Aviary In Progress.....

[kochy23 0]

hi

awhile ago alot of you may remember me saying that rats got into my aviary through a small hole in the roof? after losing a few birds i decided to fix the problem (i was unaware there was a hole untill i found my birds dead ) which led to me deciding to revamp and redesign my aviary its not that old to begin with but after seeing other members aviaries and ones on the net ive decided that i want to change it up. so ive moved my birds out and shifted them over to my dads to his avairy while the renovating takes place, the plan is to extend the back of my bird room so i can fit more breeding cages in, my current dimensions in the birdroom are 2400x1200 i want to increase that to more like 2400x1800 i think that extra 600mm will make a world of difference, also my flight currently has a flat roof over top of it which functions okay but isnt that aethetically pleasing, so i plan to make that into a pitched roof which will also give it more height flying room for my birds, and make it look awhole lot nicer, also the whole thing needs a paint (i never got around to it the first time around, tut tut ) ill be able to post some pictures up tommorrow of my progress and where im at so far and hopefully you guys could even give me some opinions?

cheers matt.

Edited March 15, 2011 by kochy23

[splat 0]

Sounds good Matt, look forward to the photos.

[maesie 0]

Sounds exciting... I too can't wait for photos!

[Maddy 0]

Look forward to some pictures.

 

Your birdroom has basically the same dimensions as mine, and I know I would like mine bigger

It must be exciting

[kochy23 0]

i must apologise to all those waiting for pictures, ive been really slack lately with updating this post! i promise that i will update it this week with some pictures so everyone can see the progress ive made

[kochy23 0]

here are the long awaited photos sorry for the delay.

the view from my birdroom out into my flight which i plan to completely line one side of to protect the birds from the weather etc.

and heres my birdroom which im hoping to expand out and maybe even possibly allow for and indoor flight if money allows haha

the front on view of my aviary im planning to put a pitched roof over top of it so the birds have more head room and will be more weather tight

just a side view

and a back view

and thats all the pictures for now will update as i have done more work to it, any comments are more than welcome!!!

[splat 0]

Looks great, the pitch roof is a good idea.

[hilly 0]

Coming along nicely, you must be getting exited.

 

Cheers Jenny

[kochy23 0]

thanks hilly and splat. yeah the pitch roof will top it off i feel, ill be doing more work on it this weekend, my birds are currently still at dads which is good because his avaury is completely finished, which will give me the time i require it can be a pain at times not having the time to work on it but ill get there, all going to plan when i alter the flight i can reuse alot of the materails from that for the new roof.

[kochy23 0]

okay time for a much needed update. ive been working on avairy today and made a few upgrades and i feel its well on its way to being completed. heres some photos:

ive completely enclosed one side with ply to create an area for the birds to hide in bad weatherand keep out of the sun etc..

ive lined the bottom half of the flight so to protect the birds from wind and to stop those w@#4ker rats from climbing the netting!

a view of the sheltered corner

the other corner.

next stage of the build is to do the pitched roof which i can hopefully do next weekend. i think whats been done so far is a 100% improvement to what i had before im excited to be so close to having the birds back out in it its been awefully quiet without hearing them chattering away outside!

[**KAZ** 0]

Did you know that rats climb through trees and shrub and get onto the roof of aviaries ? Your trees and shrubs are close enough. Also the roof of your aviary is close to the wire ( not much if any OVERHANG ) so anything that gets onto the roof will climb around the wire front of your aviary spooking your birds.

Suggestions..............time to cut back some trees, and or sheet the roof with lots of overhang so they cant go straight to the wire. Same with hawks and other predatory birds....that will be on your roof and easy access to the wire to get at any birds on or near the wire. Hawks can strike the wire and impale any birds on the wire with their talons. Have seen it happen...three show budgies in one strike form a hawk hitting the wire.

Check through the trees and shrub as rats actually build nests in them and breed in them.

Edited April 3, 2011 by **KAZ**

[kochy23 0]

hey kaz thanks for the suggestions, i actually thought of the tree thing after i took the photos and have trimmed them back quite considerably, having the new the pitched roof over top of the flight will hopefully eliminate any risk of rats getting anywhere near the birds and ive also double "skinned" the netting that is there with a 45mm cavity between the layers so that even if something was to get onto natting they couldnt reach the birds anyway. im at the point right now that im not taking anymore chances with the birds welfare. ive spent too much time and money to lose good birds to pests!!!!

Edited April 3, 2011 by kochy23

[Amy S 0]

It looks great! Well done

 

I agree with cutting the trees - my aviary is underneath a bottlebrush tree and i've had mice climbing all over the roof - filthy dirty little rodents. I'm waiting to get it chopped out of the way. So far they haven't gotten in through the roof - I have shade clothe covering it and if they had gone through the roof, they'd have to chew it first.

 

I also have had a hawk attack my budgies through the wire - so not cool hearing little budgie screams - luckily mine weren't killed, only one cock was injured but still that's not a good thing.

 

Just out of curiosity - budgies being budgies - would they gnaw/chew the wooden panelling and beams? I'd hate the idea of your precious birds getting out because of their love to chew.

Edited April 3, 2011 by Amy S

[Maddy 0]

I have the same question as Amy, as this is looking spectacular, and would love to do something similar when I get my own place

 

Its so simple but so effective And I love how its all raised.

 

One question from me is where you got all the materials from?

[splat 0]

It looks great Kochy. I do agree with Kaz on the trees near by because I am having a bad time with mice, I have worked out that they are getting on the roof of the old bird room from the tree next door, A beautiful bottle brush with the most gorgeous red flowers. The owner of the property or Greg wants to cut it back for me, so I am stuck with it.annoying.

My out side aviaries which is on the opposite side of the yard well they are coming under the fence next door, they have a huge mess over there, real messy people, hoarders, he has tin on the ground etc.

Anyway the are coming from there going around to the back of the aviary and climbing up the grape vine incloser on to my aviary roof, I told Greg it has to go but he said NO!, it is is place so i can't do much about it but it is frustrating.

They say we have a plague on the way but I thought it was already here.

[**KAZ** 0]

What is your floor made up of ?

[kochy23 0]

thanks everyone for the comments, maddy i got the materials from a building supplier over here called "placemakers". i did cut the trees back yesturday but aftter reading all of the comments i think i may even cut them back further the is currently about a 1.8m gap between trees and aviary, im getting a dog soon also so hopefully that will sort the rats out! and kaz the birdroom floor is 15mm ply raised up on piles, the flight is on pavers with pavlock brushed into them to set them in place with untreated wood shavings over top which makes it easy for me to clean flight floor. although i might pull the floor up and layer a concrete one soon just to be more secure. and as for the birds gnawing the wood i havnt actually had any problems with that before they are usually just interested in gnawing on the branches they use for perches but i will look out for any signs of it.

[Amy S 0]

You're doing really well with it I love how you're taking everyone's info on board - it's great when people take notice of what's being said and try and make things better for their birds.

 

I was going to ask about your floor too, but seeing as Kaz did, I no longer need to

 

Good luck with it all and keep the photos coming - we love photos!

[kochy23 0]

thanks amy s its good to get feedback it lets me know just where im at and where i can improve, im hoping to have more done this weekend so i will keep those photos rolling in!!!

[**KAZ** 0]

Getting an aviary and breeding room off the ground is a great adventure Its also good to see likeminded peoples setups and listen to advice so we make less mistakes along the way. In saying that we always see ways to improve even our most perfect setups............we always change what we started out with

Edited April 4, 2011 by **KAZ**

[kochy23 0]

i agree whole hearteedly kaz, it also gives me an excuse to go see other breeders setups haha im enjoying it alot i cant wait for it to be done so i can get down to business, but everything takes time and everytime i make an imporovement it amps me up a little bit more which is good

[kochy23 0]

progress report.. brought the timber for the roof over flight today so it looks like this weekend i should have roof on and stage 1 complete! pics to come.

 

 

[GenericBlue 0]

its looking so good

[splat 0]

Done the roof yet Kochy. photos please

[kochy23 0]

this weekend splat, hopefully the weather will hold. ill make sure photos will be my first priority