Aviary Plans

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 4:01 pm

hi thalia
as you say a mesh floor would be better to keep the poop of the birds feet but i have found that they dont like walking on it unless it is really fine,but then it would create problems cleaning it..i would go for a solid floor and then you can get your quail i out sand on the bottom of my cages anyway so that there is not much of a problem cleaning up i usually just vac it all up together or sweep it into a bag its quite quick..and you can let the quail have a run round while your doing it

ken

tammieb · Post by **tammieb** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 5:29 pm

Don't see any reason the hardware cloth wouldn't work for the floor.

When I did mine I made the floor plywood and cover it with paper. Just vacumm it out and switch the paper once a week.

Finchlet · Post by **Finchlet** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 7:18 pm

I want button quail too!!! I'm going to make my floor with plywood. I'll probably cover it with linoleum sheet. I like Tammies idea of the roll of paper. I've also seen at our local bird store they use some sort of wood shavings on the bottom of the big huge flights. It hides the poo very nicely. I'll have to find out from them how often they have to sweep it up and put out new. I think they are pine shavings, but I'm not sure.

Thalia · Post by **Thalia** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:32 am

lol John'll kill me if I mention button quail, I'll have to get the thing built then surprise him with them

He's got a conference he's going to in a month or so, if it's done before he leaves I'll fill the aviary with birds and he'll have no say by the time he gets home

Is 51x24 big enough for 2 button quail? I like your idea of sand on the bottom, they dust bathe in sand anyways don't they? I could still put plexi on the bottom 6 inches of the cage to keep the dirt in right? Or would the quails bang into it and hurt themselves?
maybe instead of making the false bottom with the opening door, I'll hinge the plexi glass and that way I can easily clean the bottom and less building.
Since a 54x24 cage is big enough for 4-6 birds do you think I could put 6 birds in my cage, will that extra 3 inches matter? I'm having a hard time deciding b/c owls and goulds. oh and the quails don't count b/c the sit on the floor right?

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 12:52 pm

make your mind up woman!

seriously my quail have been wintered sometimes in the bottom flight of some cages 15"x15"x6ft and they have been perfectly happy as long as they have room to move about and dont forget to put water lower down for them to drink!

ken

Thalia · Post by **Thalia** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 1:23 pm

ok I'm rehashing my plans, I've got the stand in the room and it's a little taller than I thought so I'm thinking of making the cage only 24" high, since I'm not putting in the mesh floor anymore they'll have the full 24" of flying room. Think that's enough for 2 shaft tails, 2 zebras and 3 button quail?

Finchlet · Post by **Finchlet** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 6:13 pm

Hi Thalia!
Have you decided what you are going to use on the floor of the aviary? I was thinking about trying some pine shavings. That's what they have on the floor of the huge flights at the bird store. I think it looks nice and hides "things" that fall to the floor of the cage. Hopefully i won't have to change it as often as newspaper. Altho I wonder if the future button quail

won't mind that kind floor covering.

Thalia · Post by **Thalia** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 6:31 pm

I think I'm going to copy Kenny and use sand, I was thinking of hinging the plexi in the front for easy access, I'll let the little guys run around on the floor of my office (after I lock the cats out) while I sweep up the sand. that way they have something to dust bathe in, the sand should dry up the poop that falls so it's less unsightly and I can either sweep or vacuum it up. Also, since I have hermit crabs I've always for 5 or 10 lbs of sand laying around lol. The only reason why I wouldn't use shavings, however, is b/c I'm allergic lol.
I just finished figuring I'm going to need about 58 feet of wood to build my frame, so about 10, 6 foot boards which should run me around $20 plus tax

I also found some really heavy duty but thin guage plastic mesh, it's black and it's called deer fencing. I briefly toyed with the idea of painting the metal mesh myself but after talking to 3 different stores and getting 3 different answers about what's safe I decided against it.
How's yours coming along? is your acrylic in yet?? I can't wait to see pics! Oh and I'm going to call the bird store tomorrow about shaft tails quails and my baby zebras

If the weather stays nice I'll get the materials after next week's pay cheque.
What do you all think, would wall board like the stuff they use in bathrooms be a good backpiece and floor or should I use linoleum for the floor? I'll only use the wallboard for the back piece if I can get 1 single piece that's large enough, if there's going to be a join then it won't be worth it since the joint would hold dirt.

Finchlet · Post by **Finchlet** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 7:23 pm

Oh, I never thought of sand. You could get a tiny little scoop, like for a kitty litter box but finch sized!

I saw these tiny brooms and dust pans at the toy store when I was walking by. I forgot to go back and see how much they were, but I thought it would be cute for sweeping up the wood shavings. I am going to toss them in the compost pile when I change them. I'm not sure what wallboard you are talking about, I am just learning about all this stuff. But for sure after this project, I realize it must be really hard to be a contractor. whew! what hard work! And so many details! You could have fun with that tho....you could paint it, or put wallpaper. Tons of possibilities! I ended up using vinyl tiles for the flooring. i know I've read that a single sheet of flooring is better, because water can leak inbetween the tiles, but I don't plan on having standing water on them. The linoleum sheet required messy glue. The tiles were cheap, and easy...peel and stick! I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the acrylic glass. Today or tomorrow hopefully......and I need to figure out what to do for food and water. Right now I am cutting some wood dowels to fit, and making a swing with the leftover pieces. I'll post a pic in a little bit.

Thalia · Post by **Thalia** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 7:55 pm

oh geez I forgot about gluing the linoleum

Maybe I'll wallboard the floor too

Wallboard is that stuff they put in bathrooms and kitchens, it looks like tile but it's one big piece of board, it's super easy to wash and we have some left over in our garage from a bathroom reno lol hence the attraction.

Crystal · Post by **Crystal** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 9:00 pm

I have 3 cages with a hinge on the front bottom (I also thought about making this out of plexi but opted for wood since it was easier). The thing you have to consider with this design--and the thing that I would do differently if I were to build these cages over again--is that it is very difficult to obtain a good "seal" between the hinged flap and the cage bottom...so debris are constantly falling out of the cage and onto the floor in front of the cage. This is messy and annoying and it happens with items as big as pellets and seed, and would be sure to happen (a lot) with finer grained materials like sand. You could probably modify your design to prevent some of this, but it's going to be really difficult to obtain the seal/barrier you need to prevent sand from falling to your floor like a giant hourglass.

Also, I always fear giving my birds access to sand because of the whole grit-can-be-bad (if overconsumed) thing.

Just something to think about!

Thalia · Post by **Thalia** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 9:07 pm

oh I was going to have the 1x1 of the frame on the bottom still there so just the plexi swings, so there'll be a little lip to hold in everything, lol I was going through the logistics of having the whole front bottom swing and I thought that the sand and other debris might prevent the plexi from closing properly

I have a lot of free time at work right now.
So is 24" enough flying height for the finches?
I don't think I'd put a huge amount of sand on the bottom, do you think it'd be harmful?

Kenny have you had any problems with your finches eating your sand?

Post by **Hilary** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 11:06 pm

Thalia -

A word of caution about the button quail in the new cage. When spooked (which is often) they jump straight up in the air, and can easily brain themselves on the top of the cage or perches at 24". They'll also spook the finches since they'll be "boinking" up into their flying space. They're not very bright (though boy are they CUTE), so they probably won't learn that there's a height limit to their abode. Just want you to be prepared! One of mine actually has a mark across the top of his head from one of my perches.....

Thalia · Post by **Thalia** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 9:03 am

oh dear

Should I maybe do the roof in stretchy window screen then? You dont' think they'd accidentally kill themselves going into the roof would they?

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 12:12 pm

hi thalia
hilary is correct.but as they get used to seeing people they do it less i have mine only do it a couple of times since i got them but ever since they have been feeding from my hand i can actually lure them with food and catch them when i first got them i had to use a net but if yours havent jumped or dont jump around a lot when you aproach them then i would say the cahnces of them doing it are leeened the more they get used to people....of course they may do it if a sranger comes near or the cat...but this is only a natural reaction as they cannot fly very far so they just go up vertical as in the wild its just an escape mechanism

ken