loft ventilation

on our old widowhood loft we had louvres at the front which were fixed so they couldnt be opened or closed and these worked quite well and like don says never caused a draft.........i think loft ventilation is often overlooked and not took seriously enough, i know..........ive neglected it.

All you need is a good air supply at a steady flow which if you stand in your loft you can feel a very small moment of air which does not disturb the birds

Don Webb wrote:

All you need is a good air supply at a steady flow which if you stand in your loft you can feel a very small moment of air which does not disturb the birds

i have a stock loft which is 8x5 ft at the bottom of the front is a louvre and on the sides are openings 5ft x 2ft with mini flights attatched do you think this is a correct air flow don its pretty blowy in there at times also on the front where the door is open by day is a mesh inner door but its at night i have a concern and i house 12 birds in this loft ,anyones point of view would be appreciated ,thanks

darren i have spinning cowls on my lofts so even when darkening youngbirds they still have a steady airflow

thats a good idea ian,but my neighbours are so objectional that i would not want to rock the boat as they have already phoned the council up on my loft erecting and the thing is they cant even see it so i have to be careful now and cannot have loft no4 or make any changes to the airspace so im told.

oldstrain wrote:

thats a good idea ian,but my neighbours are so objectional that i would not want to rock the boat as they have already phoned the council up on my loft erecting and the thing is they cant even see it so i have to be careful now and cannot have loft no4 or make any changes to the airspace so im told.

Ask the council the amount of air space allowed mate and have it in writing then you can work things mate or have a word with the RPRA

It is just like when you ask for a conservatory they always ask about the volume of air space

oldstrain wrote:

Don Webb wrote:

All you need is a good air supply at a steady flow which if you stand in your loft you can feel a very small moment of air which does not disturb the birds

i have a stock loft which is 8x5 ft at the bottom of the front is a louvre and on the sides are openings 5ft x 2ft with mini flights attatched do you think this is a correct air flow don its pretty blowy in there at times also on the front where the door is open by day is a mesh inner door but its at night i have a concern and i house 12 birds in this loft ,anyones point of view would be appreciated ,thanks

For me the more air the better but you have to have the flow coming in in a way the it is not like a gale force wind which hits your birds as this can cause one eye colds

With having the cowls which Ian has they pull the air through the loft so there is a steady air flow coming into the loft

Darren this is only my opinion as i did this at my own loft get some quarter ply with holes drilled in it and place it over the lovers this will slow the air flow down because at night the louvers allow to much cold air and if the wind direction hits the louvers then your birds will feel uncomfatable
Hope this helps you out mate PM me if you need to know anymore

I must say I agree that ventilation is over looked in 80% of all lofts I have seen locally, they are often stuffy and quite closed in, I prefer the wind howling through the loft than a dry still loft. My atic loft has produced excellant results racing and the birds always look well in it. And I have the window wide open most days except windy wet days, and any sawdust/chippings that I put down are blown around often, the news papers in the nestboxes are flapping, but to me this is best, Don had it right I like to feel a little change of air in the loft rather than it to be still, but my attic loft is like this but mostly its windy...lol

Cheers Martyn

thankyou all for your views and help

oldstrain wrote:

thankyou all for your views and help  

Just did a google in space, on a little brown bottle etc & this topic surprise surprise by chance     come up .  

Feed plenty of beans and there will always be wind in the loft

cowandchicken wrote:

Feed plenty of beans and there will always be wind in the loft

Beans Baked beans on toast, same same     I suspect CC .  

Bloody hell this is an old post lol

Not relevant.

feck me this is years old that lofts gone now

oldstrain wrote:

feck me this is years old that lofts gone now

Maybe so relevant/irelevant just remember though O/S I was on the look out etc for a little brown bottle as such.

I deleted the post. Did not know it was an old one.

halcanada wrote:

I deleted the post. Did not know it was an old one.

Old you should know/understand Hal some times one must dig into the past etc     to find a solution for the sorry mess this sport is in now, with the over use of antibiotic's as such.

Knackered wrote:

oldstrain wrote:

feck me this is years old that lofts gone now

Maybe so relevant/irelevant just remember though O/S I was on the look out etc for a little brown bottle as such.

come on oz spill the beans what ya looking for

oldstrain wrote:

Knackered wrote:

oldstrain wrote:

feck me this is years old that lofts gone now

Maybe so relevant/irelevant just remember though O/S I was on the look out etc for a little brown bottle as such.

come on oz spill the beans what ya looking for

Not going to be that easy O/S I've learnt some thing here from our mate in froggy land "The devious one" our Phil, on how the game is played etc. So for a bit of fun you just tell me or any one else, what it may just be    . Just keep in mind thou  my currant prediciment here & I tend to be a bit of a cheap skate some what when buying things/goodies.
*****

I know this is an old topic, but maybe some newbie like myself is experimental wiwith the newness.
I couldn't economically get my hands on old tile roofing, so I used scrap metal. The roof is vented similarly to how our home roofs are vented, save for the open attic. I had to play with the bottom vents to get perfect airflow. I'm replacing a couple sheets of metal roof for greenhouse plastic. Tearing out the square flat bottom box perches. (Too hard to scrape when frozen).

Just done something like Don said in my loft its 24 ft long x 6ft deep four sections 6x6x8ft front and 7ft at the back each section has two vents 8 inches off the floor at the front and a 2ich gap at the top front and rear always damp in their this time of the year unless a strong wind blowing or in the summer this week placed a 3/8 piece of ply over them spaced off half an inch to slow the air down and no more damp on the floor next job is to place a 2ft x 6 ft board on the ceiling in front of the boxes so the air does not pass up the front of the boxes but two foot in front of them and over the top could never get my head round this as to what is ventilation and what's a draft reading an article on ventilation and the author wrote if you were standing out side a shop and the wind was blowing you are in a draft but stand in a shop door way with a entrance and the wind blows pas you without touching you then its ventilation the penny dropped then ventilation with out a draft

ive seen quite a few different set ups for ventilation, if you watch the Geoff and Catherine cooper video their ventilation is very different from the normal type, they have only a one inch gap above their traps, and air going out through the ridge tiles on the apex roof.......I have a 2 inch gap front and back on my loft just below the roof, and vents approx. 6 inch from the floor in the doors.

I also got advise by ken/friendslofts a few years ago a good way of making this better, it was to have a box raised up in the roof, in each section, with wire sides which would pull the air through better.

fast forward to around 7.15 to see the lofts.

Just my view, but I wouldn't want an abundance of cold air directly above the pigeons perches or nest boxes which can drop down directly in front of them, especially overnight when temps plummet. Not being familiar with your climate I can't say what's best for you but I had apex roof with a fully wired ceiling and it was a cold loft I found. I tried sky lights trying to get sun in but a fellow fancier advised me it was wrongly ventilated, that was why I couldn't get consistent condition in the birds.
I ended up covering nearly all the mesh with thin ply leaving just a 6" gap at the front furthest away from boxes and the pigeons held the form much better. I had no vents anywhere else like front floor level louvres just a decent overhang back and front with a couple inch gap for air flow. No draughts even when the wind was howling. I don't think anyone really gets the ventilation how they want it from the off, always a bit tinkering, trial and error and doing plenty research.
The biggest indicator that I had it right was plenty down feathers every time entering the loft (I never saw many down feathers with an open mesh ceiling ) and of course snow white wattles and eye ceres!
Please don't think I'm criticising your arrangement for ventilation, far from it, just adding my twopeneth to maybe help you get things how you need it in your own area and climate. Like Mark mentioned, draughts are no good in the loft. Very Best wishes I can tell you are keen to learn and do the best for your own birds.