SRSeedBurners

Since the original poster never really came back I don't mind derailing the thread a bit... I was a regular visitor at Tree Top since it's so close to my work. They actually boarded birds there but I would never take mine as it was just too unsanitary for me to ever risk boarding. Our only other option is the breeder we got her from in Mineral Wells but that's a looong drive. Finding someone who understands these are not just pets, they are our feathered kids is tough to do. Not even all bird people think the same. See here what happened when I trusted my sister-in-law around my babys. She had a bird of her own - emphasis on the had, as she let the same thing happen to her bird. I can't believe you have two other Grey people around you - how lucky. I probably do as well but finding them is near impossible. My wife loves these birds too but her biggest drawback is that we'll never get to travel. We don't travel very often but when we do it tends to be several weeks long. Our longest was a bicycle touring trip in Europe for seven weeks. This was prior to our having birds years ago. My daughter has flown the coop so she isn't an option any longer. We're kind of stuck! Thoughts on the aviary: I'm definitely considering the playground wood chips. We considered a flag stone base but the link I posted talked me out of it. We have a temporarily non-flighted Caique and he gets pretty wild and will slip and fall sometimes. I'm not sure how many birds you have but maybe mess can be contained by just feeding in one area? They do tend to make a mess in certain areas so I don't forsee replacing the whole base too often if ever. Maybe just spot treatments under favorite perches. For predator protection bury the wire (I know...near impossible in Texas black clay) or lay it horizontally and then cover with mulch. I'm not so much worried about digging predators as they'll have to kill my dogs first and that won't happen unless it's a mountain lion. Stay tuned as I'll probably start another thread once we get underway. This weekend we're going to lay out the structures and see if we can find a place and configuration we like best.

As for food: we use the Harrisons which is highly regarded as the best parrot pellet. There are other good ones that suffice as long as your bird is getting good fresh foods like veggies, sprouts etc. We also use the pellets secondary to the whole foods, not the other way around but there are others who rely on the pellets as the mainstay.

I have a thread about it http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?201439-Costco-Outdoor-Aviary&highlight=costco. Still toying with ideas at this point. Wow Prosper! Not too far from us. Want to trade some bird sitting - HA! I'm always looking for some parrot people in the area and can never find any. I wish there was an active parrot club here. You're the closest person with a CAG that I know of. Would like to see how your aviary comes along.

murfchck - I'm glad this thread was resurrected as I remember seeing this pic a long time ago. It looks to be very tall - where did you find a dog run that tall? Would love more details as we're about to break ground over here.

Ha Nancy - this reminds me of a response I left on the Grey FB page. Someone was asking to post up what their Grey's favorite toy was. My response: "A cardboard box perched on the edge of the counter (this is important) with stuff in it that can be tossed to the floor below and makes a huge racket (metal spoons, cups). Also things that can be shredded like paper cups etc" We always act 'annoyed' when we 'find' her in the toy box and always make a huge deal out of the mess she's made. She enjoys the racket we make about it even more.

Where are you located Zoomommy? I'm in Allen. I'm also in the process of building an aviary as we speak. I remember seeing this thread from Mrfchuck and forgot about the thatch roof... I may go that route too.

Those are llamas. And you should see the uncut version - it's nothing but goat humping non-stop. Our place only looks nice like this about two weeks of the year. Here in a few weeks we'll start calling it 'Toby The Terror's Sand Flea pit' when it's brown and nothing is alive in the sweltering heat. We're about to have little baby chickens running around in the next few days...I may add that video here as well when they happen.

I wish there was a way to get that here. I need to find a source quick as I'm taking time off this weekend to start the process. Probably won't get to the wire part for a few weeks.

Cute photo. I see you have one of the unusual strains of Grey that thinks it's a bat

It doesn't have any feathers....

What a precious little baby. Wish I would have known Greycie at that age to get some pics. They don't stay that way long. I love love love the young ones, such innocent little creatures.

We seems to be having more feathers everywhere and I'm seeing it a lot on the FB groups too. Must be the molting season...again.

Similar situation - Grycie and Toby both eat with us. We prepare their stuff minus the 'condiments' i.e. salt, seasonings and dressings unless theyre good for them. I wouldnt have it any other way, theyre our babies.

Wow - found a gold mine of information using the exact structures we bought: Cockatoo rescue - tips for building enclosures. Sweeeeet!

Here's an example of one bird queuing the instinct to fly in other Greys: Monkeys see - monkeys do!

Three are better than one right? I only know about this because I was drooling over it a few nights ago - located in Canada: Three ring hanging rope swing

Welcome to the Grey forums. We do like pics, crummy or not. Me personally, I'd like to see pics of Mama Mia and the aviary!

P.S. I did have a question about members thoughts as to placing an aviary over soil. Several places I see where people discourage against it using the 'predator' and 'contaminants' justification. I'm not buying that as I see more of a threat as far as disease coming from local wild birds. There's really no way to stop their influence. Also mosquitos ability to spread West Nile is a bit of a worry. We do plan to plant some cintronella plants and marigolds outside of the structure to help with the bugs. We planted a cintronella plant in a corner of our house that was breeding mosquitos due to the constant moisture. The plants totally eradicated them. Hopefully the birds can be near them but they won't have access to them. The only predators that worry me are the airborne variety. Anything gets on our two-acres that can't fly is usually torn to shreds in short order with our dogs. They also go after hawks and predatory birds but have never landed one as far as I can tell. They won't let one sit around and hunt though which is good as they constantly harass them till they fly off.

Right now I'm leaning towards setting a frame on pier blocks and securing the poles the wood somehow. It does not come with a bottom or bottom railing. Sinking the poles in concrete would loose too much height and I would actually gain some height by using a framing on top of pier blocks. Plus that keeps it somewhat non-permanent. I hate to lay concrete as it's always a beast to remove. Would love to know what your source was and any additional info you might have about this pet project Where do you get your Sunshade? The canvas it comes with is ugly. Like I mentioned, my wife had to beg me three times to go look at it in Costco. I couldn't stand the look of it but I finally started realizing the framing was not such a bad deal. We do plan to put one end of the aviary near a tree that will provide some shade from 10-11am onward as it gets pretty hot here. Not sure what kind of heat they can acclimate to. Maybe even a fan and some misters. We'll leave it up most likely. Without any siding or a roof, it would probably be the last thing standing in a tornado. I want to keep it as open as possible with some added shade in one area. The idea is to get them as much 'out[of]doors' as possible, at least as much as an aviary can provide. Keep the comments and suggestions coming. Wifey is demanding I take a couple days off next week so we can get started on this. I think she has Greycie on her side too.

There's been lots of chatter and pics of outdoor aviaries (jealous). We've been mulling over ideas for a few months. We've considered everything from custom made pergolas with wiring to custom builder options ($18K and it barely extended out from under our patio) to kits, garage/parking structures - you name it. Today we were in Costco and they had this thing setup in the middle of the warehouse. My wife had to get me to look at it three times but I finally came around. My thoughts are: where else are you going to find this kind of solid steel construction for $240? I hate the canvas but I won't use it. Instead I'm thinking of strapping wire to it. We liked the idea so much we bought two. Now we're trying to figure out where to put it and whether to set them side-by-side or end-to-end. I like the side-by-side option as I can take the wire all the way across connecting the two top cross members. They'll have to navigate around the metal side members which will be inside of the aviary but I think that's a pretty small risk. The whole thing won't be a flight cage - just an outdoor place to hang. What do you all think? They are 10ftx20ft. Not sure about the height but I can easily stand in them (6'2"). Costco has a great return policy so it's possible they'll go back but I couldn't resist the price considering the stuff we've looked at that all cost in the thousands and (ridiculous) tens of thousands. The steel frame is very solid: Good shot of the structure without the tarp: I won't be using the canvas as seen here but gives a reference for the size:

Good for Peck! One of many reconnaissance flights. His biggest challenge will be that Megan I'm sure. Those girls...

Never heard of these. I'll have to try. Same as Greywings...I'll be sneaking stuff into them and I'll end up with 15 ingredient pancakes.

I'm planning to take a couple of weeks off and build an aviary. The difference between Greycie sitting in her bird room and sitting outside (currently in a cage) enjoying the air, sunshine and the noises is quite noticeable. Toby doesn't seem to mind either way but I swear he only has a pea for a brain. We're heavily sourcing ideas right now - what to do.

Damn, I forgot to mention, this is not Greycie. This is Seawee, my managers Grey. He showed me the pic at lunch today and I said you have to send me that picture. He said she at some of the meat too! He's chinese so they do things a little differently Not sure I'd give my Greycie a crawfish but I'm sure she'd not mind.

They're oh so irresistible if you season the lil buggers just right!