loft ventilation

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.

barnie wrote:

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.

No offense taken. I appreciate the feed back actually. Everything is optional, I haven't even painted the outside, as I knew it would be a learning experience. The blue fabric that sits above the perches was too slow the air falling. When I smoke bombed the loft after, it actually allowed the smoke to vent slowly but consistently. I'm going to build another loft that is 10 by 16 feet long. I'll be building a small deck onto the front of lofts. I am wiring the lofts, but don't want mechanical ventilation.
I do have a way to shut the aviaries at night. I've noticed the lift stays 10 degrees warmer than ambient temp

Romedius wrote:

barnie wrote:

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.

No offense taken.  I appreciate the feed back actually.  Everything is optional, I haven't even painted the outside, as I knew it would be a learning experience.  The blue fabric that sits above the perches was too slow the air falling.  When I smoke bombed the loft after, it actually allowed the smoke to vent slowly but consistently.  I'm going to build another loft that is 10 by 16 feet long.  I'll be building a small deck onto the front of lofts.  I am wiring the lofts, but don't want mechanical ventilation.
I do have a way to shut the aviaries at night.  I've noticed the lift stays 10 degrees warmer than ambient temp

No sense me talking lofts Rom I'm that far removed from your situation it's in the ridiculous range etc . Will say thou, watch the humidity factor in your lofts & if possible try to keep it at arounf the 65 degree mark as such.  

I would love to keep it around the sixty degree mark. No chance in winter, now early spring and summer? Yes, at least it worked this year/ with a little tinkering