Acclimatising to an aviary

[ShaneW]

If a Gouldian has stayed in a very sheltered breeding cage its whole life, how would you acclimatise it to an open aviary.

I have heard that the bird could get a shock due to the change in weather conditions and possibly die.

I am building an aviary and want to move my birds in there as soon as I can, My hen came from an open aviary so Im hoping she should be fine but the cock has always stayed in a very enclosed breeding cage.

Also, how would I know if they are not happy in the aviary, what would the early warning signs be?

[dfcauley]

Shane,
Do you mean an outdoor aviary? I think that as long as it is warm enough for the birds, you do not have to worry about them be unhappy in a large open aviary. The thing you will have to watch for is to make sure they can find their food and water. If they have "teacher" birds there should be no problems.

[ShaneW]

thanks donna

Yes, it will be an outdoor aviary. I was just worried as he's led a pretty sheltered life literally.

It will be a brand new aviary so no teacher birds yet, but I can put their existing cage into the aviary at first so they would know where to find their seed

[mickp]

the only thing that you can really do to try and make it less stressful for the birds is to put them into the aviary when the weather is mild (not hot or cold) say late spring or early autumn.
they will find the food and water quickly enough but to make certain, for the first few days have a couple of extra dishes of both food & water in the aviary, maybe on the ground.

[williep]

Shane, make sure the aviary is sheltered from wind, especially in EL.

Now is a good time to acclimatize the new bird to the aviary, like mickp also mentioned, keep an eye out for extreme weather especially in the first week.

I introduce a lot of birds that originate from Kenya and Tanzania (much warmer climate) by using this method and by the beginning of winter they are acclimatized, but I cannot stress this enough - just keep them out of the wind.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[ShaneW]

Great, thanks for the advice.

Yip EL is a very windy place so I'll make sure to board up the side where most of the wind comes from, completly. Luckily we've just past the windy season for now.

I'll take some photos as I go along

[BillD]

Saw your post and just thought I'd throw this out to you.

I have indoor birds with Air conditioning and heating. Much different than my environment outdoors.

Would it be good to keep your indoor environment the same as outdoors, by opening up your house windows and doors for a time to get them used to it? I'm just asking because I know I must acclimate my koi before I introduce them to my aquarium. I don't know how that works with finches, may be different.

I'll bet your sheltered Gouldian will love having a lot of room to fly around in (may be abit confusing at first). Think your hen, that has already experienced one, will be a teacher once she learns the layout.

Good luck.

[gomer]

I never buy birds that have been breed indoors anymore, as I have lost to many that have been breed indoors.indoor breed ones are more likley to secumbe to the elements then conditioned birds.If the weather is fine at the moment and as mention wind is kept out then you might do ok.then all you need to do is get through the next winter,if you have mild ones.I once bought 5 indoor breed gouldians and lost 4 in one night.Poor buggers,poor wallet.The one that did survive I still have today.He has proven to be a good breeder and surviver.

[williep]

gomer makes a good point, you must just get them through the winter and I think you are giving yourself a good chance with the precautions you are taking.