Dovecote and dove nests with your own hands: drawings, photos and videos

It is no more difficult to arrange nests for pigeons than for chickens, but this is not enough for birds. In order for the birds to live and bear offspring, it is necessary to build a dovecote. The poultry house resembles a barn. Usually the building is of reduced size, but it all depends on the number of pigeons kept.

What is a dovecote

Pigeon breeding is done for two purposes: entertainment and income generation. The birds' home is the dovecote. Here they live and breed. Each pigeon knows its own dovecote and after its flight returns to its own home, and not to the neighboring poultry house.

What does a dovecote look like?

The appearance of the dovecote resembles a barn for chickens. The difference is some nuances of arrangement and location. The house can be built not only above ground, but also on the balcony or attic of your own home.People who breed valuable breeds of pigeons for entertainment build beautiful buildings from expensive materials. Many examples of photo dovecotes and pigeon enclosures are available on the Internet. Using them as a basis, you can build an exact copy of a poultry house at home.

What types of dovecotes are there?

Based on the number of sections, poultry houses are divided into three types:

Single-section models are compact. Pigeon houses are usually installed in urban areas.
Two-section models have increased dimensions, but are similarly compact, neat in design, and are installed for pigeons in urban areas.
Two-section models with shortened posts are suitable for installation on flat roofs.

All types of dovecotes have important differences related to design and installation method:

A hanging dovecote resembles a small wooden box fixed with brackets to the wall. The house is designed for a maximum of 2-3 pairs of pigeons. Anyone can assemble the structure without much difficulty, but a mini dovecote with your own hands has three important disadvantages: an inconvenient entrance, poor protection from rain and cold, and difficulty in operation. A hanging house is not suitable for breeding purebred pigeons. The design is usually in demand by beginners to gain experience.
The tower dovecote is more functional and more complex in design. The poultry house is usually shaped like a cylinder or house, which can be classically square or polygonal. The dovecote is placed on a hill. The supports are pedestals and powerful pillars. The house has entrances for each pair of pigeons, nests, and perches. Birds are protected to the maximum from predators and bad weather. The disadvantage of the design is the complexity of construction.
Advice! The tower dovecote creates ideal living conditions for pigeons, close to natural conditions.
An attic dovecote is available to owners of private houses. The entire attic serves as housing for pigeons. There is no need to build anything additional. It will be necessary to organize entrances and carry out internal arrangements (nests, perches, feeders). It is advantageous to build an attic dovecote in a dacha using the gable roof of a barn or other outbuilding.

Pigeon lovers come up with their own versions of poultry houses. Sometimes balconies are adapted and free-standing structures are erected.

Requirements for the construction of a dovecote

Even when keeping non-pedigreed pigeons, it is important to create optimal living conditions for the birds. The following requirements apply to all types of dovecotes:

houses should not be installed near tall structures or trees that would interfere with the free flight of pigeons;
close proximity of high-voltage wires and telephone cables is undesirable;
the building is kept as far away as possible from a garbage dump, cesspool, or other similar object that is a source of proliferation of pathogenic microorganisms;
The dovecote should not be located close to the barn where domestic animals or birds are kept, since pigeons are susceptible to rapid infection by other people's infections.

For comfortable living, the pigeons inside the house are kept at a temperature of at least + 5 in winter. ^OC, and in summer – up to + 20 ^OWITH.

Preparing for the construction of a dovecote

Having decided to build a dovecote, you must immediately decide how many birds it will accommodate. One pair of pigeons requires 0.3-1 m³ free space. It is important to think about the internal arrangement.If you will keep more than one pair of pigeons, you need a dovecote with several rooms for young and adult birds. Additionally, they make compartments with nests for wintering females.

Important! It is optimal to keep up to 15 pairs of pigeons in one house. If there is a desire to increase the number of livestock, another dovecote is installed further away and at a different level.

It is advisable to make a pigeon house with an additional free room where you can store food and maintenance equipment. It is advisable to install a large dovecote (not an attic type) on a foundation. If the groundwater level is high, the base of the house is waterproofed.

Traditionally, a dovecote is built with your own hands from wood, and lightweight roofing material is used for the roof. You will need boards, slats, timber. To cover the frame of the house, you can use plywood and other boards made from wood chips.

How to build a dovecote with your own hands

The construction of any dovecote begins with drawing up a project. According to the scheme, the necessary materials are purchased. Prepare the area where the building will be located.

More details about the construction of the dovecote are shown in the video:

Dovecote project

The do-it-yourself dovecote drawings shown in the photo provide compartments for young and adult pigeons. There is a walking area. The location of the nests is indicated.

Dovecote dimensions

As for the dimensions of the pigeon house, they adhere to the established standards:

height – 2 m;
doorway – 60x180 cm;
total window area - 1/10 of the floor area;
The height of the entrances is from 15 to 25 cm, the width is from 10 to 20 cm.

Windows are located on the walls of the dovecote on the south or east side.

Walls of the dovecote

The construction of a dovecote begins with the assembly of the frame and the erection of walls.Since the pigeon house will be made of wood, its skeleton is assembled from timber. They make the lower frame, install the racks, and attach the upper trim. For cladding, boards and OSB are used. Plywood or chipboard will do, but such walls need to be protected from rain from the street. Additional finishing of the house will be required.

Ground dovecotes are built from brick or foam blocks. The walls are strong, but require additional insulation. Usually foam plastic is glued on the inside, and plywood is sheathed on top so that pigeons do not peck at the insulation.

Floor in the dovecote

For the flooring, edged boards are used. If the floor is uneven, you can nail a sheet of plywood on top. Sometimes in dovecotes the floor is finished with linoleum. The wood is completely protected from dampness, and the process of removing droppings is simplified.

Roof

There are no special requirements for the shape of the roof of a pigeon house. You can install a single or double slope structure. The choice depends on the personal preferences of the owner. The roofing materials chosen are flexible tiles, corrugated sheets, and iron. The slopes are given a gentle slope. Precipitation should not linger on them, but the pigeons must be able to sit comfortably.

Window

Openings for windows cannot be cut on opposite walls. With this arrangement, the pigeons will be exposed to drafts. Window sills inside the house are not needed. It is advisable to cover the windows with metal mesh to protect against the penetration of predators into the pigeons.

Ventilation

Natural ventilation is provided through the door. The hatch is equipped with two doors. The outer fabric is blank made of boards or plywood. The inner flap is mesh. In summer, the blind canvas is open, and air is exchanged through the mesh and daylight penetrates.

For additional ventilation, vents are cut out.The inlet opening is located on the bottom of the sash or wall opposite the door. The hood is organized under the ceiling. Usually they cut a hole in the roof and insert a pipe with a rain cap.

Important! Ventilation ducts are sewn up with fine mesh, and in winter they are closed from drafts.

How to insulate a dovecote

Natural and artificial materials help retain heat inside the dovecote. The inside of a wooden house for pigeons can be covered with ordinary thick cardboard from the packaging of household appliances. The cracks are filled with polyurethane foam, but on top it is protected with dense material that prevents it from being eaten by pigeons.

Stone walls are insulated with foam plastic and sheathed with plywood. Natural insulation is clay with straw or sawdust. The plaster is applied from the inside in a thick layer.

Mineral wool is suitable for insulating the roof, walls and floor. Foil insulation materials have good thermal insulation properties.

How to make a dovecote on the balcony with your own hands

If you wish, you can create a small dovecote with your own hands even on the balcony, but here problems with neighbors may arise. When an agreement is reached, you can hang hanging houses on the walls. If you devote the entire balcony to a dovecote, it will be made of a closed type. The walls, floor and ceiling are insulated. The windows are covered with a mesh, fixing it at a distance of 15 cm from the glass. If the balcony is located on the sunny side, provide shading to keep the pigeons cool in the summer.

Arranging the interior space of a balcony as a dovecote involves installing nests, feeders, and drinking bowls. Perches for pigeons are made from perches firmly fixed to the wall. Green vegetation is planted in pots. It is advisable to use plants that pigeons can eat.

How to make a dovecote in the attic with your own hands

To make free-standing beautiful dovecotes, you will need a lot of material, labor, and costs will increase. The attic of a private house or barn is an almost ready-made home for pigeons. First of all, the floor is laid out of boards, then they begin to make the house. If it is assembled from wood, there is no need for additional cladding or puttying of joints. The brick house is subjected only to putty. The metal structure is sheathed from the inside with boards and thin plywood.

The process of arranging a dovecote inside is similar to a ground-based building. In the house in the attic, the pigeons are given an entrance, ventilation, feeders, nests, and perches. The walking area can be built from a mesh, and the floor can be covered with plywood. There is no heating in the attic. In winter, pigeons need thick bedding, which is regularly changed as it gets dirty. Ventilation must be provided.

How to arrange a dovecote inside

To create comfort for the pigeons, after the construction of the house, they begin to arrange its interior:

Electricity is necessary for lighting and additional heating. In a small insulated house in winter, pigeons can maintain a positive temperature with ordinary incandescent lamps. If the dovecote is large, safe heaters are connected.
The general arrangement of the dovecote inside involves the creation of perches, feeders, nests for females, drinking bowls, and the installation of additional equipment. Perches are made individually for each pigeon. In other words, the number of perches corresponds to the number of birds. Pigeons love to sit on the ridge of the roof. Perches should be made in a similar shape in the form of a triangle.The perches are positioned so that the excrement of pigeons from the upper tier does not fall on the birds sitting below. Perches are cut from timber 3.5 cm thick, 15 cm long. To each element from the side at an angle of 45 ^O Plywood plates measuring 15x15 cm are fastened with self-tapping screws. The perches are placed against the wall of the dovecote in tiers with an offset of 30 cm. An offset of 50 cm is made between the rows.
Experienced poultry farmers make their own feeders and drinkers. For a person starting to breed pigeons, it is easier to buy equipment. Plastic feeders and drinkers are not expensive. Inside the enclosure, pigeons need baths for bathing. The containers are placed shallow, with a maximum depth of 5 cm.
Additional equipment helps improve the living comfort of pigeons. This includes safe electric heaters, forced air exchange fans, and bird monitoring cameras.

One of the important stages of arranging a dovecote is the installation of nests for females.

How to make nests for pigeons in a dovecote

Breeding pigeons and obtaining new offspring is impossible without installing nests. They can be made, bought in a store, or ready-made boxes can be used.

Wooden

The simplest nest is a board with partitions. The structure is placed against the wall. Hay is placed in each cell. The female independently organizes her nest. If you wish, you can try to make individual boxes. For one nest you need 4 pieces of board 30 cm long. The width of the workpiece is 25 cm, the thickness is 2 cm. The bottom of the nest is made of a rectangular piece of plywood measuring 30x30 cm.

The boards are used to fasten the sides of the box with self-tapping screws. One side is covered with plywood. The nest is attached permanently to the wall of the dovecote or a removable box is provided.In the second option, fixing clips are installed to prevent the structure from shifting. A removable socket is considered the best option due to ease of maintenance.

Plaster

Pigeon nests are made from plaster and poured into molds. It is usually oval or round. At home, a plastic bowl of large and small sizes will serve as a form for the nest. A large bowl is needed to fill the base - the nest body. Using a small bowl, squeeze out a depression in the uncured plaster.

Nest making process:

Lubricate the inside of a large bowl with Vaseline. For a smaller bowl, only the outer part is treated with Vaseline.
Gypsum for filling the base of the nest is diluted with water, PVA glue is added in the amount of 1 tsp. Stir and pour quickly so that the plaster does not have time to harden.
The prepared plaster mixture for the nest is poured into a large bowl. Immediately take a small bowl and press its bottom into the liquid mass to form a recess in the nest.
Sand is poured inside a small bowl. The weight will prevent the bowl from moving. In this position, the plaster nest is left to harden for 7 days.
After a week, the plaster will harden 100%. Bowls coated with Vaseline are easy to separate from the nest. If the workpiece is still damp, leave it to dry.
The finished nest is sanded with sandpaper and painted with lime or water-based emulsion.

The plaster nest has an impressive weight. It can be installed inside the dovecote without additional fixation.

Important! A plaster nest should have no odor after painting, otherwise the female will refuse to use it.

Plastic

A suitable size plastic container will serve as a finished nest for the pigeons. They use bowls, scraps of buckets, and boxes for storing fruit. A ready-made plastic nest can be purchased at a pet store. It's not expensive.Plastic nests are lightweight, durable, and easy to clean.

From foam plastic

We came up with an interesting option for making a nest from polystyrene foam. You will again need a bowl with a semicircular bottom, but not plastic, but metal. The base of the nest will be a foam plastic plate 50-100 mm thick. The size is selected individually. A sheet of parchment is placed on top of the foam. The bottom of the bowl is heated on a gas stove and placed on parchment. The hot iron will start to melt the foam. The recess will take the shape of a bowl.

When the nest is deep enough, the bowl is removed. Remove the sheet of parchment. The foam nest is smeared with glue, and construction bandages are glued for strength.

Dovecote care

Pigeons must be kept clean, otherwise the birds may get sick and the offspring will deteriorate. Dovecotes, nests, perches and all other equipment are disinfected monthly. The choice of the active solution is carried out taking into account the active causative agent of the disease. In addition, the substance must be safe for the pigeons themselves. The most common preparations are a solution of manganese, bleach and slaked lime, and caustic soda. Chloramine, formaldehyde, and xylonaphth are considered potent substances.

The choice of a specific drug is best done as directed by a veterinarian. If pigeons show signs of disease, the frequency of disinfection of the dovecote is reduced to once a week. During processing, the birds are kicked out of the house. Before returning, everything is washed thoroughly.

Conclusion

It is most important to keep pigeon nests clean. After all, this is where new offspring will be born. It is unacceptable to use dirty or rotten hay or damp sawdust for the nest. If there is cleanliness and order inside the dovecote, the young animals grow quickly, and the owner makes a profit.