Avairy advice? Photos?

[VKat]

As a new (somewhat unexpected) pheasant owner- I am busily sketching plans to construct an aviary for the birds to have lots of space and be healthy and happy.
Having never built anything like this before- I'd love to see any images of your enclosures, and hear all the tips and advice on dos and don'ts you may have.
We have one Golden Red and one Lady Amherst.
So please lay the photos and info on me!
Thanks!

 

[snoopysflock]

i have quail and they seem very happy with a pvc chicken tractor. but i would buy a dog kennel and put chicken wire on the top of it. that will make the perfect flight pen.

 

[mrwoodboat]

There are some photos on here of my set up as I was building it- search and you will find them..What has worked for us is a pen of about 6' wide by 16' long with a 6 x 6 enclosure on the end- we have metal siding all the way around the pen up to about 20" and wire above that, the enclosure is 3 sided with a couple of roosts in it. We have roosts through out the pen area at differing heights. The biggest thing that we were told was to have netting underneath the wire on top so the birds do not scalp themselves when they flush...We used 1x1 nylon netting suspended about 3" underneath 2x4 wire- so far no issues. Also, we ran a layer of river rock all the way around the perimeter and then shoveled cement mix on top of it- the moisture in the ground made the lot fairly solid and no one is digging in (they have tried but no luck)

 

[VKat]

Okay. Thanks!
Yeah, I'm thinking of a large, walk in area that I will also create a garden in with a shallow water feature for them.
Looking into netting.
My other big question is- for enclosing the sides, do you think hardware cloth is needed, or can chicken wire be used?

 

[snoopysflock]

chicken wire works fin but it will cut you so wear gloves

 

[deserthotwings]

With Red Golden and Lady Amherst you shouldn't need the nylon netting over the top. One inch mesh chicken wire works fine for them sense they are pretty mellow and do not flush like Ringnecks and quail. With only the 2 pheasants and a lot of human contact they will be eating out of your hand in no time.

 

[mrwoodboat]

we did the netting only because we had some valleys in with them for a while....chicken wire here does not stand up to the coons and such

 

[VKat]

Thanks so much!!! Oooo I hope you are right, deserthotwings! Right now they are very nervous, but they are still just getting settled.
I am sure they will be happier with more space. I love the profile image BTW.