Mixing birds??? After information.

[Mrsmouse]

Hi.
I have a 21ft by 13ft pen for my chickens in the garden.
It's just over 6ft high.
Does anyone know if there are birds suitable to live with them?
Thought having nest boxes up high, would be nice to have birds flying around while my chickens rummage around the bottom.
Maybe not do able, but I thought if anyone knows, then this is the place to ask.
Thanks Kim.

 

[tinkbell]

What about some pigeons?

 

[bagendhens]

well i have seen my chickens chase and tear apart small birds so id definatly not do anything small...

mabe pigeons or doves, but id then be worried about the chickens getting pooped on.
personally i dont think id be mixing chickens with anything but chickens...

 

[Ksane]

I'm going to put my 2 Doves in the covered chicken pen with 10 Cochins if it ever gets below 107 degrees here. The heat is unreal. I've seen on here where quite a few people keep Doves/Pigeons with their chickens. Just put the Doves food and sleeping shelf up high to make sure they get enoughh to eat. I've had the Doves for years and they've been indoors and wormed regularly.

 

[Mrsmouse]

Hmmm.... Thanks for your opinions.
My previous bantams ignored wild lil birds. The bigger ones chased them away from their food.
Don't really want big flying birds as I don't think there's enough room.
Food for thought....
Thanks again.

 

[AquaEyes]

Another consideration is the population ratio. In a pen that size, if you had just two or three small chickens, things might go OK with a mixed aviary. But if the chickens outnumber everything else, and they're much bigger than anything else, they might be seen as threatening to the birds above.

I was thinking myself of (long in the future) big planted aviaries, and like the idea of a few Belgian D'Anvers within. But the aviaries I'm thinking about would be based on greenhouse frames, and likely in the area of 100' long. In something that size, there's plenty of room for birds to get away from each other.

From what I've been reading, the success of mixed aviaries is based on balancing the species within. Find out which species are OK living in groups (some species can't be maintained in an aviary in anything more than a single pair), avoid having too much competition for the same niche (i.e. ground, brush, top of aviary, etc.), and giving much more space than you may be used to with putting together an enclosure for just one species.

Think of a mixed species aviary as a community aquarium. If you know about what can go with what, and about the different zones in the aquarium that each species will occupy, you will get an idea of how to plan an aviary. Also google "mixed aviary" to find some more information on how to plan things out.

 

[Mrsmouse]

Thanks....
I'm not going ahead with anything. Was pondering for next year. Which is why I want to pick brains now.
If it's not do able then I won't. Don't want to risk either species being unhappy, as that defeats the whole point of doing it.
Will make a bit of interesting research though.

 

[AquaEyes]

Quote:
Where are you located? If you decide to try an outdoor aviary, I could give you a few places to research for species that would be ok for your area.

 

[Mrsmouse]

That's very kind, thank you.
I'm south east, England.