Ideal Accomodation for High flying pigeons
Space requirement:
In my whole survey, I have witnessed that fanciers are utilizing their available spaces very cleverly. For example; one friend of mine is flying pigeons from his shop that is on the ground level and he is still a champion of his club. He has flown his pigeons till night from the same place. For understanding let me describe you his pigeons living area. He owns a shop at a very busy street of Karachi. In this shop, he has pigeons to sell and also he has two cages for his own pigeons. He has put a small wire cage in front of his shop, which is inside the shop. From there he trains his flying pigeons. He has fixed a bamboo across the road on a wall where his pigeon sits. Keep in mind this shop is situated under four-story building and this whole street is cover with the same size of buildings. When he opens his loft pigeons fly to the bamboo stand and then start flying in the sky. This is amazing that pigeon does not sit on any building or wall nearby to his shop. His pigeons fly in the sky as all high flyers fly. After completing the whole day’s flight pigeons come back home, I even witnessed his pigeons landing in the night in the light of single bulb on that bamboo stand. The reason for this story is that pigeon can be trained anywhere all you need to have good breed and understanding, another point that is worth noticing that how you can utilize your space.
Now let us discuss space requirement in an ideal scenario. The first thing to note is, higher space lowers the risk. It means that higher the loft or building lower the risk of losing your birds. Here in Karachi, big clubs allows loft that has a height of at least 25 feet from the ground it means almost building should be of 2 floors. For making a loft on the second floor, you should have space available of at least 24 feet in length and depth/breadth should be of at least 12 feet for fulfilling the complete requirement.
Loft Direction:
Here in Karachi, we have two directional wind blows. In summers, the wind blows from west to east and in winters it changes from east to west. Very rarely it blows from north or south. So the ideal direction in this condition is to face the loft at the south, north should be at the back. The reason behind this direction is that when the sun arises from the east. Sunlight goes inside the loft as it opens at the south end. It covers complete loft whole day. In this way, pigeons get complete exposure to sunlight which helps them to generate vitamin D in their bodies and keep them the warm whole day. Another advantage is that sunlight helps in killing germs inside the loft.
Pigeon by nature is a very hot bird. As it required lots of energy to lift from the ground. To keep him warm it is very important to keep them safe from direct wind exposure. Direct wind exposure can effect on pigeon’s tissues and muscles. In order to keep them safe from wind exposure, it is important to close both the directions (east and west). Therefore, we block three sides east, west and north.
Cage material
Cage material depends on the weather and environment of the particular area. As I mentioned above that we have hot to moderate weather, we need to keep our birds safe from the heat. In Europe or another cold area, loft material should be made of best insulator. Therefore, Most of us use concrete blocks to make loft walls. Rooftop is also preferred to be made up of concrete. Concrete help to protect from eating and it is easy to get it cool by pouring water on it. In case of colder areas, wood is preferred. As wood has good insulation ability.
For the sitting area, we prefer wood stands because wood does not get hotter or much colder with weather changes. For making wire mesh or loft fancier uses metal or wood both depends on the budget.
Ideal loft sections
As we see in our homes, that there are few basic requirements like kitchen, living room, guest room, washroom, toilet, store room etc. Similarly, to make your ideal loft, you should learn the basic requirement. For instance, if you have a big grey parrot, can you keep a budgie or love bid with him in the same cage? Off course NO, because they can hurt each other. Similarly, breeding cage has its own structure and flying coops should have its own structure and both things should be made as per requirement. Before utilizing the space, try to estimate how many pigeons you want to keep and at what form. First, ask yourself, you want to be a breeder or just a flyer.
You loft sections are hidden behind this answer, by having a clear vision you can better estimate space requirement and structure requirement. For an ideal scenario, one should make below sections.
Breeding section
- Nesting Area
- Sitting Area
- Male
- Females
Breeding section:
Breeding section depends on the pairs that you want to keep. Ideally, it should be made on 36 sq ft. Means it should have 6 feet length and width and height should also not exceed to 6 feet. If you are taller than 6 feet then you can make it higher as per your height. In the ideal condition, it should be 6 from all sides.
Nesting Area
Nesting area is a very important thing because breeders should have ideal space in order to nourish their YBS healthy. Normally pigeon has a height of 14 inches it might be shorter or taller but a high flying pigeon has above-mentioned height. If you see when a male lifts his wings to show dominance, it goes up to 1.5 feet or little more. To fulfill height requirement, I found 2 feet height is ideal for the breeding box. It helps them to be free all the time even at the time of having sex it gets enough
Nesting area should be 1.5 feet long and deep. To make a nest, mostly fancier keep the box clean and give some branches to the pair in order to make their own nest. In my case, I use a wooden or clay pod. Both kinds of pods have almost had the same result. Both are easy to clean and easy to handle. In the nourishing process, females mostly lay eggs again three weeks of hatching. In this case, 1.5feet is ideal because it provides ideal space for YBS and nest area without any disturbance. As far as material is a concern, I prefer to make nesting boxes with wood for the same reason of maintaining its temperature.
Sitting area:
For making the sitting area you can utilize the remaining walls of the cage. Make seats with wooden material and keep space at least 6 to 8 inches between two seats.
Flying section:
This section should be divided into 3 cages or portion, a cage for males, one for females and one for YBS. You can make this according to your requirement. In an ideal scenario, it should also have 3X6 or 4X6 size. Make sitting stands as per picture#3. Use the same concrete material for the cage and front net frame can be made with metal or wood. In the 3X6 cage, you can keep 20 pigeons. The door can be made of cage height but its width should not exceed to 2 feet. Door position depends on the wire meshes
Wires mesh covering
This is very important to cover your all portions with wire mesh cage. Mean this cage to be fit outside your cage. It prevents pigeon to go out of pigeons and at the same time, you can open them in the outer environment. In this way, pigeons get familiar with its place and also get healthy due to sunlight and fresh air and it also has enough space to fly. Its door should not be opposed to inner cage door. E.g. if inside cage has a door at left than wire mesh gate should be at left. It prevents to direct exposure outside the loft.
This is the best structure that I learned in my pigeon fancy it might not accurate for colder areas but for hotter areas it works perfectly. It prevents pigeons from diseases and keeps them healthy and it also beneficial for fanciers. For fancier, it provides a clear view of their pigeons and also it is easy in cleaning etc. Always remember use material that not only prevents from the weather but should also provide protection from hunters (cats, dogs, rats, and thief).
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