Geb

As I understand the raccoon issue it is not their getting into the cage/aviary. The hazard is scaring the birds at night so they kill themselves flying into the sides of the cage/aviary. Friends of ours lost an expensive parrot that way. We are a block from Bidwell Park so we get all kinds of visitors: skunks, raccoons, deer, peacocks, turkeys, coyote, and even some birds! Finnie, Here is a pix of the barrier. It is just 8” of aviary welded wire aka metal fabric. I drilled an access hole half way through each end of an 8” sprinkler riser. This let me attach the riser to the aviary frame. With an insulator in place the barrier wire is held on with plastic wire ties using the same access hole. So I have about 2” of separation between aviary wire on the inside of the 1-1/2” x 2” frame and barrier wire on the outside of the ½” riser. Insulated jumpers tied them all to the Electric fence charger. The aviary is close to our bedroom door that we leave open at night. The raccoons have been in the backyard but we have not heard any panic so all we can do is assume it is working. I use the same fence type to keep the deer out of the roses and the neighborhood cats out of the veggie garden.

Finnie. The Bidet story is not a bigge. After church we parked in small mall outside a restaurant for lunch and there in the middle of the parking lot was a bidet, compete with factory wrapping still on it. Next door was a hardware store that probably found it in one of their shipments by error. I’m sure the only bidets in Sacramento are installed for medical reasons. A better bidet story is the one the one I told while we were having lunch in the Louvre Museum. Two ladies from New York joined us and we were talking, (it was so good to have a conversation in English) about traveling in Europe and once bidet was mentioned I couldn’t resist. I said I use the bidet almost every night. Big long pause with a straight face. Then I complained it was not big enough for both of my feet at the same time. Robyn, There is also an electric barrier in between the railing and aviary so I suspect raccoons will get discouraged enough to not figure how they could climb the railing and head back to the aviary. There are no eggs. After the raccoons got all the fish in the pond I educated myself. They will eat anything and are ferocious when threatened. Neighbor tells me his dog, three times the size of the raccoon, chased the raccoon into the creek and then the raccoon turned and jumped on the dog’s head and drowned it. Nasty critters. It is so easy to get off topic.

Getting back to greens in the aviary, here is what I am trying. I had some extra dog dishes,2” by 6” diameter that I converted into planters by drilling a hole in the bottom for water to drain. Then I filled them 2/3rds full with dirt and planted leftover parakeet seed. Then I made a sturdy frame and covered it with wire, (1/2”x1”) left over from another project. The idea is to start the seed with the wire on to so the greens will grow up through the wire. When the green are 2-3 inches above the wire, put it into the aviary. The birds will mow that lawn down to just below the wire. Then I’ll remove the dish and let the seed grow some more. Just an idea now, who knows what it will turn out to be? Bill

New to the forum I thought I would post some of my aviary activity. Next to the rear of the house there exists a 16 sq foot/1.48 m² concrete slab, (part of the sidewalk, probably intended for a planter). It made an ideal, (for me anyway) floor for the aviary. Here are some pictures. The rectangles you see are access doors made of Plexiglas where I provide seed and greens from the porch but out of the weather and still minimize any opportunities for escape. Construction was rather straight forward by splitting what we call 2x4s, not sure of the equivalent in Australia,(5cm x 10cm?). Then I made up frames for the four sides and one for the top. They in turn were covered with ½ inch welded wire painted black, and bolted together. Before I bolted it to the slab I placed some lag bolts on the underside of the unit to provide spacers for leveling and drain during a wash down. I added a pitched roof with sides of the roof coming down about 18 inches/45 cm to protect the budgies from prevailing winds and rain. Slab to roof eve is 10 feet/3 meters so we have a 9 foot/2,74 meter tall aviary tower. Every castle has a moat and mine has almost a moat. Raccoons cleaned out the pond and I knew they would scare the birds. So I placed some more welded wire around the base but insulated from the aviary wire( after pictures were taken). This wire is in turn tied to an electric fence controller and operates off a photo electric switch. As soon as it becomes dark, the moat/wire becomes energized and any raccoon that touches it becomes educated in the hazards of nosing around our aviary. The bidet is another story. Geb

Greetings from Chico, California, we are about 88 miles/140km north of Sacramento. We finished our aviary about 6 months ago. It holds 10 budgies and is primarily a point of interest in our back yard. I’m a little afraid of moving to the breeding phase until I know more of what I’m getting into. What attracted me to this forum is your group on aviaries. We have no birds in the house. My wife says she is busy enough picking up after me, doesn’t need another creature to clean up after. So I’ll spend most of my time in the aviary forum, and if I’m not careful, actually live in the aviary.