how many birds?

[lawrie]

my loft is 8ft long, 4ft wide and 7 ft high. how many racing pigeons could i put in it without overcrowding? i have had a few answers from 8 to 30 birds. any suggestions?

[homer]

lawrie u really need to split the shed into 2 sections because if you are going to breed from your team the youngerns need to be weaned off to a seperate compartment.also u need to be able to split the pairs up after breeding or they will try to breed all year round.

     if you intend to breed from your birds you cant really get away with more than 2 or 3 pairs in a shed that size .

     4ft is rather narrow m8.

 

 

 

 

 

[lawrie]

im new to the racing hobby and i was only gunna have 8 YB birds in it, and then if i decided to breed them then i would give the chicks away, or give one of the older birds away. if it came to it i could extend the loft.

 

would it be ok just to have a team of young hens? or is it not possible to sex them untill they are older?

[homer]

im new to the racing hobby and i was only gunna have 8 YB birds in it, and then if i decided to breed them then i would give the chicks away, or give one of the older birds away. if it came to it i could extend the loft.

 

would it be ok just to have a team of young hens? or is it not possible to sex them untill they are older?

 

its big enough for 8 ybs but you will still need a weaning section if you want to breed with them. ybs are sexed by the time they are old enough to race (you do get the odd mystery)so you could race a team of 8 hens.trouble is you then wont be able to use most of the insentive methods like racing to babies or the popular one of racing cocks home to their hens(widowhood).

[lawrie]

would that be a disitvantige? i take it the "single" bird would tend to stray?

[homer]

would that be a disitvantige? i take it the "single" bird would tend to stray?

 

its not that they are more likely to stray.

     its a widely held view that pigeons racing home to eggs , babies , or (in the case of cock birds) partners tend to fly with a greater sense of urgency and are therefore faster.

 

  however a good racer (cock or hen) will still travel home at high speed just with the insentive of a pleasant environment where it is fed , watered and cared for.in other words home.

 

[lawrie]

im starting to get itchy for anothe small loft. its been playing on my mind since i started building my loft. and i soppose in time i would need another one anyway.

 

time to talk to the non feathery bird!

[matt]

i think it would depend on wether your having breeding boxes or box perches i had a loft that size when i first started and i kept 6 pair in it and they were fine until i swaped box perches for breeding boxes there wasnt enough room and the birds just kept bumping there wings the only thing i could do was put smaller breeding boxes on the side wall the 4ft lengh this seemed to make things easyer hope this helps

[Guest]

I think the existing loft is big enough for 12 pigeons, but if and when you start breeding, it will become too small and you'll need the same size extension.

 

You don't need to breed them. You could divide the loft into two sections and keep the sexes seperate, or pair them up and keep replacing the real eggs with plastic ones. They'll happily sit these out for the full 3 weeks then 'rise', go back down to nest and lay another round.  

 

4' is quite narrow, so keep wall mounted perches and boxes no higher than your eye-level and no lower than 12/14" off the floor, for your and the bird's comfort.

 

Make sure the birds walk between sections [floor level trap in the dividing wall] so that flying is minimum and only between floor / perch or box.

[lawrie]

i only have box perches and wall mounted perches. i am thinking of extending it 4 feet then divide it into 2 x 6 foot sections, then have a small aviery on each end of the loft.

 

can you put an aviery on the loft roof? is that a daft question???

[Guest]

can you put an aviery on the loft roof?

 

Problems : with control of birds (how would you get them out?) and

 

cleaning - (sloping? roof becomes a floor, how do you clean it? - and could get into a real mess.

 

Need planning permission for a building taller than 7/8 feet? Don't need that just now.

 

 

[lawrie]

never thought of that! it was just a thought.

 

thanks anyway

[Guest valiant]

derek come up and see me i will give you one of my old cocks that had broke his wing racing it will give you something to play about with till the young birds are ready.