here are a few pictures of my aviary(s) the old one, which i considered to be way too small, has since been knocked down, it was sited in the side garden. the area has since been changed to a seating area (gets sun all day)

(i hope the pictures are not too big!)

i have an odd shaped garden and i really enjoy gardening....so i didnt want to loose too much garden to the aviary, as the back garden, still got sunshine but not so much at ground level because of the height of the fence and it being such a small area, i thought this would be perfect for the birds....i couldnt do anything with it garden wise! so we cracked on and started to build the new aviary (still to be completed!) we made the flight a foot taller than the fence....so the birds could choose to sit in the sunshine! i have since come to the conclusion that a wooden frame and shed is not the best option for budgies....but...we live and learn!

we used 6x6cm thick timber lengths and 1x1cm mesh strips. the aviary is triangular, 4ft at the back and 16ft at the front. the shed is 6x4 (it was a bargin from B&Q because it had no glass for the windows!) the over all height of the frame is 7.5 ft.

this is the peice of garden (where the dog is) before the aviary was built.

the dog is the only one who has lost out with this new project....

because of the shape, the frame had to be built out in the street and moved into the back garden....just a tip....treat the timber prior to fixing the mesh....i didnt...this part took for ever to do!

the frame was put into place and held together with tie wraps....so that we could get the shape of the roof sorted, which by chance we were able to use the frame from the old aviary, so we saved some money.

we even worked on it in the rain!

the whole thing was put together after the shed was in place. the birds had to be locked in the old aviary before we could do this because we needed the frame for the roof of the new one!

then the roof was put in place....the avairy was given a good sweep out and all the perches and brances were put in place.

the hardest part was moving the birds....they didnt seem to want to move! but once they were there, they settled in nicely with just two not knowing where to go to roost! but the following night they had sussed it out! i never bothered these two because i didnt want to stress the other birds by forcing them to go indoors.

here is the new aviary.

the total amount for this was ?120, which i found to be a damn sight cheaper than paying for a pre built one that probably wouldnt fit!

this is the budgie bath....a milk churn lid!

 

WOW - thats a great aviary - what more could you ask - made to measure and at such a good price! What weekends are you free to make one for me?

wow thats cool!, was it easy to biuld, it seems really cheap, i was looking at pre made ones upto ?2000!, was it difficult to put up, im not that good at DIY and how much did that shed cost, must have been a lucky find do you just use the space where the window should have been as the pop hole? sorry for all the questions it just i should be getting an aviary real soon and yours is just sooo great!

WOW - thats a great aviary - what more could you ask - made to measure and at such a good price! What weekends are you free to make one for me?

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ooh you could build mine too if you like :(Laughing out loud):

WOW - thats a great aviary - what more could you ask - made to measure and at such a good price! What weekends are you free to make one for me?      

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Me too! Any afternoon up till 5pm and then any weekend except this one cos my son's getting married!!! :(Laughing out loud):

 

Seriously-that aviary is bigger than my hall!It's really something.

Edited May 18, 200520 yr by Julie

hehe sounds like you could set up a business building aviries, you have 3 costomers allready

haha...i'll tell tom hes got work to do!

the shed was ?69. there whould be 2 windows in it, but like i said...no glass...even if i'd bought a one with glass i wouldn't be using it....so it didnt matter, filled in one hole with a sheet of wood and the other with perspex...with a hole cut out and a perch added...(the hole is getting a door added soon...so that the birds can be kept indoors when/if work needs to be done...

so far its cost ?120 but the shed still needs to be lined and half boarded off (for a nesting part) the flight roof never cost a penny, because we got the old aviary (and laurel) from a moving neighbour, the mesh was bought from a scrap dealer (?6. a roll 3ftx9m) and the wood...well...carlisle is just recovering from a big flood, so the wood was dirt cheap! the floor is flagged...this too was free! the price of ones i saw gave tom the incentive to build it...he is scottish and hates spending money...haha! ?2000 is a lot of money to spend! and i think ours looks and is as solid as any of them ones!

obviously we have to connect electric (though the cctv camera is remote, it still needs electric.) we have a tubular heater and a light to add.

and we have decided that the shed needs to be meshed too....the birds will have it eaten in a couple of months at the rate they are going!

glad you like it!

when its finished, i am hopeing to have spent not much more that ?250.

Wow thats fantastic....Really different too, no normal square one for you eh ??

 

By the way I thought I was seeing double..We both have a gorgeous grey called Billy !! My Billy sings and twitters ALL the time, a proper head bobber too!!

haha...i'll tell tom hes got work to do! 

the shed was ?69. there whould be 2 windows in it, but like i said...no glass...even if i'd bought a one with glass i wouldn't be using it....so it didnt matter, filled in one hole with a sheet of wood and the other with perspex...with a hole cut out and a perch added...(the hole is getting a door added soon...so that the birds can be kept indoors when/if work needs to be done...

so far its cost ?120 but the shed still needs to be lined and half boarded off (for a nesting part) the flight roof never cost a penny, because we got the old aviary (and laurel) from a moving neighbour, the mesh was bought from a scrap dealer (?6. a roll 3ftx9m) and the wood...well...carlisle is just recovering from a big flood, so the wood was dirt cheap! the floor is flagged...this too was free! the price of ones i saw gave tom the incentive to build it...he is scottish and hates spending money...haha! ?2000 is a lot of money to spend! and i think ours looks and is as solid as any of them ones!

obviously we have to connect electric (though the cctv camera is remote, it still needs electric.) we have a tubular heater and a light to add.

and we have decided that the shed needs to be meshed too....the birds will have it eaten in a couple of months at the rate they are going!

glad you like it!

when its finished, i am hopeing to have spent not much more that ?250.

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Sounds fine for me-when can you all start?!?

wow sounds great i'll have to start finding out what costs it will take to get all my materials , was it difficult to put up once you had all the materials?

 

by the way mutley looks like a great dog, is he a japanise akita? i love them

What a fantastic aviary, well done Andy!

I have just finished building my very first aviary but it cost me a lot more than yours did (oh how I wish I had joined this site before I had started and asked you for tips) I would like toask your advise if I may as you are obviously an 'established' aviary and bird carer. I released my first 3 budgies into mine on Sunday, but they still haven't gone into the enclosure part, do you have any advise on how to coax them in please, it upsets me to see them still sitting there on a night instead of going into there nice warm enclosure! Many Thanks mate, and once again well done on a fantastic aviary!

Dawn