Undecided on what to occupy my aviary?

[Joshuashaw]

Hi all, I'm new here and after a bit of advice on what to house inside my newly build aviary/outdoor enclosure.

I have built an aviary, approx 4m wide, 7m long and 2m tall. The sides enclosured with a small gauge flexible chicken netting materials, the roof is made with 1 3/8" gamebird netting so strong enough to enclosure anything with limitations. Approximetly there is about 1.5/2ft of the netting into the ground and coiled back on it self and then the trenched filled with pea gravel and the dugout topsoil and rocks to accomdate for the level of the terrain.

The ground is all loamy soil, I have spreaded alot grass seed so awaiting some rain (not had any in a fortnight, certainly not like the UK at all) and I also have quite a few shrubs, bushes and grasses to plant. Also on the look out for felled trees with branches to make use of the height. The only thing is it is quite a steep descent from top to bottom which had me worrying whether it'd be suitable for my desired waterfowl species, ideally I wanted a pair of Mandarin, silver bahama pintail and a pair of red billed tree ducks.

I don't have a natural pond, but I planned to put and semi-submerge a 150ltr container, I have been monitoring quite a few suitable containers with bungs in so once a week I can just drop it and apply fresh water.

What do you guys think? Any idea advice, opinions all appreciated?

Many thanks J

 

[Mark HSV-AL]

Full winged Mandarins, Wood Ducks or Ringed Teal because they are perching birds, use wood duck boxes and in such a small pen they would have room to perch and are not dependent on ground boxes or grass to lay their eggs. The Red Billed Whistling ducks can be very aggressive, especially so when sitting and after the babies hatch. I'm not sure that I would buy the Red Billed Pintails because of your water setup and nest boxes but you will probably buy whatever catches your eye and learn the hard way as most of us did.

One last thing, build ramps into and out of your water if it has steep sides to keep ducks from drowning and keep us informed on what species you decide to keep.
Good Luck!

 

[pheasant24]

Ringed Teal! they're the best!