Racing > Pegasus Lofts & Racing to Small Lofts

Pegasus Lofts & Racing to Small Lofts

1. Pegasus Lofts
2. Racing to Small Lofts

Pegasus Lofts

My lofts are home built, not luxurious but practical. The racing loft is 8 feet wide and 24 feet long. There are four compartments with a 3 foot corridor along the front. It faces north so I have windows in the back to let in the sun. On the extreme left are the widowhood cocks with 16 nestboxes. On the extreme right are the widowhood hens with 16 small boxes so they can be locked in. The two centre compartments are for young birds and these compartments can be darkened. All trapping is in the centre front through stall traps. The young birds have larger than average perches so they can be 'exploited' during the racing season.

The stock loft is 8 feet by 12 feet with three compartments and a 4 foot corridor along the front. There is also a large aviary on the south side. The loft faces south-east. There are stall traps at the front left. Our property is 5 acres and treed but most of the trees are to the sides of the property. The birds are able to fly well without having to negotiate through the trees.

I like to have a good number of separate compartments so that I can use different ways of motivating the racers. All compartrments are inter-connected and have access to the front corridor.

Racing to Small Lofts

At one time I had six separate small lofts, each loft being 2 feet by four feet on legs about 3 feet from the ground. These were in addition to the main lofts. I used the small lofts mostly for the longer races on the natural system. In each loft was one pair and they were given complete freedom. The small loft was their domain and this was the motivation. Before taking them to the races I would put a strange bird in their small loft and basket them as they were trying to eject it. On the return from the race, trapping was easy. There was a strange bird in there again, and in they went intent on throwing the stranger out. The system gave me very good results and was used along with widowhood to diversify the racing team. I have given a simple idea of the small loft system and it can be developed further, of course.

Email me at laurholb@telus.net.