How to make a heavy duty bird aviary for under $1000.00.

How to make a heavy duty bird aviary for under $1000.00.

Hello all I have just finished my bird aviary , so I would like to share how we did it and make it heavy duty and cost effective. Now this set up is only good for larger birds, I’m only letting my golfin, macaw and triton use this. The golfin is the smallest bird so she was the guide line on how small the openings can be. To keep the cage from rusting on the ground I used railroad ties to lift the cage off the ground, and make it taller due I’m 6.2 feet and the cage I got was 6.0 feet. I used a flat part on the yard and placed the ties in a 10.5 square for the foundation. The cage was the easy part lows and tractor supply have a premium dog kennel for about $499.00 http://www.tractorsupply.com/pet-care/pet-containment/pet-kennels-pens/welded-wire-kennel-10-ft-w-x-10-ft-l-x-6-ft-h-3606740 . the reason i used this one is the square corners and heavy construction. After I put the cage together I repainted the cage due to shipping scraped the paint off in places ,and I only want to do this one time .the top was what I had made buy my local fence guy, and cost me about $300.00 , but I went with very heavy fencing regular will be just as good and it will be cheaper. I had him make the top 10.4 x 10.4 feet to overlap the cage, and put a extra support bar for hanging toys and ext. to attach the top to the cage I used automotive hose clamps just in case, but the top does weigh 100lbs. For stands I used pvc pipe and made a feeding trough out of 4inch pvc pipe and also used hose clamps to hold it in place. I will be posting pics as soon as I get all the toys and drift wood in place, but the birds are out there now and are happy to be outside with no fear of hawks. I know this seems to be over board in heavy duty gear but I hope to be using it for many years, and I feel safe to leave the birds outside .Will post pics soon.


Logan

Thats sounds great! I would love to see photos!

Can't wait for the pic's !!!!!

im lookin foward to pics also

Very nice DIY project...Bring on the pics

Me too! I wanna see! Just last week I mentioned to my husband that I wanted to build an aviary for my macaw and a smaller on for our conures.

Let's see some pics! I'm thinking of building one for my keet too!

Hi All, I'm new to this site and don't want it to look like I'm making waves here, just felt it would be irresponsible if i didn't comment on a few observations that I've read in this post, in no way logan do I want you to take this as a personal attact, the use of railroad ties may not be your best choice as a base for your enclosure, RR ties are treated with Creosote, a very toxic chemical to both animals and humans, even if kept out of reach of your ever chewing Too's and Macaw, the fumes, especially heated up by the hot summer sun are also toxic, you also stated you had to repaint due to shipping damage, while I'm sure the manufacturer didn't bother using non-toxic paint I hope you were able to find some, unfortunatly in my 30 plus years experience in the avian field I've seen way to many deaths due to folks using off the shelf spray paint to rehab cages, and lastly the use of fencing for enclosures, almost all fencing today is galvanized, galvanizing uses zinc as the process, and zinc is also a very toxic substance to our feathered friends, not trying to come off as a know-it-all, just passing along some friendly advice.....Bob.

WOW! Good advice there, Bobby. Hopefully he sees this before he puts his birds in it. Save himself from a heartache!

Thanks Bobby,

I was worried about the treated lumber but I figured the birds could not reach it. I never thought about the fumes. Thank you for the comment on galvanized fencing, this is what I intended on using for my bird aviary. Do you have any suggestions as to what type of safe matreials can be purchased at Lowe's or Home Depot? What material is chicken fence made of?

Hi All, Well I'm no expert on galvanized wire and fencing, be seems I remember there are a couple ways that its manufactured, one is by dipping it in zinc paint(Hot Dipped),most common for chain link,and electro plating, the safer of the two processes but still uses zinc paint, you can usually tell just by looking and feeling, the dipped metal is usually rough and bumpy with small globs of zinc paint, and ashy in color, if you rub it and that light grey or white ashyness comes off on your hand, thats the zinc paint oxidizing, and thats what the birds get in thier mouths by climbing around the aviary, and unfortunatly get heavy metal poisoning,(welded wire) is used by the majority of folks who build outdoor aviaries and breeder cages, the electro plated version of this is usally smoother and little to no globs of excess paint, however the zinc paint on this will also oxidize just at a slower rate, I've never done it myself but I have heard that a way to combat the oxidizing on electro plated wire is to take a nylon brush and scrub the wire with vinigar a couple times a year, that it takes off the already oxidized paint and slows the process of oxidation down, like I said I'm no expert, just passing along stuff I've heard and learned over the years, best bet it to talk to folks at local bird clubs, breeders in your area ect, theres nothing like a face to face to pick peoples brains about what works and what doesn't,learn from thier mistakes instead of heartaches from yours....hope this helps Bob.

Bobby34231 said:

Hi All, I'm new to this site and don't want it to look like I'm making waves here, just felt it would be irresponsible if i didn't comment on a few observations that I've read in this post, in no way logan do I want you to take this as a personal attact, the use of railroad ties may not be your best choice as a base for your enclosure, RR ties are treated with Creosote, a very toxic chemical to both animals and humans, even if kept out of reach of your ever chewing Too's and Macaw, the fumes, especially heated up by the hot summer sun are also toxic, you also stated you had to repaint due to shipping damage, while I'm sure the manufacturer didn't bother using non-toxic paint I hope you were able to find some, unfortunatly in my 30 plus years experience in the avian field I've seen way to many deaths due to folks using off the shelf spray paint to rehab cages, and lastly the use of fencing for enclosures, almost all fencing today is galvanized, galvanizing uses zinc as the process, and zinc is also a very toxic substance to our feathered friends, not trying to come off as a know-it-all, just passing along some friendly advice.....Bob.

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Welcome to our forum.....Bob Please to meet you
We are always open for input and suggestions.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge on the safety tips when making a new cage. Sure many members will keep this in mind, when making a new cage.
Enjoy your stay here,