Posted August 8, 200816 yr http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN3776.jpg http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN3717.jpg http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN3715.jpg http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN3700.jpg These are some shots of the new indoor aviary... they are loving it! I originally had it split into an upper and lower aviary (2 smaller aviaries) but then decided to open it up to one full aviary and let them do their thing. Its 72" x 48" 24". I would have liked to have gone deeper, but I did the best I could and they seem to utilize every square inch of it. It is made of a 5 shelf storage shelf unit from Lowes, wire, and some peg board. What do you think?
August 8, 200816 yr Author That is a very cool indoor aviary Be careful they don't fight over the top nest boxes. Since I removed the aggressive female to her own cage with her mate there has been NO FIGHTING at all, at least nothing more then chasing eachother around. I plan on installing two more nesting boxes in between the four that are there already. Then there will be plenty to chose from and a few more higher up. I was going to put them all along the top (as suggesting in many of my reading to keep nesting boxes all at the same height) but I don't have the room in the house to have the aviary out away from the wall on the back side... I did the best I could and hopefully all will go well. So far beside a curious entry or two none of the birds I have in there right now are interested anymore now that the aggressive female has been taken out?????? Wonder why that is?
August 8, 200816 yr Author It looks awsome, whats that little barn for? The barn is a bird feeder... like you see outside for wild birds..... I also have regular dishes for them too, but it added some apeal and they seem to like it so and use it more often then their regular feed dishes so... . I've also started to grow seed for them. The sprouts are popping up real nice. Can wait to add that for them... they will love the greens.
August 8, 200816 yr It looks awsome, whats that little barn for? The barn is a bird feeder... like you see outside for wild birds..... I also have regular dishes for them too, but it added some apeal and they seem to like it so and use it more often then their regular feed dishes so... . I've also started to grow seed for them. The sprouts are popping up real nice. Can wait to add that for them... they will love the greens. you spoil them, but at least there well fed mine have only just started to eat there veggies and thats only two of them so the other two need to at least taste them, aww well suit there selfs, did you make it on your own it look awsome
August 8, 200816 yr Author It looks awsome, whats that little barn for? The barn is a bird feeder... like you see outside for wild birds..... I also have regular dishes for them too, but it added some apeal and they seem to like it so and use it more often then their regular feed dishes so... . I've also started to grow seed for them. The sprouts are popping up real nice. Can wait to add that for them... they will love the greens. you spoil them, but at least there well fed mine have only just started to eat there veggies and thats only two of them so the other two need to at least taste them, aww well suit there selfs, did you make it on your own it look awsome My birds love veggies.... carrots, broccoli, and dark romine lettuce..... the seed idea my dad gave me (he use to own about 14 keets when I was a kid)... he told me just sprinkle some of their own bird seed in some soil and let it grow. Once it fills in nice just put the tray in there and they will pick at fresh growning greens. As for the aviary, yes, my husband and I built it ourselves. It's pretty much done except for a "facia" piece to make the front "look pretty" and I want to add two more nesting boxes. If I come up with any more ideas my husband is going to kill me. This is my "thing" but he ends up doing all the "muscle" work behind it..... Edited August 8, 200816 yr by chrissy0705
August 8, 200816 yr You have done a beautiful job on your aviary. It looks great and well fitted out. My only concern would be the nesting boxes. You said you want to add another two and you have four attached already. Please be very sure that all birds in that aviary are over 12 months. If not you will encourage them to breed too young by having them in a space with nesting boxes.
August 8, 200816 yr Its awesome!! and it looks so neat and tidy. Well done I agree with Kaz's comment - if you are breeding in there you need somewhere to keep the underage birds until they are 12 months Watch the peg board, as they will eventually chew though it Edited August 8, 200816 yr by **Liv** added more
August 8, 200816 yr Author You have done a beautiful job on your aviary. It looks great and well fitted out. My only concern would be the nesting boxes. You said you want to add another two and you have four attached already. Please be very sure that all birds in that aviary are over 12 months. If not you will encourage them to breed too young by having them in a space with nesting boxes. I have thought of that KAZ and I am currently working on "flaps" for the boxes. Even once everyone is of age to breed, I don't want breeding all year round either. So, I have come up with an idea to put "shutters" on the box opening now and when I don't want to encourge breeding later on down the road. And thankfully, right now, since the aggressive female has left the aviary and is in a cage with her own next box, none of the birds in the aviary are even going near them. I'm hoping it stays that way until I can get the flaps done. Thank you for the thumbs up on the rest of the project.... I know it could be better in different ways but I think it's so much better than what I had (my little apartment building complex I had...LOL)
August 8, 200816 yr Chrissy...its a wonderful space and a great project If you do have young birds in there. Hide the nestbox entries as soon as you can. Its like giving permission to the young ones and telling them to go make babies...just the fact that they can see a nestbox. Edited August 8, 200816 yr by KAZ
August 8, 200816 yr Author And Liv, I will watch the peg board carefully. Be bought extra just in case. I only went with the peg board because it will help keep the "poop" off my walls and it made for easy mounting of water dishes, perches, birdbaths, etc... And thank you for the compliments too. Edited August 8, 200816 yr by **Liv** removed double quote
August 8, 200816 yr A show breeder I know bought shelving units like those and made his breeder cages out of them too
August 8, 200816 yr Author A show breeder I know bought shelving units like those and made his breeder cages out of them too I was going to do the same thing. Buy two shelves, making the one that I did and the other one was smaller making four breeding cages about 36"h x 20"w x 18"d... it would have worked great I think I shared the design idea on a previous post, but the main aviary i just built was already 48" w and I only had about 60" of floor space at the most. So I just decided to mount the nesting boxes to the aviary and colony breed. But as we talked about last night I will be covering the nesting boxes until the hens I have are a little older and just let my one pair breed that are in a breeding cage. It is nice that you can find stuff like this and do it yourself. To buy a cage this size here in Pennsylvania it would cost hundreds... The shelving unit only cost about $77, the peg board cost about $12 and the wire cost about $34. With a few other odds and ends to tie it all together I was able to build it for under $200.
August 16, 200816 yr Author okay, so I added some decor to the front since this is an indoor aviary and it's in the middle of my living room... it's a little "busy" looking now, but it looks better than the cold metal bars that were showing before... i think Before... http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN3715.jpg After... http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN4014.jpg Edited August 16, 200816 yr by maesie Please resize your photos before posting. This is the third post which has had to be edited. They must be below 640 x 460. Thanks
August 16, 200816 yr I liked the metal, but that's just me I hope your budgies don't get confused and try to eat the leaves
August 16, 200816 yr How did I miss this post??? WOW what a great JOB!!! I will admit that those Vines/ Flowers ummmm. Yeah I will leave it at that the before picture is much nicer
August 16, 200816 yr Author Well Liv and Neat thanks for making me take a second look at it. My husband and I were just looking at side by side photos and I have to agree I like the metal better too. The leaves not only look "busy" but it makes the aviary appear smaller and not as clean lines as the metal frame does. I think I'm going to just do the wood facial frame instead, keep it simple and clean. Thanks for the opions, I'm gonna remove the vine today.
August 20, 200816 yr Author Well Liv and Neat thanks for making me take a second look at it. My husband and I were just looking at side by side photos and I have to agree I like the metal better too. The leaves not only look "busy" but it makes the aviary appear smaller and not as clean lines as the metal frame does. I think I'm going to just do the wood facial frame instead, keep it simple and clean. Thanks for the opions, I'm gonna remove the vine today. okay, I compromised... I took off the vine across the center, but left the vine around the outter edge. I also took the peg board off the top and replaced it with plexi for light and added my last two nesting boxes. I also angled the aviary in the corner with the lights over top of it... check it out now and tell me what you think? Keep in mind this is in my living room so I'm trying to keep the appeal suitable for indoor living yet let the birds feel "at home" too. http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN4129.jpg Edited August 20, 200816 yr by **Liv** Photo over 640 x 480
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