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My husband built my first aviary in the early part of 2001. I had purchased some Zebra and Bengalese finches and they seemed to settle in fine. I then introduced my first weavers in April of the same year; the male was very handsome indeed in all his breeding colours. A few days later I remember thinking I had done the wrong thing, as the Weavers were very ‘skittish’, although not aggressive.
I knew absolutely nothing about these birds except what I was told when I purchased them, and trying to find information about them was a little difficult. All the birds were breeding freely and were happy to use the nest baskets I had put in, but the weavers were just not interested. I had wanted my birds to have as larger area as possible to be able to fly as I felt this to be very important. There were plenty of perches for them but I had not put in any plant life. This was mistake no.1. Early in 2002 I had persuaded my husband to build a new aviary for me on the opposite side of our garden. As there was already a concrete block wall running the length of the garden I thought it could be used to form the rear of the aviary thereby saving in materials such as wood and wire, also, the aviary would back onto a brick built shed that would serve as an indoor flight. My husband was not sure it was a good idea as this was also the cooler side of the garden. Anyway, we all know that women do eventually get their own way and Roger started to clear the garden in preparation. I scrubbed the concrete block wall and painted it with white masonry paint. Part of the floor was concreted and the other was solid earth, which we decided to cover with shingle so it would serve as a soak-away when washed down. With all the preparation work done all that remained was the construction and the fitting of the panels. Whilst Roger worked hard on this daily, I was sunning myself on the beach with our girls! The birds took to the new aviary very well although they were very reluctant to enter the indoor flight. I had at this time introduced a few plants into the aviary, which were: - cotoneaster, various grasses and some small conifers. During the winter months we always cover the aviary with removable panels covered in heavy-duty bubble wrap, in order to provide extra protection from our weather. A few days after Christmas 2003, I went out as usual to do the morning feed to be faced with dead birds all over the place. Some were in the indoor flight and others in the outdoor area. There were 37 dead in total and were a mixture of species. Words cannot describe how I felt that day. It had not been a particularly cold night and the thoughts of other bird keepers I have spoken to suggested it was night fright that killed them. With hindsight maybe I should have had a post-mortem carried out on a few of them but that was the last thing on my mind, I just wanted to remove and dispose of the bodies in order not to stress the remaining birds any further. After this episode temptation to throw the towel in was great. Roger left me to dwell on it for a few weeks then gradually we talked it over and I decided to give it another go. Our friend Paul (also a very keen bird keeper and breeder) got to hear of my plight and was very supportive, and continues to be so, he was also instrumental in my continuation with bird keeping. We decided we would not leave anything to chance and with the remaining birds shut in the indoor aviary we set about altering the outdoor flight. First we extended the flight to 22 foot, covered the roof two thirds of the way down in heavy-duty bubble wrap, this would act as insulation, then put a clear plastic corrugated roof over the entire aviary. In the past we have had problems with sparrow hawks crashing into the aviary as they could see the birds from the sky, covering the entire aviary has reduced this problem immensely, and also stops wild birds from sitting on the roof possibly spreading disease through their droppings. Roger was worried about the concrete block wall, as it held the cold. He insulated the wall with heavy-duty bubble wrap and then covered that with white faced hard board. We then put some attractive looking trellis against it and added the few plants we had. Next came the exciting task of re-introducing the birds to their new larger flight and re-stocking. I still had a few Zebra Finches and decided I would not buy any more, if left un-checked they can soon over run an aviary as I had discovered in the past. I went to our local bird auction not knowing what or if I was to buy anything, then I heard the sweetest sounding canary singing his little heart out and I decided that he and his mate were to be mine. They were a beautiful pair of Fifes and wasted no time rearing some young. Since then I have added another pair of Orange Bishops, as my first male had died, also Hecks Grass Finches, Java Sparrows, Green Singing Finches, Rosa Bourkes, Gold Breast, Orange Cheek and Red Ear Waxbills and more recently Jacarini Finches and Zosterops. Roger has now completed building a shed for me which will house some of the less hardy birds over the winter. Summer will soon be at an end and I hate the winter months for bird keeping, the aviary will soon be under wraps and we will no longer be able to sit in the garden and watch their antics. Next year there will be a new addition, Roger has the bug and he is building another aviary so that he can now venture in to this wonderful, and often rewarding hobby, and thanks to Paul he already has a Yellow Mantled Whydah to get him started.
Laura’s Story – Update I can’t believe that 18 months has past since I wrote ‘my story’ and so much has changed! I had a very successful breeding year in 2004, and was awarded two certificated from the Foreign Bird Association. One was a Breeder’s award and the second was a Meritorious Award for the breeding of the Orange Bishops and the Jacarini Finches. Although I had good breeding success with my Fife Canaries, I decided that canaries were not the bird for me. I found them to be very aggressive toward their own, to the point of murder! I would never have thought it possible and actually blamed my Orange Bishop for this horrible act! I discussed the incidents with another breeder of Orange Bishops and he said he was certain they would not have killed the Fifes, and advised me it was more likely to be the Fifes themselves. Upon receiving this news I removed my Orange Bishops from their confinement and returned them to the aviary. Weeks passed by and then one day I witnessed the cock Fife attacking his own young. Seeing this I decided they had to go. He had killed all but two of his chicks and I decided to hand rear them. They both had head injuries and only one survived. I took my adult pair to the next local bird auction. Typically, I was late getting there and there were already loads of birds waiting to be bought. My birds were going to be one of the last lots. As usual there were a lot of people coming and going from the sale and after being there for a good two hours, I glanced across to where the birds were waiting on the last table, and they were missing, someone had stolen them! I hope that whoever took them really wanted them; despite the birds aggressive behaviour I would not want to wish them any harm. The shed that Roger built for me has been well used, and houses some of the less hardy birds during the winter months. I decided to remove two of the double breeding cages from the shed and Roger installed a small flight in their place, which currently houses a trio of Amethyst Starlings. The first two starlings I bought were in a very sorry state having very few feathers they looked like aliens. The first thing they did when I put them in the small flight was to have a bath. I don’t think they had bathed for quite some time. With a lot of TLC and live food in no time there were signs of feathers. They are now in fantastic condition and I have also acquired another hen, I couldn’t say no at the knocked down price that was being asked. During 2005 I also added Cape Sparrows, Strawberry Finches and Lavender Finches to my collection. My Waxbills are currently housed in an indoor aviary that Roger built. It is on casters for easy moving. We decided that running oil filled radiators during the winter of 2004 cost us too much money; therefore we felt it far more economical to bring the birds indoors so that they could share our central heating. As my collection is growing and not all of the birds will be compatible with each other I decided to halve my main aviary. I discussed it with Roger and by the end of the day it was done! Unfortunately, due to me having too many Weavers in my aviary, my Weaver breeding success of 2004 was not to be repeated in 2005. I had acquired some Weavers and hoped they would turn out to be hens, alas only 2 turned out to be hens and most of what I had bred myself were also cock birds. I have now sold all my surplus Weavers and I am now left with 2 cock birds and 3 hens. I decided to keep 2 cocks, as I don’t think a little competition will do them any harm, in fact it could spur them on to breed. Roger has now built his own aviary which measures 8’ x 8’ x 7’ high and currently houses his Yellow Mantled Whydahs, which he is hoping to breed this year, a pair of quail, which belong to my daughter, and my pair of Chestnut-Bellied Starlings that Roger bought me for Christmas. All that is left to do now for 2006 is decide which birds will be housed together then sit back and enjoy their antics. |
