I love to look at my small yard and cages for the birds and think about how I would change it if money were not an object. I would improve my aviary, add a few more, install water systems, and have room for lots of juveniles separate from the breeders. It’s a lot of fun, and once upon a time I would make sketches of the new look during boring meetings.
Earlier this month, I fed and watered all the birds in a pretty large collection that a friend of mine has, and I had lots and lots of things I wanted to change to make the whole operation easier for one person to maintain. Here are the main things that I wish were in place.
Both my friend and I have had birds, mostly doves, escape from the various aviaries and cages. The very first thing I would do is to put in security spaces so that we can go in and get out of the aviaries without the possibility of escapes. I was upset that he didn’t have a safe entry made with the newest of his aviaries. I doubt it would have taken much more time and only a little more of the materials. There are three large aviaries that could use that addition, but one of them is simply waiting to be torn down and replaced.
There are about six small cages along one side of the bird area, all of which need to be replaced. I think the cages available from Wingz Avian Products would be perfect. This design has three flights that go out from a walkway at the back, with a safe door at the back of each one. They are fairly expensive and would need two sets to replace all those cages, but it would be SO worth it.
I think about going into each cage and aviary to get the bird baths on even footing. Right now, half of them are slanted and don’t hold as much water as they should. But with the concerns about birds escaping, that’s not something I’m brave enough to do. One of the cages that has button quail roaming around has very little clean water for them: the dishes on the ground have filled up with silt and leaves, and are nearly impossible to clean out from outside with a hose. Those need to have a small platform that the quail can get onto but that will keep the birds’ water out of the mud.
The largest aviary holds geese and ducks. I wanted so badly to get a picture of two ducks sitting head to tail next to each other in one of the bird baths; these waterfowl need a small pool of some kind to swim in, but during the breeding season there’s too much danger of finch chicks and others drowning in it. I’m not sure how to solve this; a small running stream through the aviary would be beautiful but not practical.
The smallest aviary has turacos right now, and is wedged into a narrow space back by the chickens (we’ll deal with the chickens in a minute), but once they are in a better place, an aviary like this one would improve things immensely. The turacos eat fruit and low iron pellets, so having a roof to keep their feeding stations dry is a great addition to their upkeep.
Near that small aviary, there are three separate enclosures containing chickens. These birds are so beautiful, and I like to watch their interactions, but the cages are not wonderful. This Urban Coop is top of the line, but one third of it with more of the wooden structures accessible could be exactly what they need. A continuous water system, a fun bit of foraging for them, and all would be so much better.
There are three separate cages that are actually pretty good for the parrots living in them, but maybe some day something fancy could be installed (remember, I’m playing with imaginary money here), so these hexagonal cages would be ideal. The African Grays would like to be within visual range of each other, but the cockatoos like their privacy.
Finally, the entire area needs to have a raised walkway to keep caretakers out of the water and mud, and the vegetation is overgrown along the paths and needs a serious trimming. Before you get the idea that this bird haven is neglected, I need to point out that the owner updates and improves the various cages and walkways continually. He also works full time in a very stressful and demanding industry; much of what I would like to see happen there is based on things he has already been working towards.
Thanks for reading; I’ll be back next Sunday.
In Loco Parrotus 