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First pigeon loft
Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2025 10:20 am
by ruffbritt3
Hi everyone,
I'm working on my first pigeon loft right now and will have young birds in it this time next week. Right now, I understand feeding 1 time a day is the best bet so they get into a routine and will trap easily. I plan to keep the birds in it for 4 weeks before doing any type of flying. I didn't go with the typical bob style traps but rather used the belgium drop trap.
I've heard guys say that you need to make a settling cage for the landing board when training the pigeons to use traps, but I've also heard people say you don't want to scare them while young.
What's worked for you when teaching birds to come back home and enter the loft?
Re: First pigeon loft
Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2025 11:52 am
by cjhills
I always use bobs. with my own young birds, I just let them start going in and out with the bobs up. Then start dropping the Bobs one at a time until they learn to go in and out. If these are young birds you bought from someone else, you may need a cage to get them used to coming back in.
I am not familiar with a Belgium trap............Cj
Re: First pigeon loft
Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2025 1:12 pm
by ruffbritt3
cjhills wrote: ↑Thu Apr 03, 2025 11:52 am
I always use bobs. with my own young birds, I just let them start going in and out with the bobs up. Then start dropping the Bobs one at a time until they learn to go in and out. If these are young birds you bought from someone else, you may need a cage to get them used to coming back in.
I am not familiar with a Belgium trap............Cj
Thanks. Sounds like catching them when in the loft wouldn’t be a problem then? Some folks have said not to push them out or scare them but I’ve also seen guys who physically put birds through the traps so just wanting to do my due diligence
Re: First pigeon loft
Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2025 5:27 pm
by cjhills
I may have misunderstood.
With young birds I buy, that are flying, I put a crate outside of the bobs so they can go out and look around and come back in. I don't push them out. Once they learn to go out, I start dropping the bobs when they are out so they learn to come in through them.
With my own young birds they learn to leave the loft on their own and come back through the bobs. It helps if they are hungry..........Cj
Re: First pigeon loft
Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2025 10:10 am
by RutCrazed
I put free swinging bobs between my loft and the aviary so they get used to going through them.
Re: First pigeon loft
Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2025 10:47 am
by cjhills
that is a good plan. I always thought of that but never did it.........Cj
Re: First pigeon loft
Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2025 6:06 pm
by ruffbritt3
RutCrazed wrote: ↑Fri Apr 04, 2025 10:10 am
I put free swinging bobs between my loft and the aviary so they get used to going through them.
Good idea. That would require another opening in the wall to the aviary since there’s no way for them to fly out of this type of trap. I figure they’d probably just use the easy way and scrap any attempt at learning the trap if I did that though. I read that the birds learn the Belgium drop traps pretty quickly so that’s why I went this route. First loft though, so I’m learning a lot of things along the way. Already have ideas on what I’d do different for the next one
From what I now understand, catching them and putting them into a settling cage on the landing board to learn the trap won’t have any ill effects. Just don’t want to actually scare them out of the loft before flying
Re: First pigeon loft
Posted: Thu May 22, 2025 1:04 pm
by ruffbritt3
I'll admit I haven't used a settling cage or done any training but so far I'm 100% on birds returning to the loft. They figured out the drop trap very quickly with no hesitations. If anyone is building a loft, I would really consider this option as it can be easily made out of scrap.
Re: First pigeon loft
Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2025 9:23 am
by ruffbritt3
Question for the more experienced pigeon guys
I had great success with birds returning until recently when I started using them for training. The one day they were only used in the yard around the loft, and I had 9/10 back by the evening. 2 days later, I let them out to loft fly and 2 birds separated from the flock and never returned. I'm down to 7 of the original 10, and the 3 that are gone were returning from 1-3 miles prior to losing them. I expected some loss, but when I had 10/10 after flying and distance training, I imagined I would be in the clear. It's been over a week now so I'd be awfully surprised if they returned
Given how they were homing consistently, was me going into the loft and catching them what changed their minds about the place? I turkey and waterfowl hunt quite a bit and its always a rule to give the roost some distance. I'm thinking I over did it that week and some birds left. Could also have been predators but it seems too coincidental
Re: First pigeon loft
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2025 5:10 am
by cjhills
I don't know why, but over the years I have lost a good number of pigeons that just left. This is especially true with pigeons that I buy. But also, with birds I hatch. Not sure if other breeders have the same problem. You will lose some a bird occasionally when you fly them. I have had them turn up 200 miles away. I think sometimes they join other flocks. Once in a while I have young birds just fly away and not come back in a flock. I have a small yard surrounded by large trees. Hawks are a problem and maybe that is why they leave. Sometimes with different age groups they fly to far for the younger birds to make it back.
One thing is sure once you let them out it is a crap shoot on whether you see them again.........Cj
Re: First pigeon loft
Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2025 2:17 pm
by ruffbritt3
Well, the two birds returned after being gone for 2 weeks. I imagine they have a good idea of the surrounding area after their little foray lol.
I have seen the occasional hawk in the yard, but not for a couple weeks and the birds evade them pretty easily. Pretty neat that their instinct is so strong despite living in a loft since they hatched
Re: First pigeon loft
Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2025 2:54 pm
by slistoe
Either they have a very good knowledge of the lay of the land and will be home right quickly no matter where you release them, or they simply have a wandering spirit and will take off for a "flyabout" whenever the mood strikes them
Re: First pigeon loft
Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2025 6:12 am
by ruffbritt3
slistoe wrote: ↑Mon Jun 23, 2025 2:54 pm
Either they have a very good knowledge of the lay of the land and will be home right quickly no matter where you release them, or they simply have a wandering spirit and will take off for a "flyabout" whenever the mood strikes them
They have always had a bit of a wild side. At least they'll know where home is when ready
Re: First pigeon loft
Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2025 7:53 am
by RatDog
This is cool. I am useless at building stuff but finally asked my neighbor to give me a hand in building the coop. I got the plans from Gundog Supply. I found a guy in town who races pigeons I can get homers from and I’m going to try and build some traps and figure that whole thing out far as getting permission to put them on roof tops in town or something and catch some wild birds also. A project I’ve been putting off for a while. Next is that retrieving table with the cable…
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Re: First pigeon loft
Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2025 8:29 am
by ruffbritt3
RatDog wrote: ↑Sun Jun 29, 2025 7:53 am
This is cool. I am useless at building stuff but finally asked my neighbor to give me a hand in building the coop. I got the plans from Gundog Supply. I found a guy in town who races pigeons I can get homers from and I’m going to try and build some traps and figure that whole thing out far as getting permission to put them on roof tops in town or something and catch some wild birds also. A project I’ve been putting off for a while. Next is that retrieving table with the cable…
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Pigeons are easy to care for and having a handful of birds available for training at any time is priceless. Mine are sitting on eggs right now. You'll be glad you did it
The plans are a nice starting point, but I'd recommend looking at different lofts on the internet and picking and choosing some different features from each. We got a notebook and pencil and drafted it up prior to buying materials. Unfortunately some of the small stuff you'll never think of until there's already birds calling it home lol.
Re: First pigeon loft
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2025 4:54 pm
by ckirsch
I recently built a small loft and will stock it with ten young homers in a few weeks. In he meantime I've been trapping wild birds from a commercial building around seven miles from my training ground. Just for fun, I've been putting plastic bands on the birds I catch, before releasing them from the launcher during training. (I'm training in a large field within the city limits and have not been shooting any of the wild birds.). When I return to empty my traps, the five or six birds in it typically include several of those I'd caught previously, banded, and released. It occurs to me now, after having spent a grand for materials to build a loft, that I have an apparently endless and renewable supply of wild birds, without the expense of maintaining and feeding my own birds. Fortunately for me, I enjoy flying homers, as I had them as a kid, and now look forward to training and flying them with my grandchildren, so the construction of the loft and the purchase of the homers are not a waste for me.
If you don't want to deal with a loft on your property, or live in a spot where that's less than feasible, consider trapping wild birds. I asked for and received permission from some building owners. If I'm not training on the day I catch them, I keep them for a day or two in a small cage separate from my loft. Going forward I'm sure I'll use my homers for training at times, but will continue to trap birds to release on remote training grounds where I can shoot a few for steadiness and retrieving work.
Re: First pigeon loft
Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2025 5:01 am
by Max2
ckirsch wrote: ↑Sun Sep 14, 2025 4:54 pm
I recently built a small loft and will stock it with ten young homers in a few weeks. In he meantime I've been trapping wild birds from a commercial building around seven miles from my training ground. Just for fun, I've been putting plastic bands on the birds I catch, before releasing them from the launcher during training. (I'm training in a large field within the city limits and have not been shooting any of the wild birds.). When I return to empty my traps, the five or six birds in it typically include several of those I'd caught previously, banded, and released. It occurs to me now, after having spent a grand for materials to build a loft, that I have an apparently endless and renewable supply of wild birds, without the expense of maintaining and feeding my own birds. Fortunately for me, I enjoy flying homers, as I had them as a kid, and now look forward to training and flying them with my grandchildren, so the construction of the loft and the purchase of the homers are not a waste for me.
If you don't want to deal with a loft on your property, or live in a spot where that's less than feasible, consider trapping wild birds. I asked for and received permission from some building owners. If I'm not training on the day I catch them, I keep them for a day or two in a small cage separate from my loft. Going forward I'm sure I'll use my homers for training at times, but will continue to trap birds to release on remote training grounds where I can shoot a few for steadiness and retrieving work.
Now if there was a like button I would be hitt'n it ! Good stuff-
Re: First pigeon loft
Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2025 7:26 am
by ruffbritt3
What's everyones preferred method for keeping water from freezing in the winter? Heated poultry waterer?
Re: First pigeon loft
Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2025 5:49 pm
by Idylwyld
ckirsch wrote: ↑Sun Sep 14, 2025 4:54 pm
I, I've been putting plastic bands on the birds I catch, before releasing them from the launcher during training. (I'm training in a large field within the city limits and have not been shooting any of the wild birds.). When I return to empty my traps, the five or six birds in it typically include several of those I'd caught previously, banded, and released. It occurs to me now, after having spent a grand for materials to build a loft, that I have an apparently endless and renewable supply of wild birds, without the expense of maintaining and feeding my own birds.
If you don't want to deal with a loft on your property, or live in a spot where that's less than feasible, consider trapping wild birds.
I catch my own pigeons. I dont fool with homers at all. I prefer wild spooky pigeons. The spookier the better.
My experiences are similar to yours. Fairly often I catch the same birds again when they get away. I mark them by either a piece of yarn on a leg or pluck them bald headed.
Had one bird I nicknamed Hulk, he was a big rascal and a good flyer. I caught him 5 times in the same trap in the same place, before he succumbed to lead poisoning one morning.
I am always interested in a pigeon trappers trap design ideas. When you get a chance take a pic of your traps and I will do the same.
Re: First pigeon loft
Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2025 9:21 pm
by ckirsch
I bought this last trap online for around $90. The doors are angled in which makes it more difficult for birds to escape. I just pulled seven out of it an hour ago. Two were birds that I’d banded previously. One of them was part of a group of four that I took around sixty miles away last weekend and used for training. I checked my trap on the way back from that trip and another one of the released birds had beaten me back and retrapped already. I knew feral birds would home but have been surprised at their speed which almost seems to rival that of homers.
I’m picking up a dozen homer squeakers in two weeks. I’ll let them settle for a few months before letting them out of the loft and begin taking them short distances and releasing. They’ll get used for training but I’m excited about training and flying them as well.
Re: First pigeon loft
Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2025 10:29 pm
by Idylwyld
I've seen those angled door traps but have never tried them. Its great they work well. Ill keep that in mind. I just make my own traps.
I tried the traditional swinging bob doors you can buy. That ended one evening when I watched a bird push the door up and hold it open for the ones inside to get out. If I had not seen it with my own eyes....