Bonding over your birds

However, confining a bird to a small cage may not be morally justifiable for some potential pet owners so a very good idea as a family bonding exercise, is the construction of an outdoor aviary, the conversion of a room in the house to a bird room or an indoor atrium-type aviary.

The advantages of an aviary are numerous. Children can observe close-to-natural bird behaviour, can claim ownership of the concept, and be responsible for all the aspects of its husbandry. Taking care of the feeding and cleaning allows children to bond with these feathered creatures. The management can well become a joint family hobby with the alternation of duties amongst children and parents.

It is important to select a suitable site where the enclosure can be best accommodated where the exposure to sunlight and wind can be advantageously and readily predicted. Birds become ill with draughts and if this trauma persists it can easily become fatal. Sunshine should be present all-year round especially during winter months so a north-eastern to north-western facing cage area is optimal.

All inclement weather must be considered including rain, hail and excessive heat. The structure must be steady in stormy weather, must offer shade and coolness in the heat of the day and all birds must be able to access sheltered facilities where they can perch away from wind. All seasons of the year need to be taken into consideration.

There are endless varieties and possibilities of aviary designs but certain rules need to apply to each one. Birds need room to fly and exercise so flights need to be made as long as possible which means the aviary should rather be longer than higher. Having said this, the cage must be high enough for people to move around in comfortably and not too narrow that birds fly into their owners, and birds should be allowed to perch at least two to three metres above the ground.

Width is not as important as length. A principle of adequacy if it is three times as long as it is wide – obvious for outdoor facilities. In the arranged length of any aviary two-thirds should be allocated to an open screened flight area and the remaining one-third to the shelter.

The foundation is important to secure the aviary to the ground although one can purchase aviary sections of variable shapes and sizes from certain outlets which are very solid in base, frame, mesh fencing, poles and roofing and

are highly durable. Sinking the base into soil or concrete is an option if the area is known to

experience gale winds and severe storms. Sinking the base by at least 10 centimetres on soil

fulfils another important function of preventing rabbits, rats and dogs from digging underneath and birds eventually escaping through the same tunnel. Whatever foundation is created there must be an opportunity for water to wash away easily whether it is gravitational movement of rainwater or hosing down the cage during cleaning.

Read more on planning an aviary next week.