I like the idea of having some branches in the aviary as well. My plan was to leave the aviary door to the loft open whenever it was nice to let the birds in and out as they please and to lock them inside when it was snowing/raining etc.

This is important for the somewhat rare times you have a strong, colder south wind in the winter. We try to face our largest openings south because generally wind does not come from that direction, and when it does, it's usually not too cold. But sometimes during the winter we get south winds that are chilly and to avoid drafts it's nice to have the choice to close off the aviary (especially at night) and keep that wind out. I just did this last night, we have strong south winds here right now in Michigan, and it was nice to be able to shield my birds from those drafts overnight.

What I also didn't put in my sketch was a 1 foot wide strip of hardware cloth on the south wall into the aviary which would function as a kind of vent. I also wanted to have the floor be at least partially hardware cloth. Is that sufficient for light and ventilation or do I need a window!
For inside the loft, what kind of perches are best? I've seen discussions that say flat T-shaped perches are better than the V-shaped perches because the let the bird lay down and cover its feet. However I also like how the V perches make a poop shield for the bird below. Thanks for putting up with all the questions!

 

[cavemanrich]

Install a window if you can. Daylight is good to have. Perches,,,, both have advantages. Maybe make a combination of both, so there is some flat area on top, and most of the gumdrops slide off the sloped sides.

 

[LamarshFish]

What I also didn't put in my sketch was a 1 foot wide strip of hardware cloth on the south wall into the aviary which would function as a kind of vent. I also wanted to have the floor be at least partially hardware cloth. Is that sufficient for light and ventilation or do I need a window!

I think vents situated on the floor of the loft do not need to have the option of being covered for times when there are direct winds from that direction that are cold, mainly because pigeons usually do not hang on the floor, with the exception of fledged squeakers, which in the event of a cold wind you can literally grab them off the floor and put them up in a nest box (lowest, unused nest box is best to avoid troubles/fights) and they will very likely stay there for the night or day. Fledged squeakers really just like to huddle together in a corner for the most part.

For inside the loft, what kind of perches are best? I've seen discussions that say flat T-shaped perches are better than the V-shaped perches because the let the bird lay down and cover its feet. However I also like how the V perches make a poop shield for the bird below. Thanks for putting up with all the questions!

I have v-perches in my loft, and I like them. They do work to not only keep poop off the bird below, but since there is an incline much of the poop rolls off onto the floor. I never see any poop on the actual flat surface part of the v-perch, so apparently they are pretty good at aiming lol. As a side note, I noticed pigeons seem to take steps to get poop out of the way, for example they will roll pieces of poop away from where they're sitting if it is easy to do and it is in their way. Then again, I have also seen pigeons standing on a mound of packed down poop.

I have seen many people also build perches that are simply one long 2x4 fastened to the wall and then small pieces of 2x4 (the perches), perhaps about 8" in length, extending perpendicular from the wall mounted 2x4, and spaced vertically apart from each other about 12-16". Honestly, I think these are just fine as well.

 

[biophiliac]

There are so many types of perches. I'm going to try a mix of sideways box perches and simple T perches.

 

[Qwerty3159]

Thanks you guys.
I purchased a 4x50 foot roll of quarter inch hardware cloth on Amazon today, getting all my ducks in a row to start on the build so to speak. Still no luck on finding a source for birds. I'll be checking craigslist frequently to try and find some squeakers. I took a look at that list of pigeon breeders but all the ones near me that had homers didn't have a phone #, email, or website lol.