Aviary questions

[sunbursts]

I'm planning out my aviary and had some specific questions...
1. How tall must it be to not worry about them hitting their head when flushing?
2. What type of material do you then use on the top, netting or just regular hardware cloth?
3. Or if you are using deep littler(which I plan to), do you need a solid roof to help keep the littler dry?
4. What's worked best for you, digging down and burying the hardware cloth underground or piling the rocks/stone slabs around the cage for predator protection?
5. Any of you use live plants in your aviary? If so, what has worked out well? I plan to have a built up dirt area to put plants for them to forage in/around/eat.
6. Do you use a double door as to insure they don't scurry out when you're entering the aviary?

 

[maadroj]

I don't know what the ideal might be but can share what we did. We used 1/4 inch hardware cloth on all sides, including top. Some have said 1/2 inch is sufficient, while others have found that rats or racoons were able to pull legs through 1/2 inch. We preferred not to have that worry. We also made a hardware cloth "apron" on the ground around the outer edge of the aviary (not buried), which has worked so far. We observed one raccoon attempt to dig, there may have been other attempts.

We do have double doors, and it has prevented an accidental exit twice.

We use mulch on the ground, which does a pretty good job keeping them clean. We live in a fairly arid environment, so I don't know what would happen in a place with lots of rain. They don't hesitate to throw the mulch out of the way to dig holes for their dust (sometimes mud!) baths.

They tend to leave peppermint, lavender, rosemary, heaven's breath, butterfly bush, lemongrass, and citronella alone, but they will munch on pretty much anything if they're hungry enough, I think. I'm experimenting with adding larger plants that will hopefully survive even if the quail eat up all the leaves within reach.

We don't have a hard roof on our aviary but added a tarp over the end where they like to sleep, a table and bench they can hide under, brush piles, as well as boxes and plastic lids. They use these mostly for shade during heat, hiding from predators, and sometimes hiding from each other, more so than rain. But again, it doesn't rain much here.

We love sitting outside and watching them while we have tea, and trying to entice them with treats. Good luck!

 

[sunbursts]

Thanks @maadroj for all that info. How tall is your aviary? How high do they fly up?

 

[maadroj]

I don't remember the exact height now, but it's roughly 7-8 feet. I wanted to feel comfortable walking inside, not cramped or confined. My birds are California quail, so they have no problem flying up that high to roost at night or keep watch in the day. They do fly into the top and sides when in a panic, which happens often at night when scary critters come around. Maybe we got lucky and the height is in a sweet zone, both far enough from the ground and close enough to their roosts to prevent serious head-boinking?

 

[maadroj]

Ah, sorry, I didn't intend to attach the same picture three times, but I can't seem to delete the repeats.

 

[maadroj]

@le_bwah has a great aviary with coturnix quail, I believe.