Aviary In A Flood Prone Yard

[coubay 0]

Hi due to a broken storm water pipe under the road outside our house, nieghbours that filled in a drainage easment and the high school up the road filling in drainage easments that diverted water to create a ag block for their agricultural studies, my house floods.

It can be from a couple inches to knee deep (once was above the knee), our yard slopes to the back.

I am trying to think of a way to flood proof my aviary, so when my sons are older they can know the joy of having a aviary.

Mid year we are replacing all the front lawn and the side lawn and a large chunk of the back with dry river beds (to divert the water as much as possible), sandy soiled garden beds (to filter the water), and building a small brick retaining wall around the kids play area with a little bridge over it for them it will be waterproofed (so they can finally have a sand pit).

I am thinking if I place the aviary behind the retaining wall it may help, but on the bad days (ie Jan 2011) the yard doesn't drain it fills up like a brown stinky swimming pool, once the rain stops it drains away within 10mins. Also behind the wall is where it gets deep. So maybe I should put it between the wall and a sandy soil garden bed with the dry river bed diverting water around it and build up the base a little.

So maybe I should build it up on bricks. Though stepping over while bobbing your head to get in could be tricky (I don't want any escapes).

Opinions and ideas are appreciated. We are probably a year or 2 off using the aviary but I need to plan where to put it for when we start the storm water garden. or give it away if it can't be done.

thankyou

[Bird Junky 0]

Hi , personally I would raise it on bricks etc. As for bobbing as you step in, make the door higher.

 

Or as I do, enter the aviary from the inside aviary (shed) This means no outside door to the outside

 

aviary. making it more secure, with less chance of bird escapes. Yours B.J.

[**KAZ** 0]

I think you need to look into having or making suspended aviaries.

[macka 0]

I think you need to look into having or making suspended aviaries.

Suspended Aviaries the way to go,no problems with wet floors.

The only problem you may have if you make them to big is catching

the birds. but you can get around that,by making depth no more then

arms length, with net in hand.

[coubay 0]

Thanks guys, unfortunately my Hubby is not DIY, fantastic at demolition LOL but not making things. I have asked him to make a front for the aviary so I have double doors, but no luck with his skill set. Regarding raising the door hieght we actually lowered it 7yrs ago due to a escape prone budgie we used to have. I will work on getting him to give it a go and expand my aviary and raise it. I am a silly senditmal fool and don't want to part with this one as it was a present from my Hubby for my birthday just after we met along with 2 budgies at the time, expanded to 8 and down to 1 8yr old boy now, who has just moved inside to a flight cage in the sunroom (lol now named my animal room as it houses my budgie, my son's fish and the family do who is crate trained). Dog is finding this all facianting lol Sits next to me watching me watch Sweatheart (budgie).

[Finnie 0]

Have you looked into whether there are laws in your community prohibiting people from altering their property so as to flood other people's property? I'm not sure if you would have any recourse there. But here, we have laws like that, and you are not allowed to put your neighbors in a situation like you are in.

 

One guy built berms around his property and planted trees on them, I suppose for privacy. Well it caused all the drain water to back up to the west of him, flooding properties for at least a half mile. The county came in and forced him to build drain pipes into his berms to restore the natural flow of the water.

 

We actually have drain commissions, as this is quite a big issue here.

 

It sounds to me like you have an extremely valid complaint, and shouldn't have to go to such expense to remedy what the other property owners caused. Might be worth looking into.

Edited February 18, 2012 by Finnie

[coubay 0]

We do have those laws, first you have to put the request in writing to the owners and this property behind me is a rental and I can't find out who the owners are or the real estate (as tenants don't want to tell me as they don't want to flood lol). I don't like my chances with a Government school of getting them to fix what they have done, about the same as the local council fixing the broken drain (that will take the road collapsing), I have heard that people have been complaining for 20yrs to the council about this drain. We checked flood maps before buying the place and well since its 4kilometres from the river and 35metres above sea level it is not on those maps. Recently discovered the council has a second set of maps for storm water drain issues and yes its on that one as flooding for a 1 in 10yr rainfall but we flood with a 1 in 2 yr rainfall event. The young lady incharge of stormwater lives in a part of town that floods from the river so she keeps promising she is fighting for me as she understands my situation. Its a long road. I have heard that the owner of the house may work at the High School up the road so I am going to enquire this week at the school. Fingers crossed. Thanks for all your advice.

 

Sorry for the way my messages are coming up, I seem to loose all my paragraphs ie enter seems to mean nothing lol. It is all set out nice and then I hit post and it goes to one giant paragraph.

[Finnie 0]

I'm sorry for your drain issues. It's sounds very frustrating.

 

Sorry for the way my messages are coming up, I seem to loose all my paragraphs ie enter seems to mean nothing lol. It is all set out nice and then I hit post and it goes to one giant paragraph.

 

This happens to me all the time. I constantly have to go back and separate my lines. When you want to make a new paragraph, just hit enter twice, and then you'll still have a space when it shrinks it back up. I don't know why it does that, but it's been happening ever since the forum switched over in 2010.

[robyn 0]

Hi, sounds like the council needs a shake up call. If you can prove others have changed water easements etc surely your council is at fault. Not just for your aviary but the whole home's benefit. If others yards are

 

affected as well maby a joint letter to council may help. Before you go to the expence of re-doing your yard I'd check out that avenue.

[coubay 0]

Gah had a massive response typed and now its gone.

Long story short I am dreaming about all things birds lol

So trying to plan out a way to include the aviary in the planned landscaping.

We (if nothing else goes wrong) are going to put in a dry river bed to divert the water around the house and the kids play area. Each side of the riverbed will have sandy soil gardens full of native grasses to absorb water and filter it. The kids play area will be raised (I have left over smartblocks (bricks) and I am going to brick off a area 4.4metre by 3.6 metres for the kids install a swingset and sandpit and back fill the area with soft fall. Access will be via a little bridge to make it a adventure, the riverbed will act as pathways when not flooding. So I am thinking I can attach the aviary somehow off the play area, use some of the bricks around the bottom and backfill with cement. install sandy soil and native grasses around it also.

The council says its major capital works so has to wait. My thought is the road is already causing truckies to complain as it shakes their load, so what if it collapses.

I have tried to get all affected to complain with me but since none of them have young kids, and those whose whole yard goes under like mine don't have pets, they don't seem to care.

I think that was everything lol.

Any recommendations for native grasses to plant outside the aviary (keep my eye out at nursery clearance sales), I figure the birds may be able to nibble through the wire.

[robyn 0]

Sounds like you have a lot of work ahead. It sounds like a great backyard plan. Hope we get to see pics as it progresses. Sounds like your neighbours are pretty complacent about the whole thing, whether they have kids or not the should think about future developments. Good luck with it all hope you get the aviary at the end of it.

[coubay 0]

Council is resurfacing the road, what a waste of my rates.

 

We hare starting the first section of the garden the first week of July. Can't wait. Rolling out black plastic to kill off the grass in a week and a half (getting the lawn guy to cut it the shortest his mower can first).

 

Hopefully it all will be done by summer.

 

Have been thinking about my aviary plan and wondering about cleaning lol. There can't be any drainage as the flood water could come in through it, so thinking of putting coarse washed riversand in the bottom as a substrate and regularly replacing it. How often would it need to be replaced?

 

My big wish, is to extend it to being 2 aviarys, the small one I currently have 1.5mx1.5m, add on a 2.3mx3m (minimum but hoping for bigger), so they are a L shape and then create a safe area with a timber frame and the roll of aviary mesh my Uncle bought to expand my aviary 6yrs ago before he got sick (passed away last year). He was my DIY helper. Going to sound out my neighbour for help as he has built all his aviaries.

Edited May 16, 2012 by coubay

[Finnie 0]

. Going to sound out my neighbour for help as he has built all his aviaries.

 

Sounds like he will be a great resource!

[coubay 0]

Yeah my neighbour is very helpful with my birds, he has bread birds for decades and used to win at every show he went too (got out of shows a few years back), currently has Rainbow Lorikeets, Gouldian Finches (giving them to my kids this week), Princess Parrots, King Parrots, Ringneck Parrots, a companion Galah and companion Cockatiel.

We don't have any avian vets near by so he health checks my birds (no pathology of course). Local vet wants 3 times the price of a avian vet just to take the blood to do a Psittacosis test, so instead I bought some Avi C and am treating all my birds (my 16yr daughter has ME/CFS so is immune compromised, I wanted to get all the birds tested to ensure her health but at $312 per bird that is not a option).