Separating Dales enclosure

[Candy]

Now that we've gotten Dale's enclosure up my husband wants to separate it so Dale can have one part and our Cockatiels can have the other. My question is will the chainlink fence or the hardware cloth be bad for the birds if they were to bite on it? I don't know if anyone would know the answer to this just asking. Thanks. Candy

 

[Yvonne G]

I have an outdoor aviary that's made of galvanized wire, probably the same type of metal that is used to make hardware cloth or chain link. Hook bills CAN get zinc or lead poisoning if they bite off paint containing these chemicals, but I haven't had a problem with my hook bills getting sick because of the galvanized aviary wire. In fact, I've never seen the birds actually chew on the wire, they only use their beaks while climbing around on the wire. But, I think the cockatiels will be able to fit through the chain link and escape. If you go to the trouble of adding smaller wire to the chain link to make it bird proof, why not just build them their own aviary. Eventually Dale is going to be too big for half of the dog run and will need more room anyway.

Yvonne

 

[Candy]

Thanks Yvonne, I will pass this information on to my husband since he's the one that will be building it for me. I would love to build something bigger for them I feel so sorry for them being trapped in these small cockatiel cages all winter. I'm actually afraid to put them both together because ones a boy and ones a girl and I really don't want any babies so right now we have them separated. I actually didn't want two cockatiels, but I found one across the street from us on the ground and about 1 month later the boys found another one on the street in pretty bad shape. Do you have any pictures of your bird enclosure? I'd love to see them. Candy

 

[Yvonne G]

Do you have any pictures of your bird enclosure? I'd love to see them. Candy

Nothing much to look at, I'm afraid. I could make it more eye-appealing, but just don't seem to have the time and inclination. I built what I call a lath house on the north side of the garage. It is 32' x 40', framed and has lattice sides. I built it around an existing mullberry tree for shade. It was built to house the winter warm houses for the Manouria tortoises. This is a view from the driveway, or of the west side. Its covered in plastic until the weather warms up:

Sorry about my little construction project in the foreground with Little Brother, the Construction foreman. I'm working on re-facing the shed for the leopard tortoises and this is where I'm cutting the plywood.

Here's a shot of the lath house from the north side. You can see the mullberry tree here:

This is inside and a view of the trunk of the tree:

And here's the bird flight:

I was trying to get in between the bars so you can see the birds, but I cut off Birdy Boy's head:

Yvonne

 

[Candy]

Thank you so much for posting those. They have a lot of room there. I'm looking out in my backyard trying to figure out what and where I could build it. I know I'm going to do something because I don't like them being in these cages and not being able to fly much. I know that their ground feeders and I also know that they like very hot weather so being outside in the summer doesn't bother them. I will show my husband the pictures and we will come up with something. I'll keep you posted. Thank you again for your help. Candy

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Candy: I had three 4'x4'x6' flights with one pair of Brotogeris in each flight. I wanted to try my hand at flock breeding, so I had my son-in-law combine the three flights into one long flight. There's plenty of room for the birds to fly and not feel like caged-birds. And now, over the years, I've lost a bird here and there and have ended up with only one pair in this great big flight. And a note: the flock-breeding idea wasn't a good one. The dominant pair had babies, but wouldn't allow the other two pairs to breed, even though I had boxes on either side of the flight. So it was a real bust, because when each pair was in its own flight I had three sets of babies every year. Now I'm down to the dominant male and his daughter...not the ideal breeding situation, but that's what's left. I think they have eggs in the box. When these birds are gone, I'm not going to get any more. It has been a real struggle keeping them comfortable in this hot weather, and I don't think its fair to the birds to have them here. I'm trying to talk my grandson into giving me his red-lored conure. She's a real neglected bird, who SCREAMS all the time because she wants attention. So if I can get her, I'll separate the flight and put her outside where she can be a bird.

Yvonne

 

[Laura]

I'd love to put my cockatoo outside in a aviary.. Maybe I should start looking for one.. I love him, but I feel bad for him in his cage.. and when he screams... I SCREAM... Ack! If the aviary was big enough.. I could sit inside with him... He's a love.. but can be destructive if allowed out much.

 

[Yvonne G]

I'd love to put my cockatoo outside in a aviary.. Maybe I should start looking for one.. I love him, but I feel bad for him in his cage.. and when he screams... I SCREAM... Ack! If the aviary was big enough.. I could sit inside with him... He's a love.. but can be destructive if allowed out much.

When Baretta was on tv (really dating myself here) I wanted a cockatoo badly!!! However I did some research and learned that they are real babies and need attention all the time, so I talked myself out of one. I was too busy to have any more "babies" in the house! But they're a beautiful bird. My grandson's red-lored conure is in the living room (a very quiet, not used room) and when she screams, the African Grey, who lives in the family room, hollers, "SOPHIA!!!" in a very loud voice that sounds just like my daughter! "Sophia" is the conure's name.

Yvonne

 

[Candy]

I'd love to put my cockatoo outside in a aviary.. Maybe I should start looking for one.. I love him, but I feel bad for him in his cage.. and when he screams... I SCREAM... Ack! If the aviary was big enough.. I could sit inside with him... He's a love.. but can be destructive if allowed out much.

When Baretta was on tv (really dating myself here) I wanted a cockatoo badly!!! However I did some research and learned that they are real babies and need attention all the time, so I talked myself out of one. I was too busy to have any more "babies" in the house! But they're a beautiful bird. My grandson's red-lored conure is in the living room (a very quiet, not used room) and when she screams, the African Grey, who lives in the family room, hollers, "SOPHIA!!!" in a very loud voice that sounds just like my daughter! "Sophia" is the conure's name.

Yvonne

That is sooo funny Yvonne and yes I remember Baretta used to love to watch him. I loved his Cockatoo, but then my brother and his wife had one and after watching them there was no way I wanted one. Oh I just have to tell you that my neighbor just called and told me to look at my front window and when I did there drinking out of my cats water dish is an opossum (medium sized). I love to watch them they really don't freak me out or anything, but this was at 10:30 a.m. and I'm wondering what he/she is doing up must have been pretty thirsty. Anyway now I know that Dale would not be safe without the hardware cloth around the enclosure so that's next. Candy

 

[galvinkaos]

Candy have you posted pics of your birds?

Dawna

 

[Candy]

No Dawna I haven't. I'm just finally getting to know a little about how to post them on Photobucket. I've got to practice so it becomes easier for me. It's a lot better when pictures are posted. I will try that next. Haven't heard from you lately how did jury duty go for you? And how are your tortoises doing? Candy

 

[galvinkaos]

The guy pled guilty the 3rd day of jury selection. So we all got sent home I don't know if you saw my post. Jefferson died last weekend. But Maude, Doris and Fred are doing real well. I am keeping a close eye on Maude now for anything that seems different. Work has been crazy so I have read alot and not posted much lately. We are driving to AZ so I had 4 hrs to surf and read. We are almost there I saw the pics of Dale and your boys. All very handsome.

Dawna

 

[Candy]

Are you going for spring break or is it business? I did read the post about Jefferson I'm sorry due you have any clues why it happened or not? Thanks, I actually have 4 boys 23 yrs., 22 yrs. 11 yrs. and 9 yrs. Well Actually Alexander will be turning 12 in on May 8th. My husband and I are on spring break right now and so are the kids. We've been cleaning their room this is the second day you really know your kids have too much crap when that happens. Thrift store tomorrow. Candy

 

[Gulf Coast]

I have seen chain link fence used for big birds but the holes would be to big for tiels. You also have to consider rats/mice and snakes. I remember once when I was a kid my next door neighbor had their bird sitting on their front porce during the day, and a snake had come up and slid between the bars.. Killed the bird, ate the bird and then couldnt get back out the cage bars because he had the bird in his stomach. Imagine their suprise, going out to bring tweety inside and have a cage full of snake...

 

[Candy]

Actually Dales enclosure is almost done now and we've decided not to share it with the birds. We are putting hardware cloth on the inside of it though so we don't have to worry about those things happening. Candy