Hello Fellow Bird Lovers!

Hello Fellow Bird Lovers!

We have a pretty large flock that currently shares our living and dining rooms. We let them out of their cages during the day for playtime but we'd like to create a bird room or an indoor/outdoor aviary (and save our house from beaks!). I'm hoping y'all might have some opinions, suggestions, comments, complaints, We'll take anything you've got to offer!

We'd like to move 14 of them into a new area, but what kind of area is what has us stumped!
We have 7 large birds -5 macaws, 2 cockatoos
We have 7 smaller birds - 1 cockatoo, 3 amazons, 2 CAGs, 1 cherry head conure.
We also have 6 other birds that will remain in the house for various reasons (old injuries, too small, etc.) if we decide to move them outdoors to a flight type enclosure.

Options we are considering -
1. Build a room addition with lots of windows or a sunroom (metal and glass) onto our existing home, approx 12wx24lx8h - in this environment they'd have lots of toys and places to climb, and would still have their cages.
2. Build an outside structure - specifically a large metal shed of sorts...total size 24wx30lx12h with a room inside this area that is 24wx10lx12h which houses their cages (also a sink, steel cabinets, windows, etc.), the remainder of the structure will have a roof and the sides and front are to be covered with 1/2in x 1in 12 ga stainless steel wire. Room will have concrete floor, and all edges will have 3'd x 2'w concrete footer, remaining floor space is native dirt (to plant in). Skylights are located throughout structure. Open end of building faces east. If necessary we could temp control the room.
3. Build an outside structure - same size but without the room, just a back wall (west wall), and one side (north wall). - No cages here, no cement floor (just footing at perimeter), all space is for flying around. Again dirt floor with trees, etc.

Things concerning us -
* If we go with option 1 - they will still be caged birds...with lots of playtime outside their cage, but no real flapping around! - The space will be smaller because of expense. It will be easier on us, cleaning wise.
* If we go with option 2 - our climate (Northern CA) - dry hot summers reaching 115f (sometimes more), and can be over 100f for weeks at a time. Winters have fair amount of rain and significant wind, reaching freezing temps approx 3-7 days per winter....can they handle it? I have to vaccinate my horses for west nile virus, are the parrots at risk?
* If we go with option 2 or 3 - will they all get along??? We kind of feel like we'll need to put in cameras and microphones so we can listen in!
* If we go with option 2 or 3 - should we separate the areas into 2 different enclosures (so no smaller beaks are harassed by larger ones!)? or is there enough room for them to be together?
* Is any of these options really enough space...? I figure they weigh in total, approx 10,500 grams, giving each gram of weight a 2.2 cubic foot means they'll need 4,704 cubic feet (is this right!!!!????)
* How do you introduce them to an outdoor type enclosure - everyone in all at once?
* I'm assuming spring time is the best time to acclimating them to an outdoor life, is that correct?

We'd be soooooooooo grateful for any advice you may offer.

We all thank you for your help!
Alicia & Matt (Keepers of the Flock!)
Wyatt - Green wing Macaw
Blue boy & Laura - Blue and Gold
Jerri - Scarlet
Bobo - Catalina
Gus & Mackie - CAG
Paco, Cesar, & Oscar - Amazons - Mealy, Yellow Nape, Blue Front
Stu - Lesser Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Louie - Umbrella Cockatoo
Heina - Moluccan Cockatoo
Missy - Cherry Head Conure
Gray, Jojo, Capone - the Cockatiel gang
Piggy - Green Cheek Conure
Bird - Golden Capped Conure
Ren - Nanday Conure

WOW!! What a flock you got there. Wish I had that many, lol. What's your secret to affording to care for all of these birds? Did you win lotto? lol.

Welcome!!! Lots of friendly members on this forum to help assist you with all your needs. I'll help you with what I know.

The room plan you have to add to your house is fine as long as each bird stay in it's own cage.

For the outdoor aviaries you mentioned, you'd only be able to place a few big birds, not all of your big birds, due to size of it. Too many and there will be bickering and fighting over food and territory. As for the weather, it should be fine as long as they have comfortable shade and access to a lot of clean water during the summer. And when it gets cold during the winter, just lay a tarp over them (just be sure they can't chew it).

Most parrots of different species can easily coexsist amongst each other but some can't. Not sure what they are but other members will chip in to help you determine that.

Hope I helped a bit.

Hello there, pleased to meet you and your flock! And what a flock it is!! You have quite an aviary going on in that house. You must be very busy.

Here's an almost completely different plan altogether; build on fairly large structure added onto your house with a separation in the center. The reason why I think the barrier should be addd is because of the worry that they won't get along. Put smaller, less territorial birds on one side, (cockatoos, cockatiels, and conures are compatible, and can be kept together). On the other side, keep your Macaws, amazons, greys there. You have a dillemma there with the amazons, as they are known to be more territorial and aggressive towards other species. That would almost call for a third section on the enclosure.

The enclosure should be made from durable materials; like glass, and metals that are zinc free. Metals with zinc can cause metal poisining, with which; the prognosis can be deadly.

Best wishes with your big project!

Thanks so much for the input!!!

Welcome to the forum. Good heavens but you have your hands full!

PQ makes some good points. Could you build something that maybe had 4 sections? 3 for the birds as suggested above and 1 for supplies, toys, etc.

As for he weather, I'm betting you'll be okay. Our breeder has most of her breeding pairs in outdoor aviaries. We had almost four weeks of 100+ degree weather this summer. A misting system would probably be a good investment for summer time.

What do you all think about the cold weather... I don't plan on providing breeding boxes (there's enough parrots in our world that are controlled by humans! I don't want to add to that! lol!) - I'd never forgive myself to find them frozen to their perch! Does anyone know how much cold they can handle? (they will have a large area that is covered on 3 sides and a roof which they can access...but is that enough?)
Thanks again, I appreciate everyone's time so much!
~ A

You can just cover it up with a tarp during the cold weather, they should be fine, just be sure they can't reach it or chew it.