Mistakes of a Novice Tippler Flyer Part III

By: Jacob Sewall
Date: 2005
Category: General

Mistakes of a Novice Tippler Flyer Part III: Your Loft

Now that you, hopefully, have some realistic goals and expectations about
your near future as a Tippler flyer, you will be in a hurry to get some
birds. This too is a mistake. If there is one thing that Tipplers seem to
require in all aspects of the hobby, it is patience. Before you acquire your
Tipplers, you are going to need a place to keep them, a loft. Like most
pigeons Tipplers will be quite happy in any structure that is free of damp
and safe from predators, no fancy accessories needed. However, flying
Tipplers competitively is more easily done if a few modifications and
accessories are added to the loft. These modifications and accessories are,
however, an excellent place to make mistakes if you don't keep your
reasonable expectations in mind when constructing your loft.

The most frequently used loft accessory for Tipplers is the individual
flying box. Individual boxes have a number of significant advantages and
many, if not all of the top flyers utilize them in some way. Some use them
for all of their birds, some only for old birds (old cocks in particular).
Therein lies the lesson to be learned, each fancier uses individual boxes in
the way that fits his flying style. I, stars in my eyes and seeing the
advantages in close interaction with individual birds, went with individual
boxes for every flying pigeon, from weanlings to old flyers. In my little
loft I could fit 16 four kits of four. Big mistake. The primary mistake was
too many kits and too many individual boxes. Caring for 16 birds in
individual boxes takes at least 32 times longer than caring for 16 birds in
a group kit box. If you have copious amounts of time, by all means, house
all of your birds individually. I did not, however, have lots of excess time
and caring for so many individual boxes quickly frustrated me. As an
additional note, just because birds are kept in individual boxes does not
mean you always have to feed and water them in those boxes (another mistake
I made) you can release one kit at a time to eat as a group on the floor and
only feed individually for the week or two preceding a competition.

My suggestion for individual boxes would be to identify the size kit you
want to fly (3 or 5 birds) and make one more box than that number. House all
your other birds in group boxes. Based on my experience a reasonable
expectation would be to train one kit at a time (with the potential of some
youngsters on the way up as a second kit at certain times of the year) and
they can be housed in the individual boxes, keep surplus birds, young
trainees etc. in group boxes for ease of management.

One final note on individual boxes I constructed mine with fully removable
fronts and solid floors. Birds in individual boxes must be cleaned out at
least once a day. Cleaning the boxes I build involved removing the front,
catching the bird with the front in one hand, holding the bird while
scraping the box, replacing the bird, and replacing the front. This was very
time consuming. I would suggest that the boxes have hinged doors so that you
don't have to hold them upon opening. I would also strongly recommend making
the individual boxes in a single row. Make them with wire floors (1 x 1
welded wire) and have a single tray beneath to catch the droppings.

Now cleaning the individual boxes is much faster and you don't have to catch
each bird and open each door every time you clean out.

Individual boxes have their place and their use, but the golden rule of loft
design still applies, make certain that your loft is convenient for you and
your lifestyle. If your loft is designed in a way that makes more,
unnecessary, work for you it will eat away at your relaxing time with the
birds and quickly make loft chores into a real chore.