New Aviary - New Start

Since I'm a newbie to the site I thought I would share with you my experience of building a new aviary.

Wow! Why? I hear you ask
Well firstly I am full time carer for both my parents and secondly my Dad has been helping me.
Its a big achievement for us both and neither of us knows exactly what we are doing so I thought you might like a laugh

Well my first job, after buying the smaller shed and transporting it home myself was to remove my 12 budgies from the old aviary.
Most of my budgies had been born in this cage so it was their first ever outing.
I dont have any quail yet but I am excited about getting some soon, thanks to Derek.
9 of the 12 came out really easily but the other 3 were monsters!
2 bit my finger until it bled and the other attacked me properly. She bit my throat and kept biting, so I let go of her and she then started to flap her wings, still biting my throat! I am certain she had the full intention of ripping my throat out!

Maybe I should start a side line of killer guard budgies, they rip jugulars out on command

So then, with the budgies safely removed to the dining room I set about dismantling the inside of the old aviary.
I started by removing the heater, then the panelling, then the inbuilt cage. Once all that had gone I could then remove the insulation.

By the time I had done all that it was time to get ready for bed, so the rest had to wait until the next day.

Today, 19th of August, my Dad & I had the dubious pleasure of climbing on the shed roof to remove the felt. Once the felt had gone and the inside was totally stripped we could start to dismantle the old shed, it was rotten all the way around the base so it had to go really.
The old shed was an 8ft x 10ft and the new shed is 6ft x 4ft.

This is the old shed, as you can see it has collapsed on one side and there was no way to paint it on 2 sides.
Sorry about Dads bum in the piccy
(captions on a postcard to............)

This is the inside, by the door, as you can see it had rotted all the way through.

More rot at the bottom

Rot all the way across the back of the shed.

So as you can see, I couldnt save the old shed, it just HAD to go. A smaller shed was needed so I could get to paint it on 3 sides.


This the space once the old shed had come down. Lots of space for the new smaller shed & a flight!

I had previously spent 3 days preparing my new shed. I had painted it all, inside & out with a good quality shed paint. On the side that is going next to the garage I used lots of Thompsons Water Seal, inside & out as well as the shed paint so it shouldnt rot too much.
That edge will be sealed against the rain anyway. That was the only side of the old shed that hadnt rotted away!

The new shed, painted and protected in plastic, ready to go up.

The last job of the day was to go buy some wood to rest the base of the new shed on.
Hopefully the next post will start to show some results.

Jo

It'll look fantastic!

Jo

Hi All,

The work we did today, 20th August feels like we have run a marathon. I had forgotten putting a shed up was such hard work.

Dad & I started by laying the base for the shed. We used scaffolding poles as these shouldn't rot and are so thick that rust shouldn't be too much of a problem either.
We then laid the floor on the base. All seemed to be going well until my 2 dog (Scampi & Squeeky) decided to help.


After being told by my dogs that they needed to go for a walk I got back and started to put the sides on.
There was a bit of discussion as to what side should go on first. We plumped for the side nearest the garage as we thought this could be lent up against it. Not quite. We put the side on and it didnt look quite right so we ended up putting the back on first, then the side so the corner was right.
After much moving and gently tapping, we got it right and could then screw it down.


Yayyyyy. We were on a roll now!
It wasnt long before we had got the other 2 sides on and it was starting to look like a shed.

But like everything else it was too good to be true.

When it came to putting the roof on I lifted it up and guess what?
It didnt fit!!!
The front was higher than the back, the sides were squewwy and the central supporting strut wouldnt fit at the front!

So, after about 2 hours of playing with my power tools (yes, women can use power tools as well hahaha) I manged to get the roof to fit.

yipppeeeeeeee

So very quickly I nailed and screwed it in place just in case the shed changed its mind and wanted to shift again.



We had started work at around 10am and by the time I had the roof on and the felt it was 8pm and starting to rain and get dark.

I packed in a for a it while I fed my parents, my dogs, cat & budgies then 30 minutes later I was in the garage starting work on my flight.
Im not sure the flight will be exactly perfect because by 10pm I had had enough but I will start on it again tomorrow.

Once the flight is finished I just have to insulate the shed and get some electric in there for the heater & light.

We will have to wait & see what tomorrow brings. Whether I get all the flight panels made or just some of them, but in the meantime, what sort of toys and other accessories should I be thinking of getting for my quails when they arrive?
Any advice??
Also, what sort of flooring should I get for the flight? I have loads of gravel, I have some soil in there, but whats the best?

Jo

Hi Jo,
It's nice to see another woman having a go, although you know we make a much better job ha ha only playing fella's.
It looks really good anyway i can't wait to see part 3
Hayley.

Wow it looks awesome so far! I don't know where you find the time, and energy.
I don't really know anything about aviaries as I've never had one myself but I'm sure I read somewhere (possibly on here) that slabs make a good flooring as they are easy to clean and disinfect, but I'm sure someone else will be able to help you more.
As for toys my quails spend hours infront of their little mirror pecking and calling at it, and they also love a tray of grass to dig and play in, oh and a dush bath.
Can't wait to see more pics!

Hi All,

I havent got the pics yet but will do soon.

Today I have been putting in the base surround for the aviary flight. Which wasnt too bad until all my masonary drill bits strated to break, one by one!

I got the side of my flight built.

Tomorrow, Saturday (22nd Aug) is the long marathon day for me.
I have to get the side of the flight up, hang the door, build the front of the flight and screw it all together and then make the roof.

If I have time after that I need to make the outer door for the flight and then insulate and panel the shed.

I will post piccys on here as soon as I can.

Do quail like to root through old rotting wood??
I dug an old apple tree stump out and wondered if to leave it in or not? I have also found some old pot plant pots and a legnth of plastic water pipe around 12" in diameter.

I have a red current plant to plant in the flight if it will go, what do you think??

Keep your fingers crossed it all goes well for tomorrow and not too much goes wrong.

Jo
ps: I think the electrians are coming at the weekend sometime to put the electrics in for me

Sounds absolutely brilliant - quail heaven - can't wait to see the finished photos. Well done you.

Well, it was D Day, I had to get it done today or almost die trying. Sadly I almost died trying.
I didnt get it done!

With the help of my Dad and a friend we managed to get the side of the flght up. We then started work on the front. This was the hardest as we had lots of panels to do and make a door.







It just needs the aviary wire putting on now and the door fixing on with brackets.

The roof then needs to be put on but hopefully this shouldnt take forever!

I finished paneling the inside and then started on filling the gap for insualtion. I used expanding foam (2 tins) as I thought this would expand out. It says on the tin it can be used for insulation, but this stuff does not do exactly what it says on the tin!
I used both tins and I hardly even filled one side of the doorway of the shed!!



I started work at 10am and finally packed in at 9.30pm with just 30 minutes off all day for something to eat.

I have decided that since my experiment with the expanding foam failed, tomorrow I am just fixing in the panelling inside the shed and then later in the year I am going to use some 50mm thick polystyerene to insulate with.
This will save time for me tomorrow and will cost less than using the expanding foam.

Once my check list of jobs, wire the front, fix the door, put on the roof and fix in the panelling, has been done I need to make another door way to get into the aviary, then if any birds escape as I enter the flight, they wont be able to fly away.

If I have to, Im going to do a "bodge it & scarper job" on the outer door just for now.
I can fix it properly later.
All I have to do then is to get some branches in for my budgies as my quail arent ready yet.
But when they are I am fully expecting them to have BIRDINGHAM Palace!

Please keep your fingers crossed for me as tomorrow (Sunday 24th Aug) is absolutely my last day to get most of the jobs done.
Piccies will be posted as soon as I can, but right now I am soooooooo tired

Jo

That's looking great - can't wait to see it finished!

Hi,

Its Sunday 24th of August, a date I will always remember, because at 7.20pm, with a bit of help from my friend, I have just about finished the aviary

Its not totally finished, it needs a bit of work on the inside and the outer door needs making, but for the next few days it is as done as its getting!
The budgies are in and that is all that matters for now.


This is a piccy of my friend Gina putting on the aviary wire on the front by the door.

I didnt get chance to take many piccies as it was all hands on deck today.

This is a piccy of Gina & 2 of her dogs at the door of the flight. The budgies are inside, but they still needed to see their cage for comfort.

As you can see there is a branch both inside the shed and in the flight and some toys in the flight for them.

I have made a mistake though.
I didnt measure the width of the door properly and now I have to move the water bin!
Never mind, if that is all that goes wrong from now on I will be very happy indeed.


This piccy is of Fingers. The only budgie I have that will happily sit on my finger and be my friend. He is one of my rescues. He is really pleased inside his new home and Fingers and his friends are now investigating the massive space they have outside.

There wont be much work needed now and then it will be ready for the quail I have coming when they are old enough.

I have a mirror for them, some plant pots and a tube for them to run through and I have got a black or red current bush to go in the flight.

Just a bit more work, then Im done.
Yipppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Jo I'm sure the budgie's & new quail will be delighted in thier fancy new home

An update...............

I had to go to Scotland for a few weeks, Dad wanted to go fishing.

So I made the shed safe by putting wall paper on the inside of the shed. I had partially covered the inside with some panelling, but what didnt get covered got covered in wall paper.

It kept the budgies occupied, pulling the wall paper off whilst I was away. I have 12 of them........for now.



To make for easy cleaning I have used thick, padded lino for the floor. I cut it large so that it could go up the walls for a short distance, to protect the wood when mopping the floor.

This picture shows the torn wall paper, some of my budgies and the lino.

Once I had cut the lino to size my next job was to improve the state of the flight.



There were holes and bumps all over because I had removed 2 stone flags to prevent flooding (supposedly!).
Orville (the green one) was inspecting what I was doing.





Now some people say that quail are stupid, but not having any yet I cant comment, but what I can say is that budgies are very helpful.
This is a picture of Dingle. He was helping me paint the outside with eco wood preserver
Doesnt he look pretty now that he a 2 tone?



This picture shows the lino cut to size and the branches back in.

No doubt I will find them playing chess on it one day




This last picture shows the outside flight. It is now clean & tidy and the holes have been filled with gravel which should help to prevent flooding.
There is still an area of soil showing so the birds can scratch around.

The last few jobs that need doing are:

To buy some 10mm polystyerene sheets to insulate the shed.
To finish lining the shed with ply wood.
To put in some electricity to run the light and heater. (luckily my neighbours are qualified electricians )
To erect an outer door into the flight to stop any escapees.

I will update soon, but hopefully it will be done in a few days.

Jo