I have used wire floors in a similar New England climate.The drafts that come up through them are surprisingly minimal compared to wire on the sides or top. I dislike them for other reasons though.
Perhaps ironically, I find the wire more difficult to clean. Especially if the pigeon is sleeping in the same spot overnight and pooping in the same area the poop can build up on the wire and you might have to bang against the wire floor to knock it loose or scrape it off anyway (which is the only reason I can think of why a wire floor would be better than a solid floor). Especially in the winter, I would be sweeping frozen poop balls across the wire with my scraper, which was way more difficult than just scraping the poop off a wooden floor. Additionally, the molted down feathers love to get stuck in 1/2 inch hardware cloth, especially if it’s on or near the floor. You might have nasty globs of feces and down feathers stuck together in the wire, they also tend to hang down and sway in the breeze and it’s just not my cup of tea.
It’s not ideal to have a ton of spilled feed mingling with feces on the floor of the pigeon loft anyway, but with a wire floor you have no chance of a pigeon eating the spilled food quickly before it gets soiled. Plus, a pile of seed underneath the coop after feeding time always attracts rodents. Having tried both, I will continue to use solid floors.
But they certainly won’t be bothered by a wire floor, it doesn’t adversely affect them nearly as much as it adds extra inconveniences onto their maintenance.
Perhaps ironically, I find the wire more difficult to clean. Especially if the pigeon is sleeping in the same spot overnight and pooping in the same area the poop can build up on the wire and you might have to bang against the wire floor to knock it loose or scrape it off anyway (which is the only reason I can think of why a wire floor would be better than a solid floor). Especially in the winter, I would be sweeping frozen poop balls across the wire with my scraper, which was way more difficult than just scraping the poop off a wooden floor. Additionally, the molted down feathers love to get stuck in 1/2 inch hardware cloth, especially if it’s on or near the floor. You might have nasty globs of feces and down feathers stuck together in the wire, they also tend to hang down and sway in the breeze and it’s just not my cup of tea.
It’s not ideal to have a ton of spilled feed mingling with feces on the floor of the pigeon loft anyway, but with a wire floor you have no chance of a pigeon eating the spilled food quickly before it gets soiled. Plus, a pile of seed underneath the coop after feeding time always attracts rodents. Having tried both, I will continue to use solid floors.
But they certainly won’t be bothered by a wire floor, it doesn’t adversely affect them nearly as much as it adds extra inconveniences onto their maintenance.
