My names Dean, Im 22, Live in Melbourne Australia, Im not a bird person primarily... im primarily a fish person, i have a lovely 4ft planted tank with various characins and cichlids.
I fell head over heels in love with finchs acouple of months back when i was at the local zoo, mums been talking about decommissioning our current aviary, as no one looks after it. Its not a well thought out design, its too small for someone of my size (6ft 7) to actively maintain it, to move around i have to crawl on hands and knees and duck under brances.
So im about to build a new one, i rarely do things by halfs, so im throwing myself into this one, and building an aviary thats easier to maintain. (My girlfriends also going around the world over summer... so its going to be my little project over the next 2 months)
This is my current aviary, looking very run down.
8ftx7ishftx3ft
This is my design.
(its not to scale but im wanting, 12ftx7ftx5ft flight, and a 3ftx7ftx5ft storage area (double entry space)
The structure is going to be mounted onto a brick surround, which will also act as a rat wall, around the base.
Its got a slightly slanting open section (A flat topped flight section would cause leaves to accululate) It also has a double doored entry, which im not sure if i will have 2 breeding cages in, or use it for storage, weather i leave it open, or if i fully enclose it.
As im probally moving out of home in the next 2 years, im wanting to construct it in such a way that i can 'easily' (yeah right) pull it down, store it and/or transport it.
Havnt decided if im going to build it from timber or metal yet, im handy with both, so it doesnt phase me too much.
Im wanting to house, a finch collection, some diamond doves, one of the small placid parrot species (bloke at the local shop said turquise parrots are compatible... i didnt think you could keep parrots with finchs) And a family of brown quail (button quail)
Also im going to have plants inside it, outside it, and infront of it... im hoping this will 'hide' the aviary more, and help blend it into the garden, so im going to grow small grasses infront of the aviary (where the brown is).
Still not certain about what the floor is going to be, im thinking concrete but then i would have to slant it to drain, and i prefer a more natural ground.
) ... so i could get a feel of the head room. The lady is 170cm, but she's slouching so she appears larger
)
) and i only loose out 1ft in length.
