Aviary 2 years down the line

[delray]

Congrats!!!! Gret aviary

[MariusStegmann]

Do you have the classical South African gouldian setup with a aviary inside a Wendy house with the rest of the outside aviary attached to it? In winter you close the door that leads to to outside aviary?

[monotwine]

Yip something like that.

The wendy house (garden shed for the internationals ) is my shelter and I have divided that area into two. One half is an indoor shelter for the birds and the other half is my store room. There I keep seed, bird stuff extra cages, hospital cage etc. I try as much as possible to keep all my bird hobby there and not in my house. Too high risk with cats and dogs.

The outdoor flight is attached to the shelter. The birds fly in and out of the wendy by an open window and a small hatch which I cut into one wall. In bad weather I close the window and they are all in the shelter (about 1.5 x 2 m only) It is usually only over night. During the day they come and go as they please.

Many choose to sleep in there in the evenings, but I have a few die hards that prefer to sleep outside year round.

[Rox]

Monique, your aviary is always drool worthy

I have sealed up the sides of my aviary's now with plastic sheeting etc and will be adding some heat lamp's. I purchaed the Bird Keeping the South African Way dvd's and picked up some nice tips in there

The birds amaze me sometimes though. It was super chilly on the weekend and at about 6pm, as the sun was setting, they all decided it was bath time. Crazy critters...

[MariusStegmann]

Rox, what about those heating pads that you can mount against the wall. I have seen a few gouldian aviaries with it in. It seems to me less of a disruption to the birds than lights.

[dutch]

monotwine......man that is the best avairy I have even seen....top job

[monotwine]

Thanks Dutch. That is very sweet of you. It works for me!

@Rox Thanks! You are well on your way to getting there too. LOL mine too don't know when its too cold to bathe. Raining and cool, but they taking a bath.

Marius I have seen some hobbyist use the panel heaters. They warm the whole area and in a draft free area they fairly economical. A lamp has worked out the cheapest for me. I use a 40 or 60W bulb in winter and a eco long-life bulb in summer (for new fledglings). The heat is more directed and you don't have to warm the whole space up. The birds use it if they need it. They instinctively seek out the heat.
I prefer not to offer too much heat. It does not allow me to gauge which birds are hardy enough to survive without the pampering. But that is my choice.

[Rox]

MariusStegmann

Marius, my 2 aviary's are very different. The one being made completely out of metal and gets very cold. For this aviary I put in 2 60watt heat lamps during winter, mainly for the waxbills and in front of perching. The infra-red works out expensive electicity wise, so I have been rotating between infra-red and the 'black' night light heat lamp they use for reptiles. Since it's pretty dark by the time I get to changing seed and water in the evenings, the red light does help not spook the birds too much. It doesn't seem to affect their sleeping pattern at all.

Second avairy is a wendy house with a flight attached. The wendy house is completly draft free and so far staying cozy. I have a normal 40watt red party light hanging in a ceramic pot over a cement paver for these guys, just outside the wendy house door (flight part has been blocked off from wind with clear plastic). They are loving it to go underneath or sit on top to get warm. The wendy house is full of straw etc, so I'm rather weary about running electicity directly into the house. Panel heaters are a good idea though. Didn't think of that!

I'm also hesitant to supply too much heat. I have a 'do or die' attitude for my birds. Sounds harsh but I want to breed strong, outdoor birds. My juvie flight (currently with 19 young gouldians in) has no extra heat but is well sheltered. The ones who make it through winter, will be fine going forward. As mentioned above, the heat is mainly for the waxbills or a bird that is feeling a bit down.

[MariusStegmann]

I don't use heating at all and don't plan to! I plan to put in another section with a grassframe in and close up that section of aviary completely. I would then just open access to the flights on sunny days.

[Colt]

What a gorgeous aviary. I love it. And the dry river bed look is great.

[Perfex]

Very nice aviary. The birds really thrive in that kind of environment and it is beautiful to look at too.

[monotwine]

Thanks!