My Red Golden hen should be laying her first clutch this month. I want to make her environment as comfortable and natural as possible for her, so I'd like to add in more greenery. The issue is that pheasants seem to eat EVERYTHING. I regularly collect green weeds/grass/leaves for the pheasants to eat, and it seems they will mostly eat what I give them instead of the plants. But, I don't want to plant more plants, only to have to dig them back up to replace them or build a small fence around them. Here are a few pictures to show what room I have to work with.
As you can see, the plants they didn't kill have green fences around them. Once the vines get high enough I'm going to take away the fencing, but the other fenced plant will probably have to stay fenced since they really like that plant. Anyways, I plan to replace the vines they killed on the other piece of lattice. I put a potted plant into the corner of the aviary just to see how it'll do, and it seems to be doing okay. A few branches have been broken, but they don't seem to eat on it too much. I would really like to add in some ground cover plants, something like monkey grass, but I'm afraid they'll eat it all. Any advice??
Aside from plants, if anybody has advice on how to make the aviary more natural for the birds, I'll be glad to listen.There are two nests for the Red Golden hen, one is the hexagon-looking nest in the corner and the other is not in the pictures. It's a small, wooden dog house attached to the side of the aviary. I figured giving her more nesting options was better. I would also really like to know how I can clean off/disinfect the branches that get poop on them. I currently scrap off any poop, clean it off with a wet washcloth, then lightly spray the area with diluted bleach.
Please note that the two booted bantams are not permanently living in the aviary. They're only going to be in there for about a week. Thank you for your help!
As you can see, the plants they didn't kill have green fences around them. Once the vines get high enough I'm going to take away the fencing, but the other fenced plant will probably have to stay fenced since they really like that plant. Anyways, I plan to replace the vines they killed on the other piece of lattice. I put a potted plant into the corner of the aviary just to see how it'll do, and it seems to be doing okay. A few branches have been broken, but they don't seem to eat on it too much. I would really like to add in some ground cover plants, something like monkey grass, but I'm afraid they'll eat it all. Any advice??
Aside from plants, if anybody has advice on how to make the aviary more natural for the birds, I'll be glad to listen.There are two nests for the Red Golden hen, one is the hexagon-looking nest in the corner and the other is not in the pictures. It's a small, wooden dog house attached to the side of the aviary. I figured giving her more nesting options was better. I would also really like to know how I can clean off/disinfect the branches that get poop on them. I currently scrap off any poop, clean it off with a wet washcloth, then lightly spray the area with diluted bleach.
Please note that the two booted bantams are not permanently living in the aviary. They're only going to be in there for about a week. Thank you for your help!
