Hi & advise on setting up aviary

[Jonesie]

Hello! I am new to the forum and popped on for some advise on how to set up an aviary.

I have six zebra finches and three canaries (currently spread between three, large, indoor cages). They are soooo terribly wonderful and make me feel happy every day. It is my first time having finches, but have had various other birds throughout the years.

I am on a mission to talk my husband into building me an aviary in the garden. I cannot seem to find much information about the practicality of keeping these birds outside where I live.

I live in NZ and the weather can be inclement. It ranges from -2 to 28 (28.4 - 82.4 for those in the US ). I am assuming I will need an indoor area for the colder days and possibly to move them inside if we are expecting snow (happens every once and awhile, but not a regular yearly thing).

So, does that sounds like it would be doable? Or am I asking for trouble?

Any other advise/tips would be wonderful and I am particularly interested in doing a planted aviary.

Thanks!!

[debbie276]

I'll let the zebra experts answer those questions, just wanted to pop in and say welcome to the forum

[breeze]

Welcome to the forum

[finchmix22]

Welcome! If you add your location to your profile, we can better answer questions like building an aviary and what you can expect. Also, you can do a search under housing and there are lots of past posts about building outdoor aviaries.

[poohbear]

There are many questions to ask yourself...How big will it be?...are you going to breed them?...will you be getting any new species?
A planted aviary is nice...but have you a rodent problem where you live? Will you be able to keep them out?
Your birds will adapt to low temperatures if acclimatised slowly...but an indoor draught free area is essential for most species..

Personally in your location I would go 50/50 half open,half enclosed.Access to the open flight is best from inside the enclosed section so you don't have escapes.
Here in the UK our weather can go to extremes so most of mine is under cover with two open flights for the better weather.

This is mine at different times of the year.

[finchmix22]

Very nice aviary and great pics! Do you use a heat source for winter? Fans in summer? Bird baths? I am curious and have thought about an outdoor aviary for a while. What do you do to prevent predators?

[Rox]

Hi Jonesie,

I'm in SA, with similar temp ranges to NZ. I agree with everything that Poohbear (awesome aviary!!) has said, including 50/50 half open, half closed. My one aviary is basically a large metal aviary and I have to put up sheeting etc every winter. By having it 50/50, the birds have the option to be outside or inside where it is draft free and warmer. It also saves you the effort of having to create a draft free area each winter, only to take it down again when the temps rise. You might want to add 1 or 2 heat lamps to the enclosed area for their first winter to help them acclimatize to the temperature changes. You can then reduce the heat lamps next winter.

Finchmix, my aviary is planted, so when it's really hot, I just put the sprinkler on softly for the birds and they love it! They have access to a bath 24/7 and I'm thinking of putting up misters this summer for when we have heat spells.

[Jonesie]

Thank you for the quick and helpful response! Have had a chat with my husband and the thinks we can whip something up.. he was talking about lining the indoor area with some sort of insulation, rather than heating it. Would that work?

[poohbear]

Thank you for the quick and helpful response! Have had a chat with my husband and the thinks we can whip something up.. he was talking about lining the indoor area with some sort of insulation, rather than heating it. Would that work?

50% of mine is insulated inside...but I still have tubular heaters on in winter..only low wattage but enough to keep the chill out.





I have baths in the outdoor sections...Re pests...one has a gravel floor over buried wire mesh...the other flight is built on heavy plastic palettes.The main birdroom has a floor.

[David]

Hi welcome to the forum Jonesie!
Nice pictures from above!