well here's some pics as promissed

BillD · Post by **BillD** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 10:56 pm

They are incredible Ray and your English is just fine

We all obviously understand it, so no worries.

I am very jealous and I'm learning from you.

franny · Post by **franny** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 1:41 am

Very nice large breeding boxes. I wondered when I saw some posts with cage fronts, thinking they weren't big enough. I see you took care of that with hardware cloth. Nice that they have the room.

My GBs like the room to fly, too. They are in a 3 ft X 22 inch X 3 ft cage, and are now starting their second season with me. One egg so far. Last year they had 4 babies. I unfortunately don't know how old they are. Pet store, and not banded. So hope they will be young enough to have a good season this year.

LOVE the aviary. You even have a beautiful garden of shrubs surrounding it. Very nice.

mickp · Post by **mickp** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 2:18 am

very nice set up Ray.
what are all those seed heads doing outside the aviary

, my birds love the seeds from those plants

Rayray · Post by **Rayray** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 2:31 pm

thank you all for the nice comments ...

liz , yes i put 2 nests in each cage , one in the back corner all hidden within the bushes , the other outside the cage with a more easy access for me . its up to the birds what ever they want . hope you are more lucky this time with your fire finches .

mickp , well the plants outside the aviary are just there to make that part of the garden look nicer , the birds have the benefit to pick on the seeds when they reach the aviary ( lucky them ) , and these are just grasses and non-toxic .

franny , with showing the pics of my breeding cages and how they made i hope new breeders ( or breeders that want to build their own ) get an idea how to do it , how cheap it is . And this all for our birds

oghh cleaning the breeding cages : bottum part i made it easy slide out , sitting sticks i put every month new ones in ( just cut a few sticks in the forrest ) , painted sides is clean in a few secs cos the poop won't stick that good on it ( just a little moist kitchen paper .

Ray

BillD · Post by **BillD** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 9:48 pm

I've been reading your other posts too. Is that house attached to the Aviary your 'Winter Jail'?

Rayray · Post by **Rayray** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 6:57 am

bill , a part of the shed is used as winterjail / year shelter for bad weather ... if you look good at the picture you will see the little opening on right top , thats where they can go in , on the inside i have a little sliding door to close it .

winter jail is about : L = 10 feet .... W = 5 feet .... H = 7 feet

ray

mickp · Post by **mickp** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 7:18 am

Ray, try putting some of the seedheads into your cages/aviary as you would a millet spray. the birds will love it. I have those same plants in my aviary and the seeds never get to ripen as the birds eat them green. also have some of the plants growing in the better half's shadehouse. Iremove the seed heads from these while still green and freeze them for use later in the year

Rayray · Post by **Rayray** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 10:24 am

mickp ,

i always use a part of the garden ( 7 x 7 feet ) for growing seeds , i use a handfull of the same seeds i feed the birds , in about 3 or 4 months they are big enough to feed it to the birds bit by bit , this part is big enough to spoil the birds like 3 times a week with fresh soft grasses ... even i pluck wild grasses here close to the forrest ( and i know people are thinking what the heck is he doing ) , these two things together is good food for young birds and second it keeps the birds busy for a bit , cos they really want to destroy all my trees and plants in the aviary ( specialy the bull finches , they eat everything )

Ray

BillD · Post by **BillD** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 10:14 pm

Rayray wrote:bill , a part of the shed is used as winterjail / year shelter for bad weather ... if you look good at the picture you will see the little opening on right top , thats where they can go in , on the inside i have a little sliding door to close it .

winter jail is about : L = 10 feet .... W = 5 feet .... H = 7 feet

ray

I see that little opening on the top right. What a great idea.

summert85 · Post by **summert85** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 3:39 am

Ray, all i got to say is WOW!

very nice aviary

aero · Post by **aero** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 4:19 am

Hi Ray,
What a fantastic set up. I am new to birding, but trust me, these are really inspiring. I love the breeding cage, IDEAL. As said, if the making method/steps were available, it would be very useful for new comers like me

Hope you dont mind if I learn things from your experience. Over here in my city, there are not many bird fanciers, which makes birding very difficult, without forums, even to learn about what to feed them

Wish you all the best in completing it as you want it.
Cheers.