EXCERPTS FROM:
THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL COCKATIEL SOCIETY INC. JOURNAL

AVIARY CONSTRUCTION
by Kurt Webb

Definition : "Aviary " (n) enclosure or large cage for birds.

With today's aviaries there seems to be two minds of thinking, that being Suspended and Full Height construction . The choice of which all boils down to the individual and their requirements in keeping birds. On one hand you may have a breeder who wishes to colony breed and on the other you may have a breeder who wishes to breed selected pairings, but let us not forget the fancier who wishes to keep a few pet birds. So the requirements for aviary construction are as wide and varied as the breeders/ fanciers needs are.

Being responsible bird breeders there are many areas in aviary construction that we need to look at ;

1. Size
2. Construction
3. Purpose
4. Location
5. Maintenance
6. Cost
7. Vermin proofing

Size.
From what I have seen with aviary sizes you can have them as big as you like or as small as you like. Let’s talk suspended, each flight measures 1800mm deep x 900mm wide x 900mm high is a good figure/ size to start with for cockatiels . Full height cages , each flight measures 1800mm deep x 900mm wide x 1800mm high. For those of you still working in feet and inches here is the conversion ( 1800mm = 6feet, 900mm = 3feet )

Construction.
Materials for aviary construction range from timber to galvanised box steel, flat colourbond to corrugated iron and a multitude of galvanised bird wires. Always look for materials that best suits your own situation and meets the needs of you and your birds. Be aware that some building materials offer dangers to our birds, splinters from timber, oil coatings left on galvanised steel can be ingested, heavy metal sickness from loose pieces of galvanised coating on bird wire. These materials and their usage seem mainly to be driven by the dollar and how much of the dollar you are willing to use. Then the requirement to build an aviary, that being whether you are going to build it yourself or pay someone else to build it for you.

Purpose.
To keep and breed birds. Housing birds is broken down into two main areas, breeding and pets. Breeding breaks down into single pair breeding and colony breeding, not forgetting the fancier who keeps hand reared and pet birds.

Location.
Aviary location is driven by the direction that the storms and prevailing winds come from , and the location that best gives protection from these elements plus best usage of morning sun. This leaves two directions to face your aviaries, that being East and North. ( Prevailing winds and storms mainly come from the South through to the West in South East Queensland.)

Maintenance.
No matter what your own personal situation with aviaries is , maintenance is a very important factor to look at . Ideally the less maintenance you have to do to your aviaries the better, this gives you more time to work with your birds and most importantly more time to enjoy them. So when designing aviaries always look for ways to improve things , to make your designs simple and straightforward. Let’s face it the more something is a chore the less enjoyment we tend to get out of it.

Cost.
Cost of aviary construction is going to be one of your larger expenses you are going to incur in setting up your hobby. The cost factor is up to the individual to decide what extent they wish to go to , or what you can afford, that’s not to say you have to make an aviary purchase expensive. To save dollars building , always try to build your suspended or full height aviaries in banks of more than one flight to save on material costs. When buying materials do your homework and shop around, you will be surprised at the savings you can make.

Vermin proofing.
A need to vermin proof our aviaries is another very important factor we should be looking at , to maintain the longevity, health and vigour of our birds. The vermin we need to be vigilant against are many and varied. Sparrows, predatory birds, cats, dogs, rats, mice, snakes, lice and worms just to name a few, all of which are detrimental to our birds wellbeing. So where possible look to incorporate designs to best prevent ready access by vermin.

( Suspended aviaries fall into this category quite well )

So in summary there are many things to take into consideration when designing/ buying or constructing aviaries, the ones stated in this article are but only a few of the main ideas and the author’s point of view. I find it good to always be open to new ideas and thoughts that other people may have in this area, as there are a lot of people in our hobby who have some great ideas on this topic.

Having written this short article it was never meant to answer everything to do with aviary construction , but to increase peoples’ awareness to their bird’s requirements. I do hope this article has been helpful in some small way.

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