Ventilation

[Guest]

Is it possible to ventilate too much, in my old loft my YB loft was open on 3 sides in all weathers and had a meshed box on the front for the birds to leave and enter. The only change in wet weather would be to shut the mesh box off to stop the birds sitting in the rain. I had more birds with one eyed cold and sneezing in that loft than my present YB loft that is only open on the front and has a 75mm gap at the rear.

[jimmy white]

i dont think you can ventilate too much, i think more to the point ,as the birds being bone dry in their boxes or perches, at roosting times

[Guest]

Once ive got an aviary the next point won't be applicable, but do you think they should have use of their current sputnik, which would let more air in during the day and close it on a night to stop any cold air getting in, or just leave the sputnik open to keep the air flowing. At the moment I am only venting via two small vents on each side of the loft, with exhaust chimneys to suck any crappy air out. Ive been told to leave my fans off until its summer time when it gets too hot. The birds look OK but I am always worried about causing respitory. I was reading something on the net which said you should ventilate less in the winter (to try and keep the warm air in) and more in the summer (to remove too much warm air)!!

[Guest]

If its any help, my main ventilation is achieved by an aviary 'section' at one end of the loft and a veranda on the front, at the other end. I've still to put in a ventilated ridge the full length of the roof.

 

There are bar perches in the veranda section and in the aviary section.

 

All the other perches are box perches 10" deep. There's more than enough box perches for all the birds, but during the day all the birds want onto the bar perches. At night, three hens currently perch on the bar perches near the veranda with a freezing cold east wind coming in on them, and all my young birds prefer to perch up on the same bar perches until they mature sexually, when fights and squabbles cause some to move to the other section on to the box perches.

 

The loft is cold, but its bone dry. In Armand Scheers words, proof of that is when I jump up and down on the deep litter, it raises a dust cloud. So I think Jimmy is right, the main thing is the loft must be dry.

[Guest Silverwings]

my loft colder than a penguins chuffer ,drier than a dead dingos donger ,and the pigeons are harder than the devils toe nails !

[snowy]

so cold doesnt matter, as long as they are dry, but free from drafts.

[darlo_flyer]

a old flyer once told me a pigeon can never be to cold and i hope he is right as my loft is very cold but very dry and me pigeons are very healthy

[perk]

best year i had was with hens that lived in a 8x8 aviary only going back in the loft at night all through winter, wind,rain,snow and frost. loft was bone dry.

[Guest slugmonkey]

I have a big flypen attached to a loft there are also boxes out in it mounted to the outside walls there are perches everywhere I agree you cant have it too cold or too dry in the winter the birds sit out in the cold they love the rain in fact they will sit where the rain runs off so they get more water I have seen it coming off so hard it will wash them off the perch they love it you have to realize the cold is your friend if its 15 degrees outside and your birds are sitting in the wind its because they are healthy I always have the trap open so they can get out and I am amazed at how many times I have gone to feed and they are out flying what you need to know is if you have ANY sickness 15 degree weather will rid you of it if your birds are sick its because they are wet not cold !!! sick birds will not survive out when its super cold the good news is infected birds die fast so they dont spread the bug

[Guest slugmonkey]

I am toying with the idea of building a large A frame and just putting wire all around and putting perches in the rafters back about 6 feet from the ends so there is never any moisture in the roosting area

 

P.S. if your birds are going out in the rain they are telling you something

[Guest]

Brought to top for Ray.

[bewted]

sbelbin,,,,,,read OLD HAND article on ventilation,done the business for me when racing years age,,,,worth a read at the least for thought,,,bewted

[Guest]

Yep ive read the article, and have recently built an aviary to allow the birds out into the fresh air. I spent a few weeks B4 xmas doing bits and bobs on the loft and have got the ventilation what seems to be spot on, as the birds look really well and even on the dampest days the loft is staying bone dry and the humidity is staying constant. Only time will tell!!

[bewted]

hope it really works for u sbelbin,best of luck for this 2006,keep us updated on pigeonbasics,,thanks    ted

[Guest slugmonkey]

We just bought place in florida and I belive we are going to build loft from about 90% wire with only roof solid to see if we cant rid ourselves of moisture problem

[celtic]

I read in one of the magazines that this is popular (only a solid roof, all else open to the elements) in Australia.

[debonair]

Hello. I was reading the excellent articles posted on this site and I found a really cool idea from "OLD HAND". Here's what he says in the article about ventilation:

 

"If I lived in a ‘council house’ and was therefore at the mercy of dictatorial bureaucrats I would not erect a loft at all! Instead, I would construct an aviary with four walls of wire mesh. Then I would drape some transparent polythene sheeting over it. Incidentally, I’m not quite sure about modern council regulations governing the erection of ancillary buildings but I know that up to recent times the council had no Jurisdiction over property that is transparent. In other words, I hold the opinion that anyone could build an aviary with a transparent roof without needing permission from the local authority but please don’t act on this advice without getting good legal opinion, or an opinion from the RPRA, which probably knows the ins-and-outs of modem local by-laws.

 

I would then insert a wire-mesh floor some 12in above ground level so that birds could not reach the ground below the wire-mesh floor. One could stick a wooden rod or two through both wails of the mesh to provide perches. Nestboxes could be put in the aviary in the proper season and I maintain that birds living in this structure would be healthier and fitter than any birds kept in a loft or structure with wooden or solid walls.

 

It would be almost impossible for birds living in this way to contract respiratory disease, or anything like it."

 

OK, now I am really interested in this! Since I have some "pigeon lung" disease, you know, allergy to the loft dust, I think this loft with 4 wire mesh walls and wire mesh floor would be perfect for me. And why not, for pigeons. Of course my question is: what about rain and snow? I know that pigeons are ok with low temperatures as long as they don't change too quickly (in fact my pigeons are doing great in a loft with a wire mesh wall and the temperature in winter is exactly like outside).

 

What do you think? Did you see such loft models?

 

Thanks a lot for any oppinion.

[me]

"old hand " was probably just that - THINK ABOUT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

there is a difference between ventilation and draughts

"keep ypur pigeons in a box " as an old eurpean fancier used to say!!

 

think about it !!!!

[Henrik]

Frank Sheader has a loft built with planks of wood with an Inch gap between each one and lined with mesh to keep out vermin. Birds in there looked immaculate.

[Guest]

I'd like to know if there was any connection between the advent of closed lofts [when did they start becoming popular?] and the incidence of pigeon fanciers lung [when was the allergy first noted?].

 

Loft design must have effects on both pigeons and fancier.

 

 

[Peckedhen]

Where's Jimmy?

 

Doesn't he have something similar?  Or. have I dreamt this!!? :

[debonair]

Bruno, here's an article: http://www.pigeon-lung.co.uk/articlefiles/art_tonygrinsill.html

 

It says: "In fact the most fancier friendly loft I have seen is that of John Harwood, BHW writer at his home in Milton of Campsie near Glasgow. Not a loft really more an aviary. His aviary is 10ft x 8ft, with a Norplex roof and a 2ft wide strip of Norplex around the sides, to hide the birds on their perches, from birds of prey. The lower part being  wire mesh on all four walls with wire grills keeping the pigeons above the floor. All his young birds are housed in this loft from January until the end of the season, with the widowhood hens and stock hens moved in until pairing in December. This giving it all round use, even in the severest of winters and what is more the birds prefer it, staying in excellent condition. Nature designed the pigeon to live in the open air, yet man in his wisdom thinks he knows best. The wins John has obtained using this method are exceptional proving that pigeons kept this way can and do win races."

 

By the way, who is Jimmy?

[Guest]

Where's Jimmy?

 

Doesn't he have something similar?  Or. have I dreamt this!!? :

 

 

Jimmy [Jimmy White, Debonair] advocates the same kind of loft, I think he described one, and how he'd alter his to the same design, but not yet ...   as far as I know  

[Wiley]

is there such thing as perfect ventaliation as ive heard so many theories and points of view on the matter over the years

[Pompey Mick]

I've come to believe that one of the reasons for the increase of Pigeon Fanciers Lung over the last 20-30 yrs is the fact that the number of smokers in the Fancy has dropped considerably. It is a fact that smokers do not readily suffer from PFL because their lungs have been desensitived by the tobacco smoke. I suffered myself from PFL symptons, always in the Winter when contact with the birds was confined to the weekends due to work. I always wear a mask & coat  now when in the loft and the problems seem to have disappeared.