Aviary Plans

[Finchtastic]

My current aviary is grand, the finches love it, BUT they wouldnt last the winter in it as it is very open.

So the plan is to buy a shed, possibly this one.
http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/st ... s|16849255

To house them in from September onwards with have of the Shed as an indoor flight and the rest with breeding cages.

And in September there are a few bird shows which I will be able to purchase some more finches. Which I hope to get two pair Gouldian another pair of stars and a pair of RCCBs cause they are my favorite finch.. and by the time next spring rolls around I will be well and truly on my way to a proper set up.

Shed will hopefully bought by end of July/ start of August.
Any tips on insulation?

[Justin-2-finches]

First of all i would advise you, if you are buying a shed think long and hard about the size. Get the biggest you can, even then after a while you will probably want bigger!
For insulation i used 50mm polystyrene. it is far cheaper than other insulation boards and easy to work with. You can get it from most builders merchants.
I keep gouldians and although they are more hardy these days I do provide a small amount of heat to get them through the harsh winters we seem to get recently. But i only provide enough to stop things freezing. Last winter temperatures in my shed dropped to 3'c and my goulds were still laying eggs.
good luck

[Finchtastic]

Thanks for your reply. Helps hearing from someone with similar climate.

Yeah I have thought about that and decided not to go with the shed. The cost of the shed + Insulation + Wiring.... = lots of euros I don't have.

So have an old stone shed in the back which I will be converting.
6ft High 5ft Deep and 11ft long.
Cement the walls inside + Floor. Run a wire from the house for lighting. Get a timer on it.
Get a socket for a heater during the winter.

Only thing is natural lighting.... we have one hole in the wall front which I could put perspex over. But it doesn't let much light in. How Important is natural lighting?
I used special UV lighting for my Vivarium... would that do?
The polystyrene.. Do I put say a sheet of ply board over that?

[Justin-2-finches]

Yes light is important, natural is better, but you just need some full spectrum light bulbs, (i get mine from ebay).

The polystyrene is alot cheaper than you might think. Then you can cover it with ply if you want to make it look nice.