i was about to do an aviary for a mix of birds from a lovebird about to be 2 a macaw and a flightless one wing pigeon, i was at a free flying event at the weekend and someone was telling me about ehis way of doing it, it will last much longer, but i cant use cable ties i'll have to get creative to protect what ever i use to attach the mesh, the macaw would spent the 1st 5 mins in that undoing every cable tie, all undone in seconds, there gas birds, i don't know how ppl who don't free fly keep them entertained enough day in day out,..
Hi there. So to be honest, in the few years of Aviary #2 being in existence I have only seen a couple of chewed off cable-ties. Not sure about a macaw though…that may do a bit more damage! I just do a brief check daily when I feed them and if I need to replace any broken or chewed ties then. Hope you come up with a solution for your aviary. Let us know! All the best.
Hi. Thanks, yes its a really nice colour. I am sorry but cannot remember or find the name of the product we used . I do remember looking long and hard to find a suitable paint back when we built Aviary #1 and that one we found was noted on the can to be suitable for pets... it did not mention birds specifically but ours were fine with it... They gnawed and chewed the wood with no side effects. Hope you find it - let me know below if you do and the name, where purchased etc
Hi, yes they do have a very strong bite and we did opt for the stronger mesh although to be honest I haven't seen them doing too much biting/gnawing on the wire. Wood on the other hand they strip and rip apart like its paper - we keep adding new perches but they enjoy it:)
Hi Andre, have you used impregnated wood for the aviary? Cuz I'm building one too and it seems like people have different opinions about it (some say the birds will bite it and that it's poisonous).
Hi. Thanks for stopping by. So one thing you can be sure of is that if there is wood, they will bite it 😁. We used non-treated kiln dried timber and then painted with an animal-friendly (to be honest we could not find one that specifically noted birds) protective coating and they were fine and had no issues. I guess the timber would not last as long though but after a few years when we built Aviary #2 the wood was still sound. Googled and these guys do a bird friendly wood protector: www.protekwoodstain.co.uk/news/rspb-to-join-national-trust-in-endorsing-wood-protector *not an endorsement as I haven’t tried it but worth a look... Good luck with your build - let us know how you get on!
Thanks. Yes that is a good tip actually...they do like chomping on the wood! I did learn my lesson though and I’ve since moved and built a new aviary with some different materials. That video should be coming up soon!
@@AndreMalanUK Looking forward to it. I have an African Grey and the premade aviaries are so expensive so I spent a day watching DYI videos of people building aviaries to find out how to do it myself, and the different tricks and features people are using. The problem is a lot of them dont really talk about the cost or the exact measurements and how much material is needed. Which I was hoping for so I could get an idea how affordable it is to do it myself.
very nice but a little advice, when putting in the wire mesh you should it in,,,,, on the inside,,, not the outside of the wood ,,,,so the birds can not chew on the wood
edlc _ Thanks. That was down in London and tbh it did not get that cold where we were - only dropped just below zero only once or twice and the birds were fine. We have since moved to the midlands though and now we use a type of sunscreen / shade cloth from a company called Koolaroo. Its very strong canvas material & quite good at keeping the wind and weather at bay - for example a water bowl hanging on mesh protected by the cloth did not freeze over while the bowls not protected did. When it was at its coldest though even that bowl froze over some so we were refreshing their water a few times a day. The birds were quite fine though and were happily flying around, chatty as ever thanks to the screen. Basically just wrapped it around the sides and over the top and it did a great job. We chose the sand coloured material to allow as much light through as possible so the birds had plenty of light. *The coldest we had here if you take windchill into account was -12C and that was only a few days but we kept an eye on the birds and if we had seen any signs they were taking strain with the cold they would have been brought indoors.
Hi. I used a few 6m rolls of 13mm x 13mm square mesh. The birds had no problem with it and could land and move around easily. Our second aviary I have again used square mesh; slightly narrower at 12.5x12.5mm only really because I went for a single large roll (30m) and those were what the manufacturer had in that length only. Happy birds :). Good luck with your aviary building.
Hi. Sorry for the delay; I stored the spreadsheet in such a safe place that I couldn't find it :). Here is the extract for the timber used: Timber - Rough 22x50x2.4m ( 8 Pack) quantity 2 Timber - Rough 22x50x2.4m ( Single) quantity 2 Timber - Rough 47x50x2.4m (6 Pack) quantity 2 Timber - Rough 47x50x2.4m (Single) quantity 3
lovebird ok but never put fischer birds in this cage they will chew woods and destroy your nice cage and one more thing your bird nest box not balanced well please fix it
There are several factors in doing a pro job. One resource I discovered which succeeds in merging these is the Aviary Magic Method (check it out on google) definately the most helpful info that I've seen. Check out this unbelievable site.
Andre. You`e made a fabulous video with two wonderful actors. They dont even need any training, The took you for a walk on a Wonderful Fall Carpet. Keep the walks going.
Leah Marie that's also the main reason I went for galvanised - the cost. I found it was just as good and easy to work with; more importantly it is safe for use in aviaries but only has a <guaranteed > life of around 5 years (mine were still good after 6 years) so if you're happy to replace at some point down the line then go for it. Let me know how you get on. I am busy planning my next one and tbh I will probably again go with the galvanised option but instead of a wood frame am looking at square hollow metal tubing.
Leah Marie I pretty much just kept an eye on it. I am unsure about treatments and their compatibility with the birds but you can probably research that - I'll also see if I find any info on that. We also moved from SE London to the midlands after a few years so fortunately had no issues with coastal weather playing any part.
I hear is you use Apple Cider Vinegar to wash it before the bird's are put in it that it takes it off? But I see so many people using this and their bird's are fine? I'm still researching myself. I just started a page on Facebook called Flock Talk, if you find anything and have FB please message me there it's faster than getting me on here because I don't use email much lol. If I find more I'll let you know also!! Just wanna keep the bird's safe Thanks!!!
