Small Coop Loft Plans and Designs

Small Coop Loft Plans and Designs

This design can be 2x3, 3x3 or 4x4 feet.

Either a perch or a nest box can be put inside.

The cage attached to the front is for settling the pigeon and to get them familiarized the outside environment.

The trap door is placed just above the settling cage.

This design is good for settling young birds.

See all 6 photos

Young Bird Training, Day To Day Schedule Part 1

Preparation

At 24 days of age, give them 1 teaspoon of galamycin per 1/2 gallons of water for 5 days. Then at 30 days of age, give them vitamin B complex, A and D twice a week until 40 days of age. You can start giving them grits and minerals at about 35 days of age.

Training

At 26 days of age, put them on the landing board. The loft should have a separate entrance and exit for your birds so that they will not learn to exit through the trap door. Let them out for about 30 minutes to 1 hour and when they come in, make sure there's food and clean tap water waiting for them.

At 27 to 29 days of age, teach them to quickly enter the loft by guiding them using a stick or by holding their tail. Do this 2 to 3 times so they will get accustomed to the stick and make them know that it is the sign to get inside the loft.

At 30 to 37 days of age, let them out at 12nn for only 30 minutes. Then let them in using the stick to guide them. Adjust their feeding time to 12:30pm.

At 38 to 45 days of age, let them out 12nn and observe if they will all come inside the loft after 30 to 35 minutes. Let them fly and excercise, record how long they fly until 45 days of age. Usually they will fly for only 5 to 10 minutes, let them fly on their own and don't scare them. When they go down on the landing board, guide them again with the stick to get inside the loft. Again, make sure that the food and water is ready when they come in.

At 46 days of age, give them a pan of water with 2 tablespoon of pigeon bath salt and let them bath.

At 47 to 54 days of age, you'll notice that their eyes and feathers were getting richer in color which is a sign that they are getting matured. Start letting them out at 4:30pm in the afternoon and let them fly. As usual, guide them to get inside as soon as they go down in the landing board. Take note of the bird who comes in last.

At 55 to 65 days of age, let them out 10:00am in the morning. This means you need to adjust the feeding times after 10:00am morning excercise and in the afternoon at 6pm. Make the feeding times consistent.

Continued in Young Bird Training, Day To Day Schedule Part 2

Young Bird Training, Proper Feeding

Barley or Wheat

Majority of pigeon fanciers believe that a pigeon should be in a lean condition similar to an athlete.

The quantity to feed is determined by the type of grains and by the quantity of the excercise the bird makes.

When the pigeons are often flying and roaming, they need more food for the energy they need.

The most popular type of grains to give is either barley or wheat because it's hard to get fats with these grains.

Barley, Wheat

  

Overweight and Overfed

Most beginner pigeon racers are overfeeding their birds which makes them unsuccessfull.

Overfeeding will make the birds fat and overweight. They will become lazy, and don't want to fly. They will just sit on the roof of the house, tree branches, electric posts, etc.

If they are not hungry, they will not respond to your call. They will not be able to learn to trap fast which is essential for racing.

Feeding the right amount will make the birds fit, alert and responsive. They will show signs of urge to fly by taking off instantly when you open your loft. They will be doing loft flying for long hours.They will trap fast when you call them.

 

Amount to Feed

The usual amount to feed for racing pigeons is about 1 ounce (1 oz) of feed per bird per day.

This is about 2 tablespoons (2 tbsp) per bird per day or about 28 grams.

You can feed once or twice a day. For example, 1 tbsp in the morning and 1 tbsp in the late afternoon after their flying excercise.

NOTE: This is applicable only for training pigeons. Breeding pigeon should be fed as much as they want specially when they are feeding babies.

Young Bird Training, Weaning Baby Pigeons

Weaning Baby Pigeons

How will you know if your youngsters were ready to be separated from their parents and put to the young birds section of the loft for training?

Usually most young birds were ready for about 24 days. But the proper way to check them is when their under wing feathers were fully grown and fully covered.

Here's an example when a young bird is not yet ready for weaning. 

 

Here's another example, the under wing feathers were not fully grown yet. It needs a few more days to be ready for weaning. 

 

Here's an example of a baby pigeon which is now ready for weaning. The under wing feathers were fully grown and fully covered.