We moved to Virginia in June of 2001. On June 21st we began construction of our new loft. It was completed on October 15th.
My husband and I were the only ones that worked on it.
Please keep in mind as you view the different pictures, that all of the things that we have built into our loft are not necessary. We knew when we built this loft that it was the last one we would build and my husband being the handy man that he is saved us tons of money by doing all of the work his self. The birds could care less about how elaborate you get. They just want somewhere to sleep and eat and be safe. A lot of what we did was for our convenience more so than the birds........
We will try to take you on a tour so you can get an idea of what we have.
The building is 20 X 28.
It houses our young birds and our breeders.
To the left of the front door there are 3 Young Bird sections. The middle section is 10' X 7' 9" and contains 32 nest boxes. All of the nest fronts were made by my husband. It also has an electronic antenna installed. This section is where the YB's trap when coming in from training and races. (Pictured above) The two sections on either side are 10' X 5' 6" and have only perches. All three sections have their own individual aviary. There are solid partitions between the middle aviary and the two outer ones, so if we ever want to separate the sexes.
On the right side of the loft there are two Old Bird sections. One is 11' 5" X 4' 6" and has 20 nest boxes (Pictured on the right). The other section is 7' 6" X 4' 6" and has only perches. This is where the breeder hens are housed during the off season. The section with the nest boxes is used during breeding season and only houses the breeder cocks during the off season. The second picture shows the view from inside each section.
Across the back of the loft, there are 7 individual breeding pens. They are all 2' 8" X 3' 8".
Each pen has two shelves for each round of youngsters. Each is equipped with it's own aviary. There is a door at the bottom of each pen, attached to a pully, so that they can be opened or closed according to weather conditions. There are also two perches in each pen.
We installed a sink and cabinets. There is hot and cold water. Underneath the cabinet is a small refrigerator for any medications that need to be kept cold.
At the end of the hallway we built a section with 4 small boxes. These will be used as a "sick bay" or to keep any new birds separated from ours for a few days. Another counter top was installed under these boxes.
The loft is equipped with electric throughout. There are 2 power roof ventilators. They are on an automatic thermostat but can also be manually controlled. Each section has a 2' X 4' wired hole cut into the ceiling for ventilation. There are also four 2' X 2' wired holes in the hallway.
All of the aviaries have a hinged door for releasing the birds.
The windows in each aviary are totally removeable for summer and warm months and can be replaced during the colder months.
We have tried to make sure that ventilation is not a problem.
We also installed timers for the lights in the YB sections, the breeding pens and the OB section that contains the nestboxes.
There is a link at the top of the page that will take you to a copy of the plans. Please feel free to print and use any of it that you want to.
If you have any questions you can e-mail us and we will be glad to help any way we can.
The feedbox pictured here was built by my husband. It has 3 compartments that will hold up to 300 lbs of feed. It sits beside a 1' 6" X 4' closet that he built also for more storage.
The pictures to the right will show you the different stages of construction
I'm questioned once in a while about what a settling cage is. Here is ours, pictured above. It is not part of the loft. It can be taken down and put up when needed. When I start trap training my birds, I run them out of the "out window" and close it. Then they must come through the traps to eat. Once I start training, my birds never eat a meal without trapping first. If the weather is bad and they can't get out to fly, then we put the settling cage back up and make them trap. Practice makes perfect.
(Any Duplication or Reproduction without Express Permission is Prohibited)
