I made my Button Quail an aviary

[quailbird]

I hatched 9 buttons. While incubating I built them an indoor aviary. I just had an insulated, enclosed patio put on my house and wanted something aesthetically pleasing. The birds health and livelihood comes first. So I spent time searching for aviaries, but not much out there for the idea I had. There was one, however. Youtube, called Echo Aviary. A woman made a large, free standing luxury aviary on her Seattle property. No doubt quite costly, but I wanted something like it and frequented her channel, taking notes along the way. I weighed the pros and cons for the birds and myself. I also ended up on reptile enclosure sites too.

My buttons are a bit over 3 weeks old and have been in their new enclosure for the past three days. They seem very happy and I hoped to have built them a sort of Disneyland for birds. There is a trickle waterfall, dust bath stations, bridge to high ground, a community tunnel that goes in and behind the waterfall and and loops around to the other side. There is a viewing window behind the waterfall to make sure everyone is doing ok and for viewing pleasure. When they want to nest there are two small private tunnels on each side.

For my needs I wanted something natural looking and nice for my new patio. I have enough to do around my home and needed to make the enclosure easy to clean. I installed a large drain at the lowest area mid front. A large hose can be hooked up to the drain and the entire cage can be hosed down and drain out to the grass or into a large bucket. When not in use, a round cover is over the drain so birds cannot see or get to it as it becomes raised flooring with the rest of the cage when the cover is on. I wanted the rear window so I can see what the little guys are doing and also if there was an emergency that I could get to them. The window is removable for this if ever needed. Birds drink a lot and I don't want to be changing water constantly and the waterfall with filter takes care of this. The only things left to do is to add more greenery and lighting. A lot of work, but hoping it will work out well.

Removable window in the back of enclosure behind the waterfall.

 

[Ted_Harrell]

Awesome, nice build...

 

[Quaicken108]

You’re encloser is stunning!!!
Your quails look so happy and I love the design of the whole thing but I’ve always wanted an aviary with a waterfall and it’s so cool to see one that works and makes a great bonus to the aviary and to the birds! These pictures are honestly so cool and insightful to your aviary but I was wondering what the dimensions are?

 

[Nabiki]

That's fantastic! I love the setup.

 

[Quailobsessed]

Wow, that looks amazing! I hope they appreciate it.

 

[Callender Girl]

I know nothing about raising quail but was intrigued by the title of your post because a local assisted living facility has an indoor aviary for finches, and I was mesmerized whenever I visited.

From what I've seen, your set up is amazing. I can't imagine your birds won't be delighted with your "Disneyland."

 

[Joyful_shay]

I hatched 9 buttons. While incubating I built them an indoor aviary. I just had an insulated, enclosed patio put on my house and wanted something aesthetically pleasing. The birds health and livelihood comes first. So I spent time searching for aviaries, but not much out there for the idea I had. There was one, however. Youtube, called Echo Aviary. A woman made a large, free standing luxury aviary on her Seattle property. No doubt quite costly, but I wanted something like it and frequented her channel, taking notes along the way. I weighed the pros and cons for the birds and myself. I also ended up on reptile enclosure sites too.

My buttons are a bit over 3 weeks old and have been in their new enclosure for the past three days. They seem very happy and I hoped to have built them a sort of Disneyland for birds. There is a trickle waterfall, dust bath stations, bridge to high ground, a community tunnel that goes in and behind the waterfall and and loops around to the other side. There is a viewing window behind the waterfall to make sure everyone is doing ok and for viewing pleasure. When they want to nest there are two small private tunnels on each side.

For my needs I wanted something natural looking and nice for my new patio. I have enough to do around my home and needed to make the enclosure easy to clean. I installed a large drain at the lowest area mid front. A large hose can be hooked up to the drain and the entire cage can be hosed down and drain out to the grass or into a large bucket. When not in use, a round cover is over the drain so birds cannot see or get to it as it becomes raised flooring with the rest of the cage when the cover is on. I wanted the rear window so I can see what the little guys are doing and also if there was an emergency that I could get to them. The window is removable for this if ever needed. Birds drink a lot and I don't want to be changing water constantly and the waterfall with filter takes care of this. The only things left to do is to add more greenery and lighting. A lot of work, but hoping it will work out well.

View attachment 2322621


Removable window in the back of enclosure behind the waterfall.
View attachment 2322624

As at this time last year I had 4 Japanese quails too;cute and lovely

 

[quailbird]

You’re encloser is stunning!!!
Your quails look so happy and I love the design of the whole thing but I’ve always wanted an aviary with a waterfall and it’s so cool to see one that works and makes a great bonus to the aviary and to the birds! These pictures are honestly so cool and insightful to your aviary but I was wondering what the dimensions are?

Thank You. I will post an update with pictures soon. I have just done the first cleaning of the enclosure and got the hose from outside, put a big spackle bucket under the drain pipe and it worked! It’s not failsafe because the Timothyhay does fill up the drain as water cleans the surroundings and I had to scoop it out several times. Overall, it is doing quite well though. There are a few tweeks to be made as time goes on. My birds are positively ecstatic with their surroundings and that is most important. Really, they do seem to act as if it is a bird Disneyland!

 

[Nabiki]

I look forward to seeing more pictures!

 

[quailbird]

I know nothing about raising quail but was intrigued by the title of your post because a local assisted living facility has an indoor aviary for finches, and I was mesmerized whenever I visited.

From what I've seen, your set up is amazing. I can't imagine your birds won't be delighted with your "Disneyland."

Oh wow! I’m impressed that an assisted living facility has the finch aviary and yes, it is very calming to have these peaceful birds around. I haven’t mentioned this yet, but this is a reason for my doing this too. I bought a unique looking small house this past January set back from the road on an acre. You see, my husband committed suicide a little over a year ago now and my goal for the home is to eventually make it an educational respite for people like me who are left behind. Putting the birds in a nice looking enclosure will accomplish some of this calming, serine theme I seek to create. My overall theme for the home is Coastal atmosphere with a lot going on from every aspect to calm the senses such as color choices, sounds, smells, etc. I spent many days at Disneyland and read a lot about why it’s so successful from a psychologic view. Basically the senses are literally maxed out creating a dominance of positivity. To do a 3 day retreat for educational purposes does mean that the painful experience will be explored, but also, the surroundings have a lot to do in dealing with such a sensitive subject. I love all birds and so I wanted to incorporate them into my project.