starting an aviary

[goldfinchowl]

Hi am a novice birdkeeper, have society finches

I would like to have an indoor aviary. A dream of mine since I was young. 

5 ft x 2 ft flight cage

Which of the following would work best together? I do Not want any breeding
Of each type of bird what would be best together 2 males or 2 females

Please give me your personal experiences of each kind and of the different kinds being kept together. Also of special or non compatible dietary needs.

Temperature requirements? Winter and summer ways to help with heat and cold.

When buying birds, most important things to be aware of and look for.Will need to try to find birds mainly through craigslist. Don't want to end of with an aviary of unhealthy birds.

What I'm most interested in (to be compatible with my society finches)

Thinking of 2 of each (any that need to be in groups? )

Owl finches
European Goldfinch
Red cheek condon bleu
Orange cheek waxbill
Gouldian
Canary

[Babs _Owner]

goldfinchowl

Welcome to the forum! I deleted your duplicate post for you so people can reply in one place.

You have a lot of questions and I can answer a few. Place what state you live in to better help people with the weather impacts.

Temperature would be exactly what you currently successfully keep your societies at.

Of the species you mentioned I am only experienced with societies, gouldians & javas.

Societies & gouldians can be housed fine together, however if you don't want breeding......no nests. Societies will take over a gouldian nest (and will take over the eggs/babies as well).

Actually societies will take over ANY species nest and their young. LOL

[goldfinchowl]

Babs
Thank you

I've only had my society finches for a couple of weeks.

I'm not sure if I should wait until next year to see how things go or try for an aviary this year.

Online often warns of drafts, I'm like a new mom with her first kids. Is it ok to have a fan near them? is it ok to open the window directly in front of their cage?

I saw someone on craigslist that has most of the finches I'm interested in, he seems to be a breeder / importer. He has a very long list of birds that he occasionally has.
He lives about an hour away from where I live.

[Icearstorm]

goldfinchowl

I leave the fan on at night; it's fine so long as it isn't under 50-60°F. A general rule is if a normal person is comfortable, the temperature and similar environmental conditions are acceptable for your birds. Aviary-raised birds are even hardier, with some being okay at freezing temperatures once they are accustomed to their environment. Opening the window is fine; just make sure your birds can get out of direct sunlight if they like.


I kept several societies, a pair of Javas, and a pair of gouldians together in a 4' x 1.5' x 4.5' tall flight cage. They mostly ignored each other, and there was barely any conflict.


Goldfinches are generally pushy, and probably should not be kept with societies and other passive birds. Java finches are also described as pushy, although it seems to depend more upon each bird's personality.

Waxbills tend to be high-strung and nervous; I'd recommend having a bit of cover that they can hide in. Two male cordon bleus may fight, so two females seem like a better bet.

Owl finches are pretty hyper from what I hear. They're supposed to be fairly passive, though.

Canaries do not need to be housed in pairs. If you get one male, you should be able to hear his song. Alternatively, you could get one, or perhaps two, female canary. American Singer females sometimes sing, although it may be less complex than a male's song.
Canary care is slightly different than most finches, although they shouldn't be too hard to keep. They are highly dependent on seasonal light changes, so that's something to keep in mind. Canaries will also eat pretty much anything green, so you probably shouldn't use real plants in your aviary unless you're prepared to replace them often. I've never had canaries, so I'll leave the extra details to someone who knows more.

Gouldians are generally peaceful, although mine mildly hated all of my other birds and would hiss at them any time they came near. They are considered slightly more delicate, but are still quite hardy. Just make sure that they are getting enough iodine, as they are prone to deficiency and resulting feather problems. They can also be affected by Campylobacter and Cochlosoma, which society finches can carry.

Both canaries and gouldians commonly get air sac mites, so be sure to monitor their breathing when considering purchase. Other species can get it as well, though it isn't as common.

[goldfinchowl]

Icearstorm
Thank you, lots of great info to think about and thank you for putting my mind at ease about the fan and window.

questions:

Can a night light be used? The cage will be very large and I don't wish to have cover and uncover day and night. Plus I'm not an early riser - especially on weekends Noon is early enough.
Would a night light cause a problem for a canary? Or any of the other types of finches?

Iodine - best way to give to them?
I've heard of cuttle bone and grit but not iodine

[Icearstorm]

goldfinchowl

You're welcome!

A night light should be fine; some people leave a night light on specifically for their birds so they don't get night fright, though mine rarely have a problem with that.

Eggs have a bit of iodine, kelp has a lot, and ground oyster shell mixes are often fortified with it. Iodine can also be supplemented in the water, but this isn't always necessary.

[Dave]

When you say 5' x 2' cage, what does that mean?

Most purchased aviaries are tall rather than wide, I think because it fits into rooms better that way. I've yet to see a manufactured aviary that I think has the right measurements.

For almost any finch, the cage should be wider than it is tall. The bottom half of the typical tall aviary isn't used much by the birds. They fly across the cage, not so much up and down.

Also--I'm one that believes that finches should get the day length changes that occur in their native range. They evolved for 1000's of years with day length changes. That is absolutely true for Canaries and Goldfinches--they die early if the day length doesn't change with the seasons.

A night light is a good idea, but it should be dim enough that it would be difficult to read a newspaper.

[goldfinchowl]

Dave
Thank you for the information on the nightlight

The dimensions are length and width.
While I agree that length and width is more important than height
Birds in nature have LOTS of height/Head Room too.
Birds use different branch heights on trees, and different heights in the sky, as well as foraging on the ground.
It is humans that have forced them to fly only back and forth. Since that is all they are allowed from the time they begin to fly, it becomes the only pattern they know.
I had my society in a small temporary cage for a week with about 20" head room and they did not fly just back and forth. Currently they have 36" head room in a 32" cage and they r so much happier and fly all around
and also for example fly from a lower perch to the top of the cage etc
Birds normally fly to whatever perches r provided, society use the cage bars which allow them to not be so forced into human patterns of back and forth only.
Of course birds aren't helicopters, so most cages that r tall r made for parrot types that can climb not just fly.
It saddens me greatly when people don't give birds head room. How would we humans like to be put in a house with the ceiling 2" from our heads. We like head room to walk around in and live in, we love tall ceilings. Much more so if we were to try to fly without head room. And birds were given the Sky to fly in, lots of head room. Since we confine them from their natural habitat of tall trees and sky, the least we can do is give them head room too just like we still like head room for ourselves indoors.
I just strongly feel that all cages need to have 24" minimum head room.
In stores and on YouTube look at birds in breeder cages that r trying to fly, they tend to have a tendency to bend over, duck their heads posture. In aviary type you don't see those postures, they don't have to worry about enough head room. Small cages r only good for humans.
Breeder cages r good for baby birds that will need to learn to fly but babies do learn in the wild without tiny breeder cages.
My Sunday sermon

[Dave]

It is humans that have forced them to fly only back and forth. Since that is all they are allowed from the time they begin to fly, it becomes the only pattern they know.

I don't know if that is right. Of course, I mostly observe my own birds. They are in an walk-in aviary 18' long by 7' tall. While they fly and land to all parts of the aviary, they are mostly all at the same level. I would guess that 90% of the flights are back and forth in the top one-third of the space.

[Icearstorm]

goldfinchowl and Dave

There's a good chance perching height depends on species; my societies use the entire cage, but when I had gouldians and Javas, they mostly stayed at just one level except when they were eating or drinking. The gouldians did seem to prefer foraging on the ground more than my other birds, though.