extractor fan

I have gust bought a standard house extractor fan to fit in the young bird loft and was wondering if it should run all the time the birds are darkend or set it on a timer till about 12pm when its a bit cooler. Any thoughts on this would be a help.

hi jason, just one question id like to ask you, when you darken your loft does it restrict the ventilation by darkening.....? eg does it cover air vents or any open front you have ?

i know a couple of the members do use fans when darkening, in fact birdy/graham has put photos of his set up using a bouncy castle blower and some piping...........

Hi david, The vents are all open and i have used smoke to check that there it a draw of air but just thought a fan would give that bit more air flow. the loft is only 6x8.

ah right, ive heard that some pigeon fanciers do use added ventilation during darkening, but for what exact reason im not too sure really........maybe its because they are covering the vents when darkeing, or because they prefer there to be a better air flow so as to prevent any illnesses for eg respretory etc.

i know another of our members actually has chimneys on his loft roof with small fans that spin with the wind, hopefully someone who uses this method can advise better than i can......

i was thinking of trying this one myself but i,m not sure if it will be any good

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/260807507549?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

hi jason i only use extractor for complete ventelation i have 2 4 inch fans in a 10x6 section 1 in a 6x6 and 1 in a 6 x5 only roof ventilation i have gt them fitted to a timer have them set to run 15 mins every hr to draw extra air through but vents are open all time found it lots better but just my opinion but defo wudnt go bk to conventional open ceilings were all dust fall down over you wen you get back draft wat i mean by that is if wind was blowin strong from other direction u cud see dust blowin in sections cos ur ceilings are closed off with only fans installed you dont get it . JMO and pigeons look much better in my new loft defo give it a try m8

Why don't you use a little imagination Ray, computer fans, they are reliable as they are made to run constantly, you can buy them from any car boot sale for a quid each. They are quiet yet powerful, you can even use a computer PSU to power them, or if you you don't have power, you can can use a 12v battery.

i have one of them but this one on ebay has a timer,which i want to turn it off say at 10 o clock when its less stuffy

dont get to complicated ray, just add some more vents.................

Your roof should always act like a massive vent every thing rises, heat, gasses from their droppings etc
I get a small smoke cone, just like central heating engineers use and light it in the loft and just watch how it clears, if you have your ventilation right, it will just rise and disperse if it doesn't make vents or drill holes front and back of your loft or make a ventilation duct and use fans.