Indoor Aviary design

[BillD]

Since I have found the flaws in my current cage, I have been doing some research on building an indoor aviary. My 2 Chocolate Self Society finches are doing quite well in the current cage, but I wish to provide a better environment for them, so they may co-exist with my felines. The felines are not allowed in their room until I know the birds are safe.
I came across this website
http://www.finchaviary.com/Construction ... uction.htm
and it looks like a good design. I would appreciate any comments or suggestions before I start this project.

[L in Ontario]

That could be good as long as there is no way for a cat to climb it - nothing for a cat to get a grip on to climb up to the top and terrorize the birds while walking/stalking around on the top of it. Looks nice.

[Lloyd]

The site you mention is the one that originally got me thinking about building an indoor aviary. I used some of the ideas from it for my own. I ended up using 2x3's for the floor framing instead of 2x4's. They did a nice job on the front with the special made doors/plexiglass but because my front side has no doors, I went a cheaper route using 1x3 and 1x2 knotty pine (stained outside, painted inside) with plexiglass held in place with white plastic moulding (found in Home Depot). The plastic moulding looks nice but it was rather a pain because it was difficult getting everything to fit nicely. If I did it again I might just screw the plexiglass directly to the wood frame (or maybe place a strip of wood around the edges of the plexiglass and screw through both into the outer frame). One thing you might consider in order to make your job easier, is to make the width of each panel a size that will accomodate the width of hardware mesh/plexiglass that is available to you. This will cut down on the trimming you will need to do. I used 36" width for hardware mesh (back) and plexiglass (front) and 24" width mesh on the side. I found plexiglass (.080 thickness) did not always snap off where I had scribed it which caused me to create some waste when cutting. Considering the price of plexiglass, the less you have to cut the better.

Good Luck with your project.

[franny]

Since I have found the flaws in my current cage, I have been doing some research on building an indoor aviary. My 2 Chocolate Self Society finches are doing quite well in the current cage, but I wish to provide a better environment for them, so they may co-exist with my felines. The felines are not allowed in their room until I know the birds are safe.
I came across this website
http://www.finchaviary.com/Construction ... uction.htm
and it looks like a good design. I would appreciate any comments or suggestions before I start this project.

My only concern, being a cat owner myself, is that the one you are looking at has (I think) large man doors in the bottom front, to get into the aviary to clean it. Not good! You'd have to make sure the cat is not in the room before hand. And even though finches tend to fly up, young or frightened ones might scoot through the opening, right between your feet.

I found a plan here, http://www.finchinfo.com/housing/panel_form_aviary_construction.php
that has a separate secure entrance. You walk in, shut the door, then check for cats, then if none followed you in, open the inner door to the aviary. Much safer! And much less chance of a bird escaping. This would be my choice, even though you have to steal about 2 feet from the possible length of the aviary.

[BillD]

Appreciate all the input.

I used to have an out-door aviary with a section that allowed me to walk into it, close the outside door and then open the inner door to the aviary. I plan to have something like that on this too.

My greatest concern is not letting the felines have any opportunity to climb on it at all. They are older polydactyls, which is a disadvantage for them, but I know how inventive they are. I plan to have plexiglass surrounding the bottom area up to about 5 feet with no exposed beams without a vinyl covering. Making it too slippery for them to grab hold of anything.

I'm still working on the design and always welcome further comments.

[franny]

My greatest concern is not letting the felines have any opportunity to climb on it at all.
I'm still working on the design and always welcome further comments.

Bill, I think with the plexiglass on the bottom it won't be a problem.

Mind you, my cat used to climb up onto the top of my cage when I kept society finches a few years back. She used to like to stretch out on the top of the cage next to the light which was nice and warm for her. And she loved to just lie there stretched out, staring down at the birds. Believe it or not, they quickly got used to her, and seemed to know that she couldn't get in, and they raised two clutches with her watching them from above.

I doubt my GB would be as tolerant, but my current cat who is elderly, watches them from the back of the overstuffed chair in front of the cage. They come down to the bottom to feed, and she has her face up against the cage not 3 inches from them and they ignore her, unless she bats at the cage, which she does only rarely. Then they'll hop a little farther away, and that's all.

So what I'm saying is, I think that if there is NO WAY the cats can get in the cage, then too much is made of having cats in the same room. The finches I've had and have, have shown that they are less stressed out by the cats than you would think.

[Sally]

The biggest problem with having cats in the same room is if they still have their claws. They then can wait patiently till a bird comes too close to the bars of the cage, and in an instant, they have hooked them. I used to let my outside cat come in the birdroom when it was cold, and she appeared to ignore the birds--till I found one she killed. Never forget that cats do not necessarily hunt just for food, they hunt for the sheer joy of it!

[franny]

The biggest problem with having cats in the same room is if they still have their claws. They then can wait patiently till a bird comes too close to the bars of the cage, and in an instant, they have hooked them.

My cat that used to climb up on top of the cage had her claws. But the design of the cage was and is such that the birds sitting on the bottom were/are not too near the wire (a lip of wood trim around the inside was slanted/curved, so they didn't sit on it, and it directs seed to the tray below). And of course from above, she couldn't get at them because their perches were just out of reach as well, so if they happened to snuggle on a perch near the wire, she couldn't reach them from above.
I think you might just be able to see the half round molding I used as a lip around the top of the wooden seed guard to direct the seed. The birds never try to land there so are far away from the side of the cage when at the bottom foraging.



I suppose that the only time they would get close enough for a cat to have any remote chance of snagging one of them is if they were clinging to the wire at the front of the cage, teasing the cat! But either the birds were too smart for that, or the cat not quick enough, since I had birds and the cat for years and she never did get one of them. I think because I had 1/2 inch hardware cloth for wire, and not 1 X 1/2 it would have been darn near impossible for a cat to manage to hang on to one or get it's claws/paw far enough inside to snag anything. Anyway, from my experience, with plexiglass and small guage hardware cloth for circulation up higher, I would think that even the most determined cat is unlikely to catch a bird that's inside the aviary. I think the biggest concern is making sure the birds stay inside, and the cat outside!

[gomer]

Night frights and young birds startled by owls, hawks and cats etc,Are a common cause of death.At least the owls and hawks wont be a problem.I would keep the cat in a separate room at night and when you are not home unless hes like Garfield.As Sally said they can hook them when startled ,they will fly onto wire and the cat can hook them.I have seen hawks jumping on aviary roofs trying to get the birds its not a pretty sight.The birds fly at full speed into the wire walls and roof, occasionally breaking necks.This is especially a problem with younger birds. If they want they can jump quite high and climb the wire.

[BillD]

Thanks again for all the replies.

All my cats still have their claws and are polydactyl, so their paws are wider than normal cats and they have never been very good climbers because of that.

I plan to have plexiglass about 4 to 5 feet above the base and then use 1/2 inch hardware cloth above that to a height of about 8 feet. It will be 10 feet wide and about 3 feet deep. I think the 1/2 inch mesh won't allow them to stick their paws in, even if they manage to get that high.

I take all your concerns very seriously and the felines are not allowed in that room until I feel the birds are safe.

Franny: It looks as if you have sand in the bottom of your cage. That's an interesting idea. I was planning on using vinyl tiles like Lloyd did in his aviary. Have you experienced any problems with the sand bottom?

I'm still in the design phase of this project and do appreciate everyone's suggestions.

[franny]

Franny: It looks as if you have sand in the bottom of your cage. That's an interesting idea. I was planning on using vinyl tiles like Lloyd did in his aviary. Have you experienced any problems with the sand bottom?

Hi Bill,

No not sand, it's actually a sheet of drawing paper that comes in a roll from Ikea - it's all I had handy. I now use brown kraft paper on a huge roll that I've made a paper roll holder/cutter that hangs from the lower shelf of the cage stand - it's cheaper (got it at a packaging store) and darker and kind of blends in with the color of the wood cage. Sand would be horrible in a small cage because the birds flying around would scatter it outside of the cage I'm sure. Besides, they'd probably eat some of it, too. So probably not a good idea, since it would have poop and dried eggfood bits mixed in. I prefer something that you have to remove each day, like paper. Cleaner I think and healthier. I think with the cage/aviary your size, the idea of vinyl is great. Easy to sweep/mop each day.

Fran

[poohbear]

Here's an answer for you....

[B CAMP]

Leave it to poohbear to have the solution

[BillD]

Well Poohbear you got me thinking. Maybe a habitrail type enclosure to allow the felines access from the door to an enclosed Window box.

I'll figure something out. The birds will be safe.

Franney, you have me thinking too about putting paper down on top of the vinyl. Would help a lot with daily clean up. I could put a large roll of paper outside the aviary on a spindle at the opposite end of the entry door that would feed into the aviary. I'd roll up the old paper and then pull a new layer in, cut it and put it in place.

[franny]

Franney, you have me thinking too about putting paper down on top of the vinyl. Would help a lot with daily clean up. I could put a large roll of paper outside the aviary on a spindle at the opposite end of the entry door that would feed into the aviary. I'd roll up the old paper and then pull a new layer in, cut it and put it in place.

I read somewhere that someone did exactly that with their aviary! Can't recall what site, maybe someone on the FinchInfo site. I think it would work. You'll still have to sweep, but it would mean a lot less mopping of dried on poop!