Im Building an aviary.

Hi , i need to build an aviary and need to know all about keeping different breeds together etc, or whether i just get a pair of something. Any advice on looking after parrots in aviaries would be great. Also what to do in winter etc .

I'm not a fan of mixed species aviaries. I think there's far too many variables that could result in someone getting hurt or killed. I would probably go with a pair of something that could fit your climate and space requirements.

I've seen some beautiful outdoor aviaries on a couple different websites. Cages By Design has a couple, but their reviews have been hit or miss. Some people are happy with them, others aren't. I actually have their catalog and it looks like they have a couple different configurations, including double and triple aviaries. They are fairly expensive, though.

I don't personally have outdoor aviaries, but I know patdbunny does, so hopefully she'll chime in with what she does. Where she lives in fairly warm year 'round during the day, but the nights do get quite chilly. I'm not sure what she does to keep the birds warm, but I'd be interested in finding out.

i have an area of about 6m x 3m , so would be interesting what people think i could keep in there, although i do have London tempratures.

Quakers might do well. You'd need to have an area for them blocked off from wind and weather, but they're tough little birds. I'd love to have an area that size to let my birds out in.

Hey Tim, I'm planning some large outside avairies in the near future,20X60, two of them, I'll keep in touch.

What kinds of birds are you considering? I had a 10'x20' portable carport wired out as an aviary. I had finches, bourke keets, mousebirds, and tiels in there. The finch species had to be picked carefully as they could be pretty vicious to each other. I know someone who has a pair of princess keets, tiels and finches in an aviary. If you're keeping hookbills in there and you're going to have it planted, I think it might be an exercise in futility unless you really, really like to garden.

This gentleman's on the coast of South Wales and it snows:
http://ringneckmutations.com/MarkJonesMutationIndianRingneckParakeetsNews.aspx

Scroll down to his entry on December 17, 2010, and he indicates what he does w/ the aviaries during the snow.

Hi, yeah the ringnecks are very hardy, there are thousands of wild ones in the UK, must see hundreds every morning when walking the dogs. I was thinking more on the lines of Senegals or myers etc, that type of size anyway. Im also quite keen to get rescue birds or birds that could do with a new home. I would really like a pair of the smaller Amazons but not sure the aviary will be big enough. Will have to chat to Henpecked about it.

I was just sending you that link so you can see what that guy does in the winter with his aviaries, not what he keeps in there. So long as the aviary stays dry and relatively draft free, you can have almost anything. It dips down to 13 degrees F in the winter nights, weather day temps go back up to about 45 degrees F; and up to 103 degrees F daytime in the summer where I am. I keep most of my birds outside - suns, jendays, eclectus, parrotlets, eastern rosellas, bourke keets.

I'm not really familiar w/ London weather. Isn't it kinda mild and muggy?

I have built my aviary and and have 3 fischers lovebirds in there! Going to stick to fischer and picking a few more up on Saturday! What Fun!!

Pictures please Tim.Is this kind of place you can hang out in?Are you putting up nest boxes?

Just getting some pics uploaded, Couldnt make it as big as i wanted , would of caused a divorce. So went for the smaller bird , and thought coloney breeding would be a bit of fun, so yes i will be putting nestboxes up. No rush as the birds i have bought and the rest i am buying will be this years.

Sounds good ,how's my boy Bill doing?

pics of aviary













Havent got any yet of it completly finished

Yeah , Bill is great, still comes to work everyday, but has got abit addicted to the car, sings out loud to the radio all the way there then all the way back. Refuses to get out so have to trick him onto a branch ! Hows your lot?

Just seen pics of your new aviary, brilliant!

Oh my lot is good, getting bigger ,but good.Feeding some 6wk old OWAs,and going to lots of bird fairs here in Fla.All i need is a pocket full of money.LOL good luck , Capt and Jake
PS check out the video on Dusty's thread ...something about.Kissing amazons... under Parrot Tales

your aviary looks amazing! Very envious over here... pretty lovebirds, too

That's absolutely lovely! In fact, you've given me some ideas for an aviary at my house. It never occurred to me to build one against the house. Does anyone else have any experience with that?

I like the aviary, but I just love that part of the discussion

Tim west wrote:

Yeah , Bill is great, still comes to work everyday, but has got abit addicted to the car, sings out loud to the radio all the way there then all the way back. Refuses to get out so have to trick him onto a branch !

gorgeous aviary!

I have always wanted an aviary, but now that the rescue has moved and there will be a large one built off the main building later next year, I can get my fill there and not worry about building one myself.

Hi Guys, winters coming and getting a bit worried about the cold and the aviary birds. Im in London area so doesnt get ridiculously cold here although we had a week of snow last winter. Theres is a small indoor area i feed them in and was hoping they would sleep in , 5 sleep in there 4 sleep out in the flight on the branches. Will they survive the cold? Should i put plastic panels all round or any other ideas?????

cheers

a few more pics, oops not working

The first link I had provided has pics of how that guy winterizes - sheets of plastic wrapped around the aviaries.

I've had it snow where I am, but it generally doesn't stick for long. How warm do the day time temps get? My night temps have dropped down to 13 degrees F, but generally goes back up over 60 degrees F during the day. I rarely have any losses outside except for very old birds. I feed more seed over the winter which helps.

Hey Tim,i'd staple up plastic around what you can to help stop the draft.Maybe a heat lamp in the roost area,i 'd think the ones roosting outside might seek some place warmer if it got cold.Have ever seen a picture of a roost box ? Looks like a large nest box with no floor and dowels inside for birds to perch,i think LB are one type of bird that will use something like that. How's my boy Bill? Hope all is well ,capt and Jake

Hi Capt, Bill is good, different bird from when i first got him, we are now best buddies!

As for the aviary it does have the indoor section which i think i will put a heater in and like you say im sure when the temp drops they will go in there. They do all use it during the day as this is where they are fed and watered. And i think when the really cold weathers arrive i will cover the whole aviary. I know alot of people near me dont do anything through the winter and there birds are fine and this is without an indoor section!