Ventilation

[Guest]

I have two pent roof lofts at the end of my garden, on for old birds facing west and one for ybs facing east. The yb loft only gets sunlight in the morning only and the old bird loft gets it in the afternoon. As they are both surrounded by fences the air doesnt enter and leave very well. I have bought some chimneys with motors on to pull the air and dust out. Does anyone use them and can anyone recommend whether i need to put a faulse ceiling in etc. I was also thinking of putting in some windows in the roof to allow light in all day. I am also thinking of lining the walls with insulation and plywood to give a more constant temp in the loft, has anyone done this and will it benefit them?????????

[Guest]

No answers then??

[MsPigeon]

I think those are GREAT ideas. I have been wanting one of those vents myself. And we have skylights too. Well we have metal roofing with clear plastic panels every other one in the center portion. We really like lots of light in our lofts and I think the birds do too. But some people think otherwise, so its' a matter of opinion I guess. I think it is especially important in the breeding loft where there is prisoner birds and sunlight is good for the babies. Well, hell... sunlight is good for every living thing.

Just my thoughts.

Carol

[Guest shadow]

Never used motorised ventilation so can not comment on them my lofts have louvers along the front and a 4inch gap just below the eaves at the rear of the loft. The inside walls are covered as I think it helps to keep the loft at a more stable temperature. the gap at the back is covered with mesh to keep vermin out. :)

[Guest]

i lined one of my old lofts once, but when i built my new one i decided against it as vermin could get behind the lining and the fancier not know about it. i have heard of many cases of this in my area.

[Guest]

That was one ov my thoughts on it, as I used to have a shed with zebra finches in that I had lined and insulated, and when I removed the boards there was a maze ov mice nests and thousands of em, not a nice sight. So i was thinking of doing it so there could be openings that could be covered and if mice get in drop some poisin in to kill em.

[jimmy white]

i used to have an apex roof for ybs    i cut along the apex about 6 inches each side, the whole length of the loft, then built another apex8 inches each side, i then built it on about 2 inches higher, which left a gap of 2 inches on either side, filled this with chic wire for sparrows etc, and found this to be ideal.

[Guest]

I was going to make them with an apex, but I fly behind the house and didnt want to upset the neighbours (or the girlfriend LOL).

[jimmy white]

a very practical method of testing the adequacy of your ventilation, is to get down on the floor on the inside of the inlets and blow smoke out .of your mouth ,the smoke should rise  immediately and go straight out of the outlet, in the apex roof,as described earlier, letting a down feather float down on the inside of the inlet is another way of testing and in this case the feather should not reach the floor before being convected up and out the roof.   hope this is of some help.

[Guest slugmonkey]

I dont insulate the walls of my lofts in fact I like air space between the boards we get really hard winters here and I think the cold helps eliminate disease and respitory problems as far as the light goes I think the birds like it dark if you look where they nest its usally the darkest spots up high that go first I put wire right above the top perches then I throw wheat straw over the wire this cuts the draughts a little I have a great big flypen and it opens into the loft I keep my breeders here I am amazed at how the birds will sit out on perches ( a lot of time overnight ) right out in the wind on the coldest of days

[Guest]

I think Slugmonkey's 'open' 'dark' type loft is healthier than the 'hot' 'closed in' types described. One word of caution though on your straw - it could also be sucking natural moisture out of the air and as such could pose a danger to you and your birds by providing perfect breeding conditions for fungus / moulds. You could be vulnerable to things like like aspergillosis.

I hope to convert the closed ridge of my loft roof to ventilated ridge this autumn. Got good natural airflow in every direction inside the loft, and I can see the spider's webs on the underside of the roof moving in it , but still looking to have airflow up through the ridge.

[Guest]

When we built our lofts to check if the ventilation was sufficient we lit ciggies and if the smoke goes straight up the ventilation is good, if the smoke hangs around more is needed

[Guest]

This all ok but, my ventilation seems to work perfect on a windy day, but on a still day then the smoke would just stay there. On one of the races I won this year the week previous there was no wind and it was really warm, and the only ventilation I had was a 50mm gap the full length of the front of the loft under the eaves and a 150mm gap along the rear of the loft and the birds looked perfect, so good infact my mate who put them in for me, said if he had have put mine in b4 his he would have taken his home, saying he wouldnt have a chance against them. Since then I put two louvres in the front at floor level and they seemed to go down hill from then!!!! But surely the ventilation cant have been that good b4.

[Guest]

PS. IF I PUT VENTILATION CHIMNEYS IN DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE TO POSITION THEM IN THE SECTION i.e. AT THE FRONT OR REAR OF THE SECTION???

[jimmy white]

another very important feature in racing pigeons,,,ventilation ,, in my opinion the more ventilation [with dryness]    the birds keep far more healthier,, ,, another point maybe worth pondering over is temperature,,,,, would you keep down the temp [wouldnt need to at the mo ;D]at this time of the year ,i,e next few weeks, for pigeons you would like conditioned for , say june , and off course the opposite for birds to be conditioned early,,, the reason im saying this is a fellow fancier kept his birds in a concrete garage [converted] this loft was freezing until the middle of june , when the heat began to get through ,, this chap flew exceptionaly well in nationals in july, but never b4 it, ,,,,,,worth pondering over

[Wiley]

very good point, the ventilation is very important im a big believer in oxygen, and if your loft isnt ventilated well it could make or brake your season. The loft has to be dry, another key factor.

[THE FIFER]

a must these days with lofts mostly all windowed up etc no wire.

[Roland]

Once read an article 'Would race them to a tree if I could trap them race days'! 100% correct I believe. So why aren't our lofts just Averies with a box to shelter from!

[stevebelbin]

My God and old topic of mine come back to haunt LOL LOL - I still dont feel I have the loft Ventilation right LOL - Although Ive managed to keep the humidity at near enough 65% for ages now even when its 90% outside.

[Roland]

And moved up from a Guest poster too. Be a modulator soon no doubt at this rate lol.

[Roland]

Would also say look at haystacks and how and why they are dried and aired!

[stevebelbin]

And moved up from a Guest poster too. Be a modulator soon no doubt at this rate lol.

 

LOL still got a good way to go B4 I get my fifth star though lol  ;D ;D