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Nine Points Racing Loft
Owned and Operated by Dan and Lori Detweiler
Canton, Georgia
This project is now in its third year. It has taken so long because Lori and
I built every bit of this ourselves from the ground up with the help of our
two boys. Oh, I have to give credit where credit is due, my father-in-law
did all the electrical work for me! It started some three years ago with
clearing 19 trees out of our backyard and it still continues as we finish
the interior (perches, nestboxes, etc.). As you can see, we still have a lot
of landscaping to do as well!
This picture is of the entire loft. As you can see it is "L"
shaped and is 40' on each back wall, 28' on each front wall, and 12' wide
throughout. There is also an 8' deck running along the front.
You can see that it is elevated from 18 inches in the back to 7 feet in the
front due to the sloping ground. This allowed us to ventilate it through the
floors with cool fresh air coming through eight grated 1' X 4' panels. Stale
air is ventilated out the upper back walls through soffits in between the
rafters. The loft is also equiped with three electric exhaust fans that we
can set to come on when the loft reaches any temperature we choose. We do
not see any problems with the mid summer Georgia heat or any dust. You can
see the 8 skylights built into the roof for added sunshine during the day.
This is the breeding side of the loft. The main section is 12' X 12' and has
an 8' X 12' walk in aviary. There are also three individual breeding pens to
the right of the main aviary. These three sections also have their own
aviaries.
This is the racing side. The California aviary/landing board has a six stall
drop trap. All of the racers, young birds and old birds, trap through this
one trap. This avoids the need to re-settle the birds to a new loft or new
trap as yearlings. The birds trap into a hallway that runs the length of
this side. Then they go to one of five young bird sections or the widowhood
section. The youngbird sections are each 6' X 8' and have their own aviaries
on the back of the loft. The widowhood section is 8' X 12' and also has its
own aviary on the back. There is also a 5' X 8' section for the widow hens
with an aviary.
There is a storage area inside the door for feed, medication, etc. It has
counter and shelf space to work as well as storage. The loft has running
water with a double utility sink and electricity for whatever we need. This
last picture gives you an idea of the floorplan of the loft. We put a lot of
thought and research into this and it has been very satisfying watching it
come together. We hope you enjoy the pictures!
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