FINCHforum

i wan to build and outdoor aviary for finches and i was wondering how warm i need to keep it. i live in southern california and it never gets colder than 40F and the hottest is 110F. i was wondering if i need to build an indoor portion of my aviary, or just have a heatlamp, and how to avoid heat in the summer! what would everybody reccomend? any and all help is apprietiated greatly.

Ppl say not to get below 50 degrees. I have 2 heat lamps on the cage out in my garage the cage is 8' long 6' tall and 2' wide and there is 2 65 watt heat lamps on it and i know somestimes the temp gets below the 40's in the cage because it is still really cold standing in front of the cages and it is still getting down to the 30's where i live. All my finches have survived and a few species are breeding right now. During the summer time i had mine in the shade all day but they still hada bit of sun that got into the cage. on the very hot days, i would turn the water hose on mist and spray at one corner of the cage and the finches would fly around in it. I always covered the cage up at night just in case it rained or there was windblowing, to keep the drafts out.

my birds are all in an outdoor aviary. in the worst of winter the night time temperatures can get down to 15-20f.the main thing to worry about in winter is the drafts that can get into your aviary. the birds must have an area that is protected from drafts.
just recently my birds survived a 10 day period with temperatures of over 100f. the hottest was about 125f. to help with this I have mist sprays installed in the aviary roof.

xiaasb6x
Well in Florida the temp. can get down to about 40 and 100 at times.
I have two small aviary's outside one has lovebirds and one with mostly zebs I have A space at the top where they can get out of the wind when it gets real cold I cover the aviary with A plastic cover to keep all wind out under the cover I have the red heat type lights its worked well for about three years with no problems knock on wood

B CAMP wrote:xiaasb6x
Well in Florida the temp. can get down to about 40 and 100 at times.
I have two small aviary's outside one has lovebirds and one with mostly zebs I have A space at the top where they can get out of the wind when it gets real cold I cover the aviary with A plastic cover to keep all wind out under the cover I have the red heat type lights its worked well for about three years with no problems knock on wood

i like your idea i will put about 2 feet of wood around the top and put peches up there so they can escape the drafts... i will put heat lamps ontop of it and i dont have an automatic mister... are they expensive?

I have a misting system for my garden that i run on the hose connection and I have A head that spray's in the aviary they love it when its on.I got mine from Lowe's don't cost very much to start or just for the birds.Check out this brand link http://www.mrlandscaper.com/theal1.html
But they don't sell on line its available at Lowe's

When you put heat lights on top just make sure they can move away from heat or closer if they want

B CAMP wrote:I have a misting system for my garden that i run on the hose connection and I have A head that spray's in the aviary they love it when its on.I got mine from Lowe's don't cost very much to start or just for the birds.Check out this brand link http://www.mrlandscaper.com/theal1.html
But they don't sell on line its available at Lowe's

When you put heat lights on top just make sure they can move away from heat or closer if they want

thank you those are all great ideas... so im kinda planning it out mentally so when i can afford it, i can build it effiently..... im thinking about cementing the whole bettom... is this a good idea? and also.... should the whole aviary have a solid top or can some of it be just wire (hardware cloth)

If they are conditioned they can tolerate quite cold periods for short times.as long as the cold wind dosent get them.if they have been breed indoors and with heatlamps,they wont do very good at all.you need to see how others are breeding them in your area,and do the same.

My top is solid but it get plenty of sun thru three sides, I think if you have part of it open is fine but if it gets real cold maybe have a way to cover it for a day or two,like gomer said the wind is bad.
When you get it built put the birds in when the weather is nice not real hot or real cold they have to buid up to being outside they need to adjust [gomer just said that ]