# Outdoor aviary - who has one?



## vonnie (Aug 20, 2007)

Am in the very early stages of planning an outdoor aviary. I don't want to rush in so it'll probably be a year or so before I decide exactly what I want. But just wondering

What do you have? Pics would be great, of the aviary designs in particular.

Any tips or things you recommend/wish you hadn't done! ?

If it's not too nosey how much did it set you back cashwise? 

I know there's lots of forums about ... which would you recommend for advice and/or buying birds?

Sorry, I know that's loads of questions :lol2:


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## ferretman (May 11, 2008)

i used to breed australin parrkeets cockateils and finches.

Dont buy cheap mesh go for strong galvinised mesh. Use good quality bird seeds dont use bergees full of crap to make the weight up.

Cash wise it cost about 100 quid that was just for the mesh everything else was recycled.

As with anything private breeders try cage and aviary birds its out every thursday its got all sorts of good info in hope that helps.


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

At the sanctuary we have 1 large budgie/cockateil aviary.1 finch/canary aviary, 1 Quaker Parrot aviary and are having a Rosella aviary built lol


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## fenwoman (Apr 15, 2008)

vonnie said:


> Am in the very early stages of planning an outdoor aviary. I don't want to rush in so it'll probably be a year or so before I decide exactly what I want. But just wondering
> 
> What do you have? Pics would be great, of the aviary designs in particular.
> 
> ...


 I have 2. One massive aviary block which cost over £3000 which is probably more than you need, and another large one. Will try to take pics when I have a minute. I also made my own for years.


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## kuvats (Apr 9, 2009)

Hello 
I used to have an indoor/outdoor area in the non breeding season my canaries could go in or out. I dont know if you have alot of hawks and owls over there but i learned fast I used less cheap wire and thankfully non of my birds escaped I saw the hawk hit the cage and he put a hole in the fence, use good wire that will keep out all kind of critters cats included After the second time a hawk or owl dont know which hit the cage was fine but it took along time for the birds to go out again i put up two poles about 6 feet away and strung fishing line up so the birds hit that first they learned quick to stay away and we were all happy


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## annsimpson1 (Mar 23, 2008)

we have 2 avairys but only one is in use at a time, one for summer and the other for winter as its heated and insulated (shed part) both came free from freecycle, one was a purpose built aviary the other a full height dog kennel and run which only needed changeing slightely. We had to dismantle and move both but that was well worth the effort. The first picture is the purpose built aviary with 2 small extra flights added on the sides and the 2nd is the converted kennel not posh but good for the job


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## carlycharlie (Jan 16, 2008)

Something to consider BEFORE building your aviary is what you wish to keep, not just now but down the line if you decide to "upgrade".

If you wish to keep parrots then its probably worth spending a bit extra & build the flight area out of metal aviary panels as these cant then get chewed to matchsticks :whistling2:

This thread on another forum might be useful for you
Parrotlinks Forums-viewtopic-Websites for Aviary Building & breeding accessories

Also considering the species in advance will help you work out if you will need any heating for the winter etc, although a lot of birds can survive down to minus 15C in winter as long as they have shelter from cold winds & rain. They WILL however sit outside in the cold snow storms which always amazes me every year with all mine :lol2:


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## vonnie (Aug 20, 2007)

How come I never see anything like that on the freecycle here!

Thanks for all the replies so far :2thumb:


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## sizedoesn'tmatter (Jan 24, 2009)

I would agree that its best to decide where you are going with the hobby eventually (even if that seems far away) before
you plan and build. It will save a lot of time and money in changing ideas later! 
I would also seriously think about how much noise the birds will make. My neighbours were seriously unimpressed with the cockatiels version of a 'dawn chorus' at 4am everyday!


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