Parlor Roller Pigeons - Lofts and Loft Management

Lofts and Loft Management for Parlor Roller Pigeons

Nests

One of the most misunderstood phases of raising parlor rollers has to be the management of the loft and nesting arrangements. Parlors can be kept in a relatively small area compared to other breeds. To keep everything in perspective, just keep in the front of your mind that they cannot fly, so they do not need heights. Because of this, 18 inches is plenty for a nesting area. Rabbit hutches are ideal.

My loft has individual breeding nests that are approximately 18 inches high and about 2 foot square for each pair. There are dowel rod doors on the front for easy entry. A bird can be caught or eggs removed by using two hands, and not having a door in your way.

I have a feed box that can be removed for easy cleaning. They also are made to use a small scoop to put the feed in the box from the back of the box. This makes it possible to feed quickly and the birds do not kick the feed out of the box, when they are sorting through it for their favorite grain.

The water cups are pudding cups that sit in a half inch wide cut piece of PVC pipe that is screwed into the 1 X 3 at the base of the nest front. Once again, it is convenient and quick to empty the cups each day. If they get dirty, you can just throw them in a dish washer, bucket of water and bleach or just dispose of them and eat lots of pudding!!

I also have a cup with grit, which is also a pudding cup sitting in a ring of PVC pipe. The grit cup has to be several inches away from the water or the birds will kick the grit into the water. Once again, I use a scoop to fill the grit cups daily and change them every couple weeks.

There are several different nest bowls that have been made or collected over the years. In the photo, you will see a nest box that was made out of 1 X 3’s and works great. There isn’t a bottom to them and it makes it a breeze to clean. Just hold them over an empty feed bag and push the material out. Also, I use the old nest crooks, but I don’t think they even make these anymore. At a discount store in my area, they had plastic dog food bowls for $.50 each. This works great, too.

All of the various nest bowls are lined with carpet padding. This will aid the pairs that do not make a very good nest. In the early part of the season (especially in the north), using the padding definitely helps keep the eggs and youngster warmer. Weekly I give the pairs a small handful of alfalfa for them to form their own home.

On the floor of the entire nest, we use newspapers. This is so convenient and has no expense. An open newspaper is approximately 2 foot long and fits conveniently.
Periodically, the old newspaper is taken out, rolled up and put in an empty feed bag and disposed of. Leave very little cleaning, which a small shop-vac works real slick.
To the right of each nest, there is a clear small envelope that is used for a three leaf binder, to identify the contents. I bought the envelopes at a local office supply store. They are great for keeping track of where I fostered my eggs to and what band numbers of the babies are.

Holding Pens

With the same principle in mind, that parlor rollers should not be able to fly, the holding pens do not need to have much height. With my family of birds, probably 95% of them do not fly from the time they leave the nest. My holding pens are “stacked” with one on top of the other. They are approximately 2 foot high and 3 foot square. This size will comfortably hold 15 birds.

The floor is made of ½ inch square plastic wire mesh. The pens are inside my loft, so the outside of them are lined with 2 X 4 wire fencing.

I have box perches that are two rows high. As we get to the end of the summer, rarely is a bird on the second row. I will nail 2 X 4’s on end, in the shape of an “I”, and put them on the floor for the birds to perch at night, instead of just sleeping on the wire.

Between my top and bottom pens, there is a gap that I put a piece of cardboard and a plastic slip sheet. This makes cleaning a breeze. Once a month, pull the slip sheet out and dump into an empty feed bag. Lightly scrape and you are done cleaning.

Each spring when my holding pens are empty, I will bring the pressure washer to the loft and just spray the pens down and totally clean them. The greatest thing about this is that it definitely cuts down on all the dust. The loft floors, below the holding pens, are also wire. The water and dirt, when I clean, just goes to the ground under my loft.

One of the greatest features of my pens, are the aviaries. Many parlor fanciers do not know how important the aviaries are. My birds practically live outside. First and what is very important is that they have constant sunlight and fresh air. This is very important for their health and conditioning. The second feature of the aviary is the convenience of giving them a bath. Several times a week, I will lock my birds out in the aviary and spray them with the garden hose. For some reason, my family of birds hates to take a bath. There will be more about this in the conditioning section. Because the pens are stacked, my aviaries are on different sides of the outside of the loft (see photo).