My book 'Let's Build a Dovecote' describes in detail; i.e. method, materials used, materials cost, and labour hours; the building of 4 x distinctively different styles of dovecote. 

 Note.

For me a dovecote, regardless of type, must meet 3 essential criteria, namely;

1. It must be aesthetically appealing.

2. You must be able to keep doves in it (and the doves must enjoy the experience).

3. It must be easily maintained. 

 I always name my projects and hence these 4 x different dovecotes described in my book have names. Here is a copy of the index.

'Let's Build a Dovecote' - Index:

 My book is available as an e-Book from Amazon

 It is also available as a 299 page A5 sized paperback.

 Unfortunately the price is high for a small print run and each 299 page copy costs me £9.40 therefore to avoid being out of pocket I have priced my book at £9.50 plus £3.40 for post and package (by First Class Royal Mail). The total cost for a paperback copy is therefore £12.90

Note that the P&P has increased as the book is thicker and will not go through the Post office sizing gauge, therefore it does not qualify for the large letter rate.

 This is simple enough. Email me;

 roadrunner@aam-tai-pan.co.uk 

Include your name and address and how many copies you want.

I will then email you my address and confirm the price in order that you can send me a cheque, following receipt of confirmation of purchase I will post the book to you by Royal Mail First Class Post.

 Note. 

Unfortunately I cannot give members of the Dovecote Spot a discount as I would be out of pocket.

The 'Flintstones' Dovecote: 

This is a traditional hexagonal style post mounted dovecote. Originally I built this dovecote as a garden ornament hoping that it would be occupied by wild doves or pigeons. 18 months later it remained unoccupied at which time my wife bought me 6 straight tailed garden doves for my birthday. 

Some 6-months later I realised that a traditionally built dovecote comes with many problems, one of which was the difficulty in cleaning out the compartments through a small pop-hole. The dovecote was then modified to incorporate removable panels. 

The Chapter on the Flintstones Dovecote describes the building of a traditional hexagonal style dovecote that incorporates 3 removable panels to give access to 6 compartments spread over 3-floors.

A visitor from the Flintstones dovecote before the   homing net was in place.

The 'Bisto Kids' Dovecote:

My second dovecote build was 'The Bisto Kids Dovecote'. It was built soon after the Flintstones dovecote to accommodate my ever increasing flight size. It was a square shaped dovecote with an apex roof made of galvanized steel sheet. Due mainly to the steel roof the Bisto Kids was not an easy dovecote to build unless you have metal working skills and access to some metal working equipment.

Apart from the steel roof the Bisto Kids had a couple of unusual features; insofar as the body slid up and down the pole and the roof section stayed firmly located on the top of the pole.

I liked the Bisto Kids dovecote and considered it to be more practical than the Flintstones dovecote but I will not be describing its build in ‘Lets Build a Dovecote’ as it is too complicated for the average person to build.

However I will be describing the build of The Wombles Dovecote which is in a similar style.  

'RoadRunners Dovecote' less than one hour after     opening for business.

'RoadRunners' Dovecote:

This was actually my third dovecote build and is built in the general style of a wall mounted dovecote; which, because I do not have a suitable wall, has been adapted to fit on a double pole structure. This dovecote was built because I wanted more doves than could be accommodated in the Flintstones dovecote.

This dovecote incorporated my 3 must have features, namely;

- Removable access panels.

- Removable floors.

- A roof designed to be roosted on.

This dovecote was stocked naturally by doves voluntarily moving in following the removal of my two previous dovecotes.

RoadRunners dovecote is in the general style of a large Swiss Chalet and can be easily modified (method described in the book), for traditional wall mounting.

The Perishers dovecote ready for its new owner.

The 'Perishers' Dovecote:

This was my fourth dovecote build and is built in the general style of a wall mounted dovecote; but adapted to fit on a single pole structure.

This dovecote also incorporated my 3 must have features, namely;

- Removable access panels.

- Removable floors.

- A roof designed to be roosted on.

This dovecote is again in the general style of a small Swiss Chalet and can be easily modified (method described in the book), for traditional wall mounting.

This dovecote was built to order for 'Tony B' a fellow member of the 'Dovecote Spot Forum'. His criteria was for 'a single pole mounted easy to maintain dovecote', that was suitable for a maximum of 10 x doves. The capacity of the dovecote allows for 4 x breeding pairs = 8 doves; it is envisaged that any excess will roost on the roof of the dovecote.

The intended location of the dovecote meant that only one aspect, (side), would be visible from both the house and his garden seating area. This meant that a dovecote with all the pop-holes facing in the same direction would be the most suitable type. 

Please note that I no longer carry out painting but I do treat any areas of the dovecote that are not accessible after initial assembly. The cost for a copy of a finished but unpainted 'Perishers' dovecote is £285.

Note.

This price does not include the cost of the pole as these are readily available locally at a cost of around £16.99 for a round Tanalised pole of 100mm diameter x 12 feet length.

Derelict Council Dovecote.

The 'Wombles' Dovecote:

This was my fifth dovecote build. I built it specially to include the build in my book. But before I describe it further let’s back-track a little. My second dovecote build was 'The Bisto Kids Dovecote' which would be hard to build without metal working skills and equipment.

I wanted to describe the building of a similar dovecote to the Bisto Kids dovecote in my book. For many years I have admired the general style of a derelict dovecote situated in a local council yard; so decided to build an improved version of the Peterborough City Council Dovecote. The photo above was taken some 4 years ago.

The Wombles Dovecote

The Wombles dovecote is my version of the above dovecote. I designed it to be easy to build whilst incorporating removable access panels and floor boards.

The dovecote was designed and built to give a long life and ease of maintenance.

A hidden pole mounting system is incorporated in the base and all of the 8 x compartments are free of any intrusion by the pole.

The roof, was built as a separate bolt on item, and is designed to be roosted on without incurring damage. 

The materials are mainly; WBP Birch plywood, Redwood T&G, Redwood battens, Tanalised pine for the pole mounting system and StokBord plastic for the roof outer covering.

The removable and replaceable floor boards are 11mm OSB (Orientated Strand Board). The fastenings are double corrosion resistant or stainless steel and there are galvanized weather strips on the roof corners.

The final material cost of the Wombles dovecote was just over £200, but I only built this dovecote so I could include it in my book; I do not need another dovecote so it is now for sale at the fixed price of £300. The only additional cost is for the pole.

The current price for a Tanalised 12 feet long 100mm diameter round pole is £16.99 

Some build photos appear in "Wombles Progress."

Note.

In order to make cost efficient use of the materials this dovecote has been designed to be quite compact. With compartment dimensions of 9.5" it is not suitable for 'Fantails'.

This dovecote will be offered to the first person to contact me, although a binding purchase will not be necessary until the dovecote has been seen and more importantly its purchase agreed. If you are interested in purchasing this dovecote then please contact me;

 roadrunner@aam-tai-pan.co.uk 

 Note that the finished dovecote will need to be collected from the Peterborough area.

Note.

This dovecote is now sold.

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