What to do with walloping great cage?

G'day everyone!

I've been away from the forum for quite a while owing to a whole lot of stuff happening at our place. One of these has been moving house and in the midst of this as well as certain family dramas, I've come by the opportunity to get a really massive prefabricated aviary. It's about three metres long by four metres wide by three metres high. The cage bars are about an inch apart, but it's also fitted with custom stainless steel mesh which is about a centimetre.

As some of you might remember, I have a senior Galah called Dominic, a pair of Alexandrines (the Beaks) called Barney and Madge and a small phloque of Masked Lovebirds. Since the volume of this cage is so large, I'm wondering whether it might be possible to put all my eggs in one basket as it were. I'm here to see what people think of my putting all my birds into the one huge cage.

From usual out-of-cage time, I know that Barney and Madge are wary of Dominic, who only has to raise his hat to send them fluttering away to the farthest end of the room. Dom doesn't go for them, he just likes to maintain his sovereignty over the top of the fridge, where he spends much of his day. Barney and Madge wouldn't dream of going for Dom, so I think those three could possibly live together in peace and harmony.

My worry is the little Lovies. No way any of the bigger birds would hurt them, but I do wonder whether the little darlings might bite the others' toes and hurt them. Has anyone ever kept Lovebirds with larger species? Did it work? Has anyone kept Alexandrines with smaller species? Did they get aggro?

I'd love to hear from anyone who has some wisdom to share. I don't want to put my birds in jeopardy, but I'd LOVE the chance to have just one cage to clean.

I hope everyone's well and happy with lovely healthy birds? Mine are all moulting and so they all look as though they have a hunk of dog-poo on their upper bills at the moment. The Beaks lost their tails the other day and so they're at their absolute worst. We look forward to better things once we make the final move into the new house.

Betrisher

Get some macaws!! : )

Nice to see you online again Trish Do the big birds and lovebirds normally interact? I think that's just too much of a size difference and what would be a minor warning nip between the bigger birds could be a serious injury to a lovebird. Also in my observations, bigger birds seem less active in general than smaller birds. It could be kind of a nuisance to the bigger ones having a bunch of little birds fluttering about all the time.

I think if they all get along, the beaks and Dominic could probably cohabitant peacefully in a aviary that size since they are fairly similar in size. I would perhaps "test" them out in there for a few hours at a time when you're around to see how they all do together before making it a permanent living arrangement. Also might plan to camp out overnight near the cage the first night they spend in there together in case there are issues. I would be sure everybody has their own food and water dish, and that those dishes are spaced a good distance apart to prevent squabbling at meal times. When my moms amazons are in their giant outdoors cage together, the only time there are really "issues" is that Lucy will kick Barney off the perch by the one food dish (of course, they're only out there for a few hours at a time, so it's not an issue if he doesn't get any food, he gets regular meals inside in his cage). They never bite each other, she's just bossy over food.

Let us know how it works out! Also, any pics of this giant cage?

Hi Betrisher,

April has covered the vast majority of the behavior issues, etc. So, I will make a few suggestions regarding the Flight Cage.

Floor of Fight Cage:
I would recommend that the floor be poured concrete about 100 mm deep. Consider having a screen mesh (reinforcement) added to the concrete floor to prevent cracking. Also consider placing footing around the outer edge of the concrete pad. Its depth would be based on the local digging animals you have. Smaller digging animals, between 300 and 400 mm. Larger digging animals, and you may have to go as deep as 1 meter. Check with your local government for any 'code requirements' regarding installing a dog run (they will likely not know what a flight cage is! ).

Regarding the overall size of the concrete pad. It's size should be approximately 150 mm wider /longer than the outside face of the structural posts. This will allow much easier cleaning /trimming around the structure. Also, consider having a concrete entrance in front of the access door. That pad should be 1 meter x 1 meter minimum. Size this feature so that it can be rapidly increased in size, if there is additional concrete available, i.e. dig the area much large (longer) than the planned size. After all, you paid for it, may as well use it, correct! It nothing else you can install crushed stone in this area later.

Placement of the access door is important and should face the closes door from your home! If you have to get to your flight cage rapidly, the shortest distance is the faster way to the cage. Having the access door on the back side, away from the house will only add to the mad rush to the flight cage.

Sun blocks! Assure that you place areas for your Parrots to get out of the Sun /rain when needed. If you choose to use wood assure that you have a schedule to turn them over to avoid mold from growing on the under side.

Some people add lighting and the ability to have an electric outlet 'near' the flight cage. Safety is important, since Parrots seem to be 'pre-wired' to chew on wires! The best choice would be to place a minimum of two or more 'light posts' out and away from the flight cage (one to two meters from the face of the flight cage), with the lighting controlled from the house. The use is for those 'never happen to you' moments when the Parrots are left outside. I would recommend 'Instant-On' area lighting like 100 watt LED bulbs that will lights up the flight cage and also the outer areas as a tool to scare-off unwanted animals. Outlets can be install on the lighting posts.

The amount of lighting and as a result number of light posts is directly linked to the amount of medium to large trees or other cover you have. Since, lighting can be added (and likely will be) you can string outdoor wire to the areas that you are planning on installing the lighting to allow for a test to determine the number and location. It is much better to have one too many than one to few. Spot lights tend to leave dark areas and should only be used if you cross-cover areas from other locations. They can also make it difficult for you see if you happen to look at them.

Depending on the location of your outdoor water source and your flight cage, you may want to extend piping near the access door of the flight cage. You're going to have to clean this large flight cage and allowing for easy access to water will make it much easier! Some flight cages come with a very small access door for a water hose to be slide into the cage. Check to see if yours' has such a feature.

Also, look at the door locking system, really want two separate locking systems one at normal height and another a halfway between that lock and the top of the door. If you leave your Parrots in the flight cage when you are gone for a few hours, ensure you have the ability to Pad Lock the door!!!

Have close friends that have one and the above is what they ended up doing to theirs. Note, they had to take the flight cage down to install the concrete pad after a larger animal dug into the flight cage and killed two of their MACs. That happened during the day time!

Steven, (SailBoat)

I would be careful with the lovies. Little birds like that often tend to have a napolean complex and that may get them hurt, plus all of what kiwi and sailboat said!

Hey Trish, glad to hear things are coming together at your new place!!

Sounds like a terrific aviary, and might be sufficient except for your Lovies. Such a size differential coupled with their apparent boldness may spell trouble.

Might it be possible to modify a portion of the aviary to sequester the little ones? There still might be difficulty with access to beaks and toes, but might prove a compromise.

Is there a walk-in door to allow ease of access? Sounds like a wonderful opportunity, and I agree with all of the prior posts!!

Hi Trish, it's great to see you here. I'm glad to hear the move is over. The new aviary sounds like a great find. I have no experience with Alexandrines or lovebirds but I hope you find a way for your flock to enjoy the new accommodations. I agree with everyone's advice, safety first.

Oh wow, thank you all for your excellent replies! This is exactly the sort of stuff I needed to hear. Kim (hubby) has sorted the lovebird problem out: all we do is move their existing cage inside the new aviary. It won't be hard to section a corner off from the bigger birds to avoid bite-fights and - problem solved! Matthew (my son) is ecstatic at the idea of a single large cage to clean instead of all the smaller ones.

Allee, I'm afraid the move's not over. It's been seven months and it's only been happening in dribs and drabs. There are lots of reasons for that and most of them are really embarrassing, so I won't go into them here. Thing is, we're MUCH closer to getting there, so it's all good. I nearly fell off me chair when I showed the pic of the cage (secondhand) to Kim and he said 'Wow! That would really be the sort of thing you need, wouldn't it?' The Beaks will be able to actually fly around in it and even Dommie could practice on his dear old wings. I have plans for a new, revised playgym for him to really help him get the exercise he needs without having to fly too much. I might even investigate the possibility of getting him a friend in the future. He grew up with three other galahs and I've always felt he would like galah company again.

So, yeah. Excitement plus! All I have to do is get my offer in to the seller ASAP and then find some way to transport the cage to our new place. ATM, it's looking as though dear Kim will have to hire a truck and drive it down the freeway.

One other piece of news that has me pretty excited (maybe not so much anyone else, but I'm still grinning from ear to ear) is that I got an HD and a D in my Uni exams last trimester. I'm embarrassed to say I didn't really try in French, so I'm dropping that. Next year, I'll be taking second-year Latin and (wait for it...) first year Classical Greek. I KNOW it sounds really head-up-y'-fundament, but I'm LOVING the study and I figure I'm an old lady and should be humoured to do what I like. If we do add another galah to our family, its name will probably be something like Euclio or Diodorus or Iphigenia. LOLOLOL!

Oh! One question I forgot to ask about was what do you all do to deter or prevent thieves from getting into your cages? I can deal with the rodent and snakely varieties pretty easily, but what about larcenous b@stards like the ones who stole our lovebirds a couple of years ago? I'd like to set up an electric fence, but that's against the law in our parts...

Anyway, thanks again for all the brilliant advice. You guys ROCK! Once I finally get established at my new address, I hope to be back here a lot more often.

Love,
Betrisher XXXX

Ah, a cage within a cage is probably the easiest and most sensible solution!!