Drafts--help/advice needed

[LamarshFish]

I'm in the process of winterizing my loft. I live in Michigan. Our winters are cold, with several months of freezing temperatures expected both day and night, sometimes to drop in the single digits and below zero (Fahrenheit).

I have two related questions:

(1) My pigeon loft has a large aviary with a small opening of only about 10"x10" (25cm x 25cm) opening, and the aviary opening faces north (I know, I didn't think of this when building the loft). Is this aviary opening too large for winter drafts coming from the north? Keep in mind, my loft is small, and while most nest boxes and perches are out of the way of the opening, there are a few that are exposed to it, and are not occupied by birds, but if they breed the new young ones may need the space.

I then have a small bob door (with a predator door) that is only about 8"x8" (20cm x 20cm) of an opening. Do I need to cover this up, or is an opening that small no big deal for drafts?

(2) I'd like to avoid having to move my loft to face a different direction because although it is not large, it would be a huge pain; however, I may end up moving it next to my house anyways to have easier access to power. In any event, how important is it that the openings face south? Right now my largest opening is my aviary opening, and it faces north.

 

[biophiliac]

Why not staple some clear plastic over the sides of your aviary to block the wind?

 

[LamarshFish]

Why not staple some clear plastic over the sides of your aviary to block the wind?

That's an idea I had as well, but I wanted to see if my aviary opening is small enough to not even need that.

If I end up moving my loft closer to my house so I can have easier access to power none of this will matter though since the aviary opening will then face south, bob door will face east and my house will block the wind from the west where it comes from most of the time.

 

[purslanegarden]

What did you end up doing?

 

[LamarshFish]

What did you end up doing?

I moved my loft against the back side of my house, where the aviary opening now faces south, the tiny bob door opening faces east, and the west side of the loft is completely blocked not only by a solid loft wall, but my entire house, and the north side is completely blocked by a solid loft wall with no vents, so I think it is about as draft free as it can possibly get.

A few times there has been colder south winds, and all I did was simply close off the aviary opening.

Because the loft is now next to my house, I have power to it, and it is working nicely, as I described in this thread (which I just posted in case people wanted ideas for keeping drinking water thawed): https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...prevent-drinking-water-from-freezing.1211221/

 

[Hokum Coco]

If they are out of the wind and rain and have shelter that is all they need to keep themselves warm is my experience.