The Best Aviary Top?

[margaret8]

I use chicken wire, have had it on one pen for 4 years , my free range birds get on the pen so i can't use netting like some folks but i love the chicken wire.

PS i purchased more chicken wire for my other pen and it cost 45 dollars for a 36 by 150 foot roll

I have chicken wire on the top of my 40' x 30' chain link pen with the bird house enclosed. So far all of my birds are safe and none of the have gotten hurt. Since I increased the size of the pen my peafowl fly all over the place!

 

[zazouse]

That is a nice size pen, you been building pens and not sharing

your story? HUM

 

[MinxFox]

My experience. Welded wire on top of ten foot tall pen = one dead four figure peach pied male within 6 months. Netting on 15 pens for 4 years = ZERO dead birds from broken necks. I will admit however that the NPIP inspector and I caused a spalding opal black shoulder to fly up and knock himself out on a cross beam during last years inspection. He could not walk for a couple of days but eventually recovered.

I am sorry about your peach pied.

That is exactly the thing I was looking for though was a case of one dying from the wire top because I had my suspicions. One person told me, "I think your worries about collisions with overhead obstructions are overly pessimistic". While I see how that could sound pessimistic, I knew there where cases like yours AugeredIn when a bird does hit a wooden beam. I would rather be safe than sorry especially if I get green peafowl. Normally peafowl don't seem to fly around so much, but we all know how wild they get if you try and catch them to sell or transport, etc. That is what I was thinking about and also if it is nighttime and they spook I could see them hitting something. So I don't think I will have lots of wooden beams going across the aviary just incase.

I have chicken wire on the top of my 40' x 30' chain link pen with the bird house enclosed. So far all of my birds are safe and none of the have gotten hurt. Since I increased the size of the pen my peafowl fly all over the place!

Pictures??! I want to see how you did the chicken wire my current aviary is 40'x50' so a little similar in size to yours.

Also anyone else if you have photos please share. I am a visual learner. I have a collection of different people's photos of their aviaries that I use for inspiration and I was just looking through that. A lot of my favorite aviaries are duck aviaries. People sometimes go all out making duck aviaries look really fancy.

Speaking of fancy I just checked to see if I have written down what Pinola Preserve uses for their huge aviary tops. They use 1/2" X 3" welded wire for most of their aviaries. I think that kind of wire would be too tough on peafowl. Chicken wire seems to have a good give to it, but I don't know if coated chicken wire is more rigid and not flexible.

I hope bfive replies to this...I want to know how this project turned out: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/729434/help-netting-question

 

[zazouse]

I will get you some photos of how i am doing mine, i have gotten side lined with the fence so it has been put on the back burner, no big deal i will not need it till next year.
Here it is when i started, i have only have 2 more sections of wire to go and then put in the center support to tighten the wire.

The blue thing is a fun doodle i put them on the rail of the fence to keep the wire from catching on the fence when i am pulling it, ezey peazy

had to hurry up with that part darn nosey peas wated to eat it

 

[MinxFox]

I like the metal rods going across and that is a smart idea with the pool noodle.

 

[margaret8]

That is a nice size pen, you been building pens and not sharing :/  your story? HUM 

Woops, sorry about that! I'll post a pix tomorrow!

 

[MinxFox]

Yay more pictures!

 

[zazouse]

I like the metal rods going across and that is a smart idea with the pool noodle.

1 have about 50 of those 20 foot poles and 100 10 foot poles .bout time i used them for something DH brought them home like 15 years ago and never used them for nothing, they are all mine now, i took them over

 

[MinxFox]

You can use them as a perch too. I wouldn't use it as a night roost, but during the daytime my peafowl prefer to perch on the metal pole in the aviary than to perch on the wooden roost. I guess they like the roundness of the pole on their feet.

 

[zazouse]

Beautiful boy is that Peep?
the peas roost up there all the time in the daytime , but i have had injured ones roost up there at night till they felt better.