My New Young Bird loft

The Young Bird loft that I built over 20 years ago was a small, 4' by 8' loft, capable of housing 40 birds. It was well built and did well for me as my YB loft. When I had to leave the sport for awhile, I sold it to a friend, who is still using it, with a few modifications.

Now that I have the urge to get back into pigeon racing, I need to start collecting all the necessary paraphenalia, beginning with a loft for the Young Birds. As I searched the Internet for loft construction plans, I came across the detailed plans for the Small Starter Loft: Small Starter Loft.

This design is similar to my first loft, being the 4x8 size. So I decided to somewhat follow these plans, with some changes to make it more like my original loft. As it may be useful to others, I will try to share my progress as it is built.

I broke the project into several sections, roughly following the Steps defined in the plans.

Materials (Step 0)

My Bill of Materials spreadsheet can be seen at: Materials. For my happiness and yours, I have not shown the prices of the items, but I will try to keep the running total accurate.

Total cost, as of 3/7/07: $170

Base (Step 1)

I used 6 of the 8x8x16 concrete blocks. To add stability, I added dirt to the inside of the blocks and water to help it pack down. Tamping it down and using a block and hammer also helped to pack it. The dirt filled up to about 1 inch of the top.



Then I filled the top 1 inch with sand, as seen in several of the blocks below. The pink padding, used for new home construction between the framed wall and the foundation, was placed on top of each of the blocks. My neighbor, who just finished building a new house, gave it to me for nothing. The foundation is now ready.



Rather than a 3/4" panel wood floor, I chose to use Expanded Metal grating for my floor. This will provide for more ventilation and less cleaning. I was told that the 3/4", 9 gauge, was the size that I should use. It is sold in 4' by 8' sheets. A picture of this material can be seen at: Expanded Metal.

I made my base the full 48" wide. To provide support for the grating, I used 2x6s for the outside and one inside brace. Then I added several 2x4s as inside braces, as seen in the picture below. The extra 2x4s are on the right side because that will be the front of the loft, where I will be walking. In the original plans, it is called the floor. In my design, I call the wood structure below the expanded metal, the Base.

The left picture shows just the Base. The picture on the right shows the Expanded Metal sitting in place. I had my Expanded Metal cut into two pieces, 18" and 30" wide. The wider piece is placed on the floor, as shown. The narrower piece will be placed on a stand that will be built later, that covers the left side of the loft. I spray painted both pieces of Expanded Metal with good Primer and Enamel paint (which turned out to be a big expense because of the loss through the holes).



The boards look a little glossy because I applied two coats of a good quality waterproofing sealant (1 quart).

Cutting the Sides and Back (Step 2)

One old fancier said that he would discourage use of the OSB panels because they will fall apart sooner. He said if I use them, I should also use lots of paint. I chose to use the OSB panels on the back and the far side. I will use what used to be called T-111 paneling for the side with the door, as it will be towards my house.

Again, I chose to make my loft the full 48" wide, so some of my numbers were different from the original plans, (my peak is 37" from the back). I made my door narrower (24"), 2" taller, and cut the bottom up 4", as seen in the final pictures.

Attaching the Sides and Back to the Base (Step 3)

I will not have a mostly solid front. It will be described later.

To aid in holding the sides and back pieces in place for attaching to the base, I attached some 1x3 trim boards along the bottom of the sides and back of the Base. The left picture shows the back left corner of the Base. The right picture shows one of the back pieces being placed on it. Since my Base boards are 2x6s, I still have 3" above them to attach the back and sides to the Base.



Attaching back corners (Step 4)

I did not attach the trim at this time, so that it would be easier to put in the roof supports.

Instead of using the 1x4 boards to secure the corners, I chose to put 2x2s in the corners and a 2x4 at the joint of the two back pieces. These boards serve two purposes. The first being to hold the back and side pieces together. The second is that I will attach the perches to these boards. They provide the desired distance away from the back wall.

I finished this step by putting in the 2x4 roof support that is 4" from the peak. This piece is not called for until Step 7, but I think it gives the side walls more stability at this time.



Attaching the Lower Front, Finishing the Door (Step 5)

My front will be a bit more complicated than what the original plans call for. I did not attach it at this time. For this step, I just attached the ripped 2x4 that is the front roof support, and another ripped 2x4 that will serve as the door support. The plans call for ripping the roof support at an angle of 45 degrees. This is actually not correct. Since the aviary side is the clissical 3-4-5 right triangle, the two angles besides the right angle are 37 degrees and 53 degrees. My table saw was not able to conveniently cut the 37 degrees for the roof support, so I had to have my neighbor cut it for me.

I decided a door support was needed because my T-111 sheathing is not as thick as the OSB and may need this extra support. The door support was ripped to 2 1/2 inches thick. This allows for the front 2x2 frame to be attached. (Maybe I should have cut the door edge 5" from the front so I wouldn't have to rip this 2x4.)

I placed the door support just above the base. It will serve to hold down the Expanded Metal.

Instead of the 4 hinges called for in the original plans, I used only three, more expensive, 3" Stanley WeatherGard hinges, attaching one side to the door support mentioned above.

My hinges are attached on the side of the door that is towards the front. The perches will be on the back wall. With the door opening this way, all the birds see is a little bit of light as the door opens. If it opened the other way (as described in the original plans), then the birds would see all the outside as the door opens.



You will see that I have already started painting the loft. A good way to give my teenage sons something to do. The blocks had to be placed on the base to hold it down. One day we had 45 MPH wind. The loft moved while one son was painting the inside.

Inside: Perches and Feeding Stand (Step 5 1/2)

I added this extra step here to add in my perches and a feeding stand, before my front is attached.

The feeding stand is 23" tall and 18" deep. It will sit under the perches. The feeding troughs will be placed on it, under the perches. The 18" piece of Expanded Metal sits on top of it. The end and back supports will be screwed into the back 2x4 and 2x2s and from the side walls.



The picture on the left is of the supports installed. On the right is the left support attached to the left wall and the back 2x2 corner support.



On the left is the middle support. You can see one of the two T plates used to hold the middle support of the feeding stand to the Base. The picture on the right is the feeding stand fully installed.

Before installing the perches, I added more sand on top of the concrete blocks under the Base. Two of the pictures just above showed the sand level with the top of the block. I added more sand, until it would not stop rolling off the top. I thought this would add some resistance to the Base moving on top of the blocks due to wind. This is what it looked like when done:



I was told that it is good to house 1 bird per square foot of floor space. Therefore, I decided to build a set of 32 perches. 8 feet long and 4 high worked out just right. Each perch space is apporximatley 1 ft. by 1 ft. The picture on the left shows the perches being painted. The picture on the right shows the 3 L brackets that will hold the perches to the back wall. Of course, the perches are upside-down for this picture.



Here the perches are installed:



Front (Step 6)

See Step 8 1/2 for my loft front.

Roof supports and Back of Roof (Step 7)

I chose to do Step 7 before Step 6, because my front is more complicated. I decided this would be a good time to get the roof half installed.

On the left is the roof support and vent hardware cloth installed, ready for the roof. On the right is the first piece of roofing installed. I chose what was available at Home Depot, my local home improvement store. It is Polycarbonate corrugated roofing, made by SUNTUF. The product page is found here: Polycarbonate roofing. I chose the SUNTOP(c) Foamed Polycarbonate Panels.



I chose to follow the standard installation process of using the foam support under the roofing panels. I figured this will give me more protection from outside critters. This was not needed in the original "Starter Loft" design, because the panels used there were mostly flat. The picture on the right is the right side, ready to be trimmed, when I put up the trim board.



Aviary sides, trim and Front of Roof (Step 8)

As I was building this loft, I wanted it to last for a while, so I used glue wherever I could. Here are two pictures of applying it before attaching the boards.



Rather than using the angle piece cut from the 2x4 roof support in Step 5, I decided I needed more support for my different front, so I used a 2x4 on each aviary side piece. The left side of my loft was built with the T-111 type paneling. So I needed to cut the aviary left side from this same paneling. But I did not have any more OSB paneling to use for the right side. So I cut the right side from the T-111 also. It did not match the thickness of the OSB right side, but that was OK with me. It is the side of the loft that will not be seen as much.



Before I put up the front of the roof, I wanted to put up the top section of my front. It will be partially covered up by the bottom of the front roof section.



Since I was putting the top 2x4 up where I had also put the two 2x4s that hold the aviary sides, it was necessary to use some longer screws. I used some 3" #9 screws available from Home Depot with the brand name of DeckMate. These were used in several places. The three shown on the right are 2" fine thread drywall screws.



By now you should have noticed that I finished off the first 1/2 bucket of paint donated to me by my neighbor friend. It was a beige color. The next color he gave me was white.



The final roof support was added to the front. Then the roofing panels were installed. I now have 5 of the 6 sides of this enclosure completed. I think it's looking good.

My Front (Step 8 1/2)



On the left is the bottom of the front. There are two doors that will allow me to slide in a basket to load the birds for transport. I decided that I may need to divide the loft at some point, so I made it symmetrical, top and bottom, as seen in the right picture. The large screened windows at the top are the release doors. They are hinged on the top section shown above. Hooks on the inside hold them closed and will be used to hold them to the roof while letting the birds come out to the aviary. In the middle is the classic 4-stall trap (that I won bidding on eBay). This is the complete front.

This completes the 6th side of the enclosure. I added hook latches to the inside for the front doors and one on the outside for the entry door. I needed to get it latched up so that I could get some birds at the auction for the new club I was going to join. I brought home 11 birds: two I won at the auction, some given to me and several I will fly for someone whose loft is already full. So any pictures after this will show birds in the loft.

April 27, 2007 - After getting these new birds, I spent most of my time with them and did not get back to documenting the loft construction until a year later. I took the pictures while building, I just needed to put them on this website.

June 6, 2008 - So here is the rest of the details. Hopefully my tone of voice and attention to details has not changed too much in a year.

Aviary Floor and Door (Step 9)

Looks like I did not take any pictures of the aviary floor as I built it, but here is the picture of it after it was installed.



I chose to use 1/2 inch hardware cloth for the floor of my aviary, instead of the 1X1 inch welded wire mentioned in the plans. I followed the plans to build the floor, except that I had to include a cut-out area for my stall trap. These pictures show the top and bottom of this area. Looks like I mis-calculated the position of the trap in the front section, as it appears to sit about 1/2 inch above the hardware cloth. But actually this turned out to be to my advantage. In later pictures you will see that I placed the section of the front that was cut out for the trap right in front of it as an entry board. Later I placed the electronic clock antenna under this entry board, so it all worked out good for me.



Next I built the aviary front (or door). These pictures show it being built and getting that 45 degree angle cut.



Here is the loft with the aviary door installed, handle and all.



Finishing Touches (Step 10)

The picture above shows the hinges and handle on the aviary front (door).

I bought, but did not install a door knob. Instead, I just put a latch hook on the outside. Then, while I was gone for a few days, the neighbors who I asked to watch my birds, added this wooden latch on the inside. This latch was needed to prevent the door from being opened by the wind while I was inside.



I chose to put my water container in a box on the outside of the loft, in the wall opposite the door. This way it does not take up loft space and I can get to it without going into the loft. I cut two oval shaped holes to let the birds stick their heads through to drink.



Inside is a shelf that is level with the feeder stand, where they stand to drink. You can see the shelf and 2 oval openings at the far end of the inside picture.



I made two feeders to put on the feeder stand, under the perches. They both looked like this. I didn't think I would need to put in all the dowels along the front. Sometimes it is bad because the birds climb inside and leave their messes in there. But then, when I put very young squeakers in there, it gives them a place to hide. So I just live with it the way I made them.



As the young birds got older and I got more young ones, I needed to separate the two groups, so I added a center divider, which is only installed for a month or two during the year. To be able to control which side the birds came into, I made these trap covers.



I used 1x3, S1S2E trim boards for my trim. This picture shows the trim and the sign I made to name the loft: "Windsor Loft". The next is not the best quality picture, but I had to put it in - me posing by the completed loft. It shows the two support legs I added to the front of the aviary door, to hold it level.



With the aviary closed, even the youngest can take a bath and enjoy it.