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The Original All Roller Talk Discussion Board Archive >
a thought
a thought
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Velo99
1620 posts
Mar 17, 2008
5:04 PM
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I was thinking after I read some of the guys talking about feeding to stay warm. If one has a "sealable" building,would it not behoove the flyer to spend the exrta cash on heat for the loft instead of extra seed? The performance would have to improve performance. Definitely should cut back on the time to get them in real shape.Just a thought as I get ready for my impending project. What would the acceptable parameters for keeping the feed at a more level amount?
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V99
Keep the best. Eat the rest.
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RUDY..ZUPPPPP
1387 posts
Mar 17, 2008
5:21 PM
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mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...........???????????
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RUDY PAYEN
PANCHO VILLA LOFT
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Oldfart
536 posts
Mar 17, 2008
6:20 PM
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Any and every advantage, would be my way of thinking. Trying to rise young in a cold environment would only be because I could do it no other way. A warm dry, well ventilated loft could only be the obtimum! The price of heating compared to the advancement of healthy squabs seems small to me, but heating a loft through the long cold winter could be a hardship for all! Expecially now, feeding and keeping the family warm is so much more important! A fair precentage of the world keep their treasured livestock, pets, and children in the same enviornment to keep all safe and warm. Extreme, perhaps, but? A thought to ponder through the long cold night.
Thom
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sundance
564 posts
Mar 17, 2008
7:01 PM
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Kenny, Thom,
Let me get this right, You want a loft that is easy to heat, economically? And, you want to keep the kitbirds in optimal shape, via, less feed including young birds not ready to fly yet, or still on lockdown.
Hmmm, ok. How bout this? a small building, insulated just like you would do your home. Just big enough for some kitboxs, accessible from the inside for careing for the birds. You there so far? I`m picturing a loft for 4 kitboxs. Building size, 8 ft x 8 ft. Center aisle for you to walk in.
2 kitboxs on each side. Each box, 4 ft wide x 2.5 ft deep.
This leaves your walkway at 3 ft wide from one end of the building to the other.
Use catch trays under the kit boxs. Feed cans under the catch trays. Wire fronts on the inside of the kit boxs.
Heated? ok. This is tricky. On the outside, at the far end of the walkway, you build a box. Wide enough for a small space heater. again, very well insulated. Make this box as tall as possible to accomodate a return air vent close to the ceiling of the loft. The heated air will enter at the bottom of the hall. About halfway up the box, on the inside of the loft, you cut a hole from the inside of the loft to the air return box. Inside the box must be framed in to hold a vent screen, just like on your furnace at home, only I would use very dense and quality screen material; that can be washed and reused. There will be a lot of dust. I think I would even place filter material over the top return air opening.
You should be able to heat this with a minimal size heater and probably run on the lowest wattage for efficiancy. I would think you will only need to keep at a comfortable temperature, say 50 ish.
Sounds like a good project for summer. So what do you think? Is this what you were after? If you dont need so many kitboxs, you could use 1 or 2 of the boxs for breeder pens.
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Butch @
Sundance Roller Lofts
Last Edited by on Mar 17, 2008 7:03 PM
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RUDY..ZUPPPPP
1392 posts
Mar 17, 2008
7:06 PM
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Good post butch...........
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RUDY PAYEN
PANCHO VILLA LOFT
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Mount Airy Lofts
562 posts
Mar 17, 2008
9:57 PM
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The price of natural gas is way too high. A bag or two of extra feed is all that is needed for them Winter months. I'll stick to keeping a cold loft over a heat one if that is the case. If you have the cash, go for it.
My thought is that a commie can live just fine under a bidge with little to no feed... even in the -30 temps we get up here in the dead of Winter. While my birds are in a enclosed building with all they can eat with fresh water. Can't get any better than that... well, unless it was a heated loft that is.
No heated lofts over here.
Thor
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It's all about the friends we make :)
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Santandercol
2188 posts
Mar 17, 2008
9:57 PM
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Yea,,insulate her and put a base board heater in there Ken.Put your ventilator fans on a timer or hey!!!Heat pump,or thermopane windows-passive solar heat.
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Kel.
Rum-30 Lofts
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Oldfart
538 posts
Mar 18, 2008
10:28 AM
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Hey Butch,Kenny,Kell,Thor,Rudy, I keep my loft heated at all times. My better half says it raised our power bill by roughly 10 to 15 dollars a month. The lose of one young bird or squab hurts me far more then that. I use a small electric radiator style oil heater, it has a thermostat built in and maintains the loft at 65 to 70 degrees. My brood loft is also my work shop, it is 12X12 foot and 7 foot tall, roughly 1000 square foot. Venilation is provided by a vent in the roof and the doors(one on each end) are about 1/2 inch short so air flows from bottom to top, but without a draft. I have plans to build a small loft simular to the one you describe, the bigest difference would be a fly pen between the kit box's and the loft. I really liked some of your idea's and will incorperate them into my new setup.
Thanks
Thom
Last Edited by on Mar 18, 2008 10:32 AM
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Mount Airy Lofts
570 posts
Mar 18, 2008
12:20 PM
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Thom,
I suppose it all depends where you reside. Kind of like how my work is. They expect it to cost more to run the a/c in Thailand then in MN that is why our company is still here and not over seas.
I would think that if you were to live in a very cold Winter climate for example MN, where the Winter may be 5 Months plus long... it would mean more heat usage vs say MO or similar states.
Just curious, where are you that it only cost 10 - 15 dollars more to heat up a loft a month? Heck my Dish TV cost 4 x more than that, if that is the price, sign me up now.
Thor
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It's all about the friends we make :)
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spinner jim
247 posts
Mar 18, 2008
1:04 PM
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THE IDEA of heated lofts?, i know of no-one in the uk that does this despite some very cold winters in the past,my honest opinion is ,the pigeon is a very hardy bird and the cold should not do any harm to a healthy bird ,just keep out the wet and the wind but always allow fresh air to circulate,my birds seem to be all the better for coming through the rough months of the winter and bad weather will always sort out the weeker ones,good feed and plenty of it is all the heating they will require,to my thinking the winter months are a time of rest for my birds and if i introduced heating to the loft this would make them too active,they would think it was spring and despite the cocks and hens being seperated would seek out mates one way or the other ?,so no heating in my lofts guys,jmho,jim uk (nearly forty years and never heated my lofts).
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Oldfart
539 posts
Mar 18, 2008
3:33 PM
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Hey Thor, I live in Southern Ohio, the temp. through the winter stays somewhere around freezing, with the nights dipping into the teens. Sometimes below zero degree's but not often. My wife keeps very close tabs on where our money go's, and she says 10 to 15 dollars a month, I believe her.
I just do not see any reason not to heat at that cost. Yes the birds will do fine, even the squabs if I don't heat, but why not? I'm retired and money is tight, not that tight. Down the road I may have to change my mind. For now I will continue to heat, unless someone convinces me in the harm.
Thom
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RUDY..ZUPPPPP
GOLD MEMBER
2710 posts
Jul 25, 2009
6:54 PM
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.
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RUDY PAYEN
PANCHO VILLA LOFT
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donnie james
606 posts
Jul 25, 2009
10:23 PM
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hay kenny if the flyer has cold night he would build a loft to keep his birds warm at night and cool in the summer.............donny james and its a know fact that corn is a warm feed i guess i said that right...........
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