Time Table for the Pigeon Loft Construction

Pine Creek Lofts are located in Eaton Rapids, Michigan, USA on 20 acres in the country about 20 miles southwest of Lansing, Michigan. It is approximately 200 miles east of Chicago, Illinois and about 100 miles west of Detroit, Michigan.

The loft was designed and constructed by two guys who had never built anything in their lives other than maybe a model airplane. The only plan we had when we started is that the loft would be 16 feet by 24 feet and would have a total of 6 pens with a hallway in the middle.  Everything else was decided as we went along.  The floor plans were not created until the loft was done.  

As the construction work neared completion, we were simply tired of building. Since we had never built anything, we had no idea at the complexity and the length of time this would take --- we simply ran out steam.  So the West of England Tumblers ended up with one large pen as opposed to three small pens. 

Two books were purchased to try to learn something about the building process: a book on 'Simple Wiring' and a book on 'How to Build Small Garden Sheds'.  Since doing this project, there is definitely a lot of respect for those people who do construction for a living.

On July 2, 2000, a small piece of land south of the house was cleared of brush so that a pigeon loft could be constructed. The loft was started with the first hole being dug on July 23, 2000. There were a total of 24 holes, dug by hand, 4 feet deep. 

During August 2000, the floor was built. In September 2000, the walls went up, the rafters installed, the roof boards nailed down, and the shingles completed.  

In October 2000, the insulation was put in place, the front door went in, and the electrical was started. November 2000 consisted of finishing the exterior siding, the interior walls, and the slated ceiling.

During December 2000, Pen Number One was completed, and the electrical was completed. There was no construction work done during January or February 2001 as one of the builder's had broken his foot at his place of employment.

In March 2001, Pen Number Two and Three were completed, and the White Racing Homers arrived on March 31, 2001. The White Homers were purchased from Highland Loft, Harbor Springs, Michigan.  Nest boxes and box fronts were constructed during April 2001.

Holes were dug and the first two poles were anchored into the ground for the aviaries during May 2001. That is all of the work that was completed for the flight cage as it rained every weekend for the remainder of the month.

Ten Baldhead West of England Tumblers were added to the loft on June 16, 2001. The stock came from Phil Leonard from Bay City, Michigan. The frame work for roof of the flight cage was completed.

The exercise pen was completed on August 24, 2001. Except for those birds that are on nests, the birds do spend most of their time flying about the exercise pen or just roosting and enjoying the sun. A second exercise pen on the opposite side of the loft was started on October 6, 2001.

The loft is 24 feet by 16 feet. There are three pens on one side for the White Homers which are approximately 6 feet by 8 feet. On the other side of the 40 inch hallway is one large pen of approximately 6 feet by 24 feet for the Tumblers and the Fantails.The floor is 16 inches off the ground for ventilation. The ceiling is made of 1" x 3" boards so that the air will vent into the rafters. There are gable vents at each end of the loft with window fans for additional ventilation. All of the windows have screens.

Tar paper was laid on top of the floor joists before laying down the floor boards to act as a moisture barrier for the flooring. All of the walls and ceiling are insulated with 1/2 " insulation to keep out some of the summer heat, and to keep moisture from collecting on the walls during these damp Michigan winters.

On each side of the loft are aviaries. Each aviary is 12 feet by 24 feet and approximately 7 feet high. The roof to each aviary is chicken wire and the walls and floors are 1/2 inch wire hardware cloth.  Originally, each aviary was to have been 24 feet by 24 feet.  However, we just plain wore out during the construction process and decided to make them smaller. The overall size of the loft with the two aviaries is 40 feet by 24 feet.

The construction process was very time consuming. The winter of 2000 was extremely cold. A kerosene heater was used in the loft to try to supply some kind of heat during the winter construction process. The spring of 2001 had rain almost every weekend which prevented working on the aviaries. Initially, when the loft was started, the time table was one year for completion. The loft took three years to complete. The dowel work for the pens was extremely labor intensive, however, it does provide plenty of light and ventilation.The West of England Tumbler Pen was started in December 2001. It is 6 feet by 24 feet. It took until July 2002 to complete this pen. 

The second aviary for the West of England Tumblers and Indian Fantails was started in October 2001 and finished November 2002.

It is now 2004 and some trim work still needs to be done on the outside of the building. Also, steps need to be built to get into the loft. Hopefully, that will get done during the summer of 2004.  

-Updated March 3, 2008-

The loft was finally completed in the summer of 2007.  Steps to get inside the loft were constructed, some remaining trim was installed, and a 2nd coat of paint was applied.

Also, during the summer of 2007, the Box Perches were removed and replaced with V-Perches. The Box Perches were impossible to scrape in the winter time. 

The white lattice was removed from around the loft.  Originally, the idea was to keep predators from living under the loft.  However, the lattice, which was buried 1 foot into the ground, would heave each winter and eventually just broke apart.