Hi there are a few questions i would like to ask on feeding our budgies ...... should they be feed nearer the ground or higher up ? I know budgies in the wild would fly to the ground to get seeds but in an Aviary i was wondering whether it should be lower or higher up same with the water not sure ? Dont want to attract mice or rats and if the Rain came in.... and the seed was on the ground it would all get wet ?

I use a low table(like a lamp table) to keep it close to the ground but high enough to discourage mice, make sure it is away from the aviary wire orthey'll just climb the wire to get to it anyway. In my other aviary I have the feed dishes on a cocky stand

I have my aviary feeders on the ground in kitty litter trays. The litter treys help keep the seed off the ground but still allows my quails to eat fresh seed

I haven't had mice problems yet as i have plugged any gaps in the aviary with steel wool.

I'm the opposite I have shelves around the ouside of my aviary, just above waist height. I've always had them here and the birds seem to be happy with them. Sometimes they'll fly down to the ground to feed of the spilt sees, but mostly they eat from thier dishes. I also have one hanging feeder which they also love.

Mine is on mouseproof platforms ( pedestal stands ) so mice cannot get at the seed. Mice can get through the average 12mm by 25 mm aviary wire, so anything they can get at on the ground will make birds sick and anything hung from the wire sides will also have mice going through it.

My seed dishes are around a foot off the ground. I read somewhere that its good to have seed/water on the ground because it encourages birds to fly down and get excersise. I have a few very fat birds.

 

Keep in mind my avairy is rat proof.

Edited July 27, 200817 yr by pearce

My seed dishes are around a foot off the ground. I read somewhere that its good to have seed/water on the ground because it encourages birds to fly down and get excersise. I have a few very fat birds.

 

Keep in mind my avairy is rat proof.

What you have said about the flying down and up is correct. There is a science to it. The distance needed to fly down and up to build up shoulder on the bird and stength in its wings. I am told the distance from a high perching arrangement down to feeding platform must be minimum three to four metres length of flight aviary. Anything shorter doesnt work and is hard for them. One foot off the ground works only if mice cannot access the feeding platform. I would suggest they could at only one foot, depending on what it is made of.

I have a bird bath LOL for their seed and a hanging water with a long chian from the roof the water is higher then the seed But far enough away so that it doesn't get wet :hap:

I have most of my perches up the back of my avairy and my seed on the ground in the front. I also have my seed bowls in a kitty litter tray so that it all stays in there. Have not had a issue with it getting wet as i have wooden boards under it. I have not had a mouse issue but I think that might be more due to my Dogs then anything else