Pictures of your peacocks pens?

[StevenW.]

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It's so pretty!

 

[C&Rman]

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Yours is very pretty too.

 

[featherhead]

Some of these were taken in early spring before the trees budded, so it's easier to see the aviaries.

 

[C&Rman]

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WOW!!! That is very pretty and huge. What is the size of that?

 

[StevenW.]

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No fair......

 

[MinxFox]

I always thought featherhead's avairies were very nice, I like the size and how you planted around the outside of the aviaries.

 

[featherhead]

We have 4 aviaries; each is 32'x48'. One is for the chickens, three are peas. With each addition, we learn new tricks to make everything more convenient and functional. After the first aviary, we learned to solid-stain the lumber before construction. This keeps the carpenter bees out of the lumber. Then we learned to use all 2x6 instead of 2x4. The heavier wood doesn't warp. Poultry net tops don't work for us, as all kinds of critters like to chew thru the netting, including squirrels. Now we only use 2x4 welded wire tops.

The sides of the aviaries run 2 feet outside each "wall", and are covered with landscape fabric and rocks that weigh over 10# each. Raccoons can't move more than 10#, and if something wants to dig inside, their instinct takes them to that corner edge. They can't move the rocks and can't dig under because of the 2x4 wire. Plus, it looks really nice. The aviaries have been completely predator-proof for about 10 years. (Well, we did have a baby skunk in one of the barns a few years ago. He was about the size of a squirrel. I asked him to leave and he did.)

And for the ladies, the barn interiors are also painted. Each is eggnog yellow with contrasting trim and there are several hooks and shelves for storing stuff. It must be a girl thing...

I bought a manual push mower to cut the grass in the aviaries. About half the grass in each pen is allowed to grow wild to keep the ground cooler during summer. The birds appreciate the cooler shaded ground and when it gets really hot, I tack a tarp to the ceiling of the most "open" aviary. This easily cuts 15 degrees off the ground temperature in the afternoons. Every year, we learn new stuff and enjoy the birds even more.

 

[C&Rman]

Oh I will most likely build my shed out of 2x6 with R-19 insulation. How many peacocks do you own featherhead???

 

[featherhead]

We only have 9 very spoiled birds - 3 males, 6 females. I collect their eggs daily and give them away. (Huge mental block against eating pea eggs, for some unknown reason. I'll put them in brownies and cakes but not in the frying pan.) Our oldest male is around 20. Big Bird appeared as a stray years ago, and he's the magnificent creature who initiated this love affair with peafowl. The first barn and aviary was built for him, and the rest is just part of the madness of loving peas.

SuperPeacockMan, I love the locust posts and envy your water spigot.

If anyone has an old satellite dish sitting around, here's a great flight pen idea from Carol Cook in AL. Because we have trees shading the pea barns, falling limbs will ruin the net tops. We have to use the welded wire on the top pf the pens.

 

[wannabchick]

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That's so awesome