Indoor aviary anyone?

[Cowboy Joe]

Anyone have an indoor aviary for quail or small birds? I over winter a few coturnix in the basement each year as it is too cold in these parts to keep them outside. I've kept them in brooder cages in the past but thought I might build something a little more aesthetic for the upstairs. Nothing huge, something along these lines:

http://www.internationaldovesociety.com/indooraviaries.htm

Any thoughts or suggestions welcome. Thanks.

 

[birdnutz]

They sure are nice looking. I saw one in a funeral home once with finches in it. I just wonder how hard they would be to clean. Also if it has a closed back would the air quality suffer? Maybe if it had a screened back?

 

[Blondie]

Many years ago I converted a very big aquarium into an aviary. I made a screen for the top, and used small tree branches for roosts. The good thing about that is when I cleaned the aviary, I just threw the branches in the back and got fresh ones. The birds loved to peck and peel the bark. It looked nice, too.

On the floor I used corn cob pellet things. I forgot what they are called, but you can get them at the pet store in 10-15 pound bags. I didn't use a lot at a time. Just enough to cover the floor. It took care of any smell for a while. To clean, I used a plastic shovel to scoop it out - the kind that kids use at the beach.

 

[SunAngel]

I asked DH to build me a floor to ceiling bird 'cage' a couple years ago. We put it in an unused corner of the living room. At that time it housed 3 cockatiels and 12 parakeets and 2 finches. Today I just have the 3 cockatiels and 2 parakeets in there. They co-exist just fine and have lots of room to fly around. I can open the window in the Summer to let them get fresh air. The 2 corner walls, I just wash down with vinegar water and I keep pine shavings on the floor. I think it ended up 4 ft deep x 5 ft long x 8 ft high.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

We converted a little entertainment center cabinet into a cage. Actually, I think it was originally an old TV cabinet, that had the TV removed and was converted to an entertainment center. I think my husband originally had stereo components in there. It's 45"x18"x32"

The whole front is one piece of hardware cloth. The sides, top and bottom are solid. We framed in for a large door in the back. The rest of the back is also hardware cloth. While framing the back, we left a slot at the bottom to slide in a tray, to make cleaning easier. We made the tray to fit, also. I wish we would have made the tray deeper. We added casters, so it was easy to pull it away from the wall to service it or to roll it anywhere we wanted.

It's low and wide. We had budgies in it originally and I think guinea pigs at one point. At times we've used it for a plant stand in front of a bay window and right now the cats are using it as a feeding table in the spare room, to keep our always hungry cocker spaniel out of their food. It's been put to a lot of uses over the last 30 years, since it was a TV.

I've seen commercial bird cabinets that had a clear front for viewing and a solid back, but the sides were gridded for air flow. Those look very nice. I designed ours the way I did, just because of the basic structure of the piece we were using.

 

[flopshot]

i built this one in the room i use as a small scale workshop. i used slightly damaged insulated glass panels and a storm door. the bottom 14" of the wall is covered in aluminum flashing and the interior is trimmed out in 1/8" thick aluminum flat bar and angle stock. all electrical was disconnected and covered with metal plates. to clean i open the windows and shovel the mulch into a wheelbarrow.
the finished size is 4' x 12'. the floor is painted concrete covered with four inches of cypress mulch. the branches are attatched to the floor and walls. i'd like to extend the area by attaching a cage to the outside of the house useing the window for access if i can come up with an insect and predator proof enclosure.
although he's destroyed the double window Pringles is very happy in the enclosure. notice the slide bolt on the door. he learned quickly how the door latch functions.

 

[nightshade]

these are so cool. I always wanted to do so like this for my pet raccoon. But with birds would be awesome too. You guys really did a good job on them.

 

[redhen]

wow! nice cages everyone!!!

 

[amazondoc]

Pringles is a lucky boy!

I have flight cages, but they are nothing fancy. Just very large cages (roughly 6 feet long, 3-4 feet deep, 3-4 feet high not including the legs) made out of welded wire mesh. Until I moved, my Amazons had a double cage with each side that size, but they are just in one of them right now. The other largest cage contains my button quail, diamond doves, and a canary. It used to also have my budgies, but one of them kept injuring the quail so they got banished to a smaller cage.

 

[equus2]

Here's a fun project that was great for finches, parakeets, and eventually, my weaned cockatiels. Made a few improvements along the way. The hutch cost $25 at a garage sale, replaced glass with hardware cloth and plexiglass. I regret that I sold it.......