Fly_caster Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 Hello All, After much thought, last summer I decided to build some additional lofts for our Stock Birds and a (yet to be launched) new business project. This is the photo-diary of the build. ATB, Steve We had a small piece of land which is adjacent to the existing racing lofts which required some work before we could site anything there, so a day with an excavator made short work of a job that was simply impossible to do without machinery ! Let there be light : The container has a roll-up door at the rear, but I couldn't be sure that this was always going to be open, in any event, it was gloomy inside, so I managed to procure the skylights out of a decommissioned fleet of buses (for nowt !). A few days spent investigating how to make the incisions waterproof, and considering how I wanted the airflow to work allowed us to proceed as follows : One was never going to be enough, but it was a start That's a bit better From the top. Ventilation : Having done quite a bit of reading on the subject, spoken to quite a few fanciers and considered how we could keep the lofts waterproof even in the most severe of weather, we settled on the following system. The premise upon which it operates is as follows : Our prevailing wind is a south westerly one. The rooflight windows are cracked open, facing away from the wind. As the wind passes over the top of these skylights, it creates a negative pressure, pulling air from within the container. By providing a new "source" of air for this push-pull method, lower down the walls of the new loft, we were able to ensure a steady and manageable flow of air through the loft. To date, and we operate a deep litter system, there is no smell of pigeons within the loft, even after a few days of heavy weather where even the rooflights are left closed. To provide the "new" air, I drilled holes on the windward side of the loft. To these holes I fitted 15 degree sewer "elbow" corner pieces, of the 4" variety. I then screwed and siliconed these into position. Please see photos below. Freshly drilled air-intake holes. From the outside, facing the wind. Screwed and sealed This pic shows the "Elbow" with a drilled cap on it. The cap was necessary after the first storm when we discovered wind-driven rain reaching 4 feet into the loft interior. The caps cured it ! Internal Layout : The plan was to put in an "open" breeding section and as many individual breeding boxes as would fit into the loft. I settled upon the following ; 1 x 10' x 8' Breeding section with 12 boxes - all on a raised floor. 8 x 2m x 4' x 2' Breeding box units, each containing 2 individual breeding boxes with deep droppings trays. All of the above were constructed from material from my old loft and some shelving that I rescued from a warehouse locally. The boxes during the build Showing the droppings floor and internal space (Dimensions below) The nearly finished section....at the time. The finished units are 48" wide, 24" deep and 2m high overall. The droppings tray is 9" from the shelf. We have 4 units on each side as you walk into the loft, giving us 16 individual boxes, with a 4 foot walkway down between them. End of the corridor section, during construction Slightly further finished...... From outside the container (with "borrowed" bits from my old loft Front of the "Open Section" before being hidden by the breeding boxes. The floor is constructed of 9" joists, 2nd hand, on edge, covered with 2" x 2" galvanised mesh. Aviary : The plan, at this stage, was to build an aviary on the "back side", in the shelter of the loft, giving access to the birds to a large and open aviary at all times. That was until I was offered something that I just couldn't refuse.......... Yes, another container - only this time a full 40' x 8' x 8' We then set about doing exactly what we did with the other container, in the same order - Light, ventilation and interior......some pics below............... Roof Vents To be continued...................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Burgess Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 you have been a busy boy Steve , good luck . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheHigg Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 top class flycaster keep us posted :emoticon-0137-clapping: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenbar Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 your doing very good job there,would like to see the end product well done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billt Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 Very nice Steve, Plenty of room for all there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fly_caster Posted May 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 More Light Interior (Rear) Interior Front The larger container contains the following : 1 x 10' x 8' x 8' Open section - 12 Nest Boxes (Raised gridded floor) 1 x 8' x 8' x 8' Open section - 8 Nest Boxes (Raised gridded floor) 1 Small 3' x 8' x 8' section for "Special" pairings. (Raised gridded floor) 8 x Individual breeding units, each containing 2 large breeding compartments. Aviary : Second Attempt ! Aviary access & Control. Having carefully aligned the 2 containers, we now had to construct the aviary which would sit between the two lofts. The pics below are fairly self-explanatory. The design allows the aviaries to be used as storage areas for birds or as attached aviaries to the sections. Hence the need for the various control and access points. Just like a prison ! First we made fully waterproof and sealed "traps" through which the birds could access the aviary from the lofts. These are simple boxes with a "staggered" route through them so as there is no direct ingress of rainwater. View from with in aviary of a "trap" External access door. View from inside the loft with "Control" door/gate to aviary trap. Quarter Finished Roof Half-Finished Roof Fully Finished Roof Aviary : Second Attempt ! Aviary Interior. Being undecided about the ultimate shape of the finished aviary, I decided to finish all the aviary parts connected to the internal sections of the lofts...... Aviary Front Aviary Rear Internal Sections under construction Showing Aviary "Walk Through" Sliding Doors and Perches installed. Chippings added. Front Corner Section [/url] Perches - A closer look. Some other random pics associated with the ventilation Ventilation Cap (Drilled) Ventilation cap from interior (Showing rain ingress at outer edge) (It came no further) Tilted skylight, viewed from above, facing "away" from the wind direction. The worlds most expensive specialist ventilation duct - € 3.45 each Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paddymac Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 Looking good Steve, best of luck in your new venture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Novice Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 Great stuff Steve I hope the remainder of the project goes as well as the first part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter dempsey Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 very well done you put a lot of thought into your design a credit to you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGPETE Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 Fantastic project! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buster151 Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 Well done indeed and good luck for the future :emoticon-0137-clapping: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIK Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 top class Steve, canny wait to get a run up :emoticon-0137-clapping: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fly_caster Posted May 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2015 Thanks for the nice comments and messages everyone - much appreciated. ATB for the rest of the season, Will post a few updates from time to time. Cheers, Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valiant Fifer Posted May 11, 2015 Report Share Posted May 11, 2015 Very interesting shows what one can do when when one puts their mind to it. Good stuff well done m8! :emoticon-0137-clapping: :emoticon-0137-clapping: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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