aviary for my ruby but can I add other birds?

[joekellner]

Hi everyone. I want to build an aviary for my grey Ruby. But have a couple of questions. 1: I live in the UK and I was wondering what kind of temperatures can they live in? It's quite cold at around 5-10 atm. Also what other birds could I keep with her? Love birds, finches etc? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks ks.

[murfchck]

That is a tough question for many reasons. 1- It would all depend on the type of aviary you build. I do not leave mine out 24-7 and rule of thumb for us is 65 degree is okay with the sun out and no heavy winds, but a Texas 65 would be a different 65 in the UK. Would Ruby be protected from the predators, could they dig under and get to her, would you be putting in a stone or concrete footing? Would there be an area she could go to to get out of winds and rain? 2- Other birds, each bird is different where they may or may not tolerate another bird in their territory. I have 1 grey who hates anyone near her so when outside she has to be in a cage by herself, she just doesn't play well with others. Then I have another who use to be best friends with a macaw but that has ended. He isn't an active grey, he finds a place and will stay there so if no one messes with him the other greys are okay together. Now though, there is a recently arrived fourth grey in the picture who is pretty active, she has not been outside yet since it has been cold here so we don't know yet if she will be able to be with the flock, it is trial and error but always be ready to separate them if the need arises.

[judygram]

If its too cold for you to spend any time outside without some type of jacket or covering on then its too chilly for your grey in my opinion. As far as other birds with them I can't answer that because I don't have an outside aviary but it seems to me that if it is big enough then multiple birds could share it and of different species if they have enough room and places to hide or get away from each other.

[Luvparrots]

Hi Joekellner. Actually, no one can answer your question for you as each bird is different and only an observant owner/parront could know the answer. I had a re-homed ekkie that I had to re-home (not to worry his new parronts loved him too pieces and he went everywhere with them riding on son's shoulder (he is 6'5")) I also have a canary and a monstrous male CAG. Ana Grey, TAG, is the boss she tolerates the CAG but the ekkie and my canary are bird food to her. She is sweet as pie to me and my family but she can be deadly to protect those she loves.

 

Can Ruby be out with other birds now? If so, she would probably (word is "probably") be okay out in an aviary. Only time and observation can tell.

 

As for temperature, my home is usually around 68-71 degrees. If it comfortable for most humans, it should be comfortable for Ruby.

 

Please introduce yourself and Ruby in the Welcome Room, as we would all like to get to know you. Welcome to the Grey family.

[Greywings]

Many Greys in Zoo's and other refuges may be outdoors 24 x 7 as long as they have some where to shelter from wind and rain. You would know your bird and his preferences.

[joekellner]

Hi. Thanks for the replies. The reason I'm asking about an aviary and possible aviary friends is because she is obviously very noisy (noisier than we had anticipated and can bear in the house) lol. I can't stand the thought of selling her so would rather build an aviary and give her some other feathered friends. I would build her an area/box to shelter from the wind etc but wanted to double check if she would be ok outside now.

[Luvparrots]

If I understand you, you are going to move your grey outside to live because Ruby is noisy. If you do not want her around and want to move her outside, I believe it is best to re-home with someone who cares. These are social pets and deserve to be treated with respect. If your grey is noisy, there is a reason for that. I have two greys and live in a small house. My greys talk but they do not screech or scream unless something is wrong. If I am wrong, then I apologize. But please figure out why your grey is so noisy and not just ways to isolate her. With respect Janet

Edited February 5, 2015 by luvparrots

[SRSeedBurners]

Yes - what's the noise issue? Greys are not typically what are considered noisy birds. They are loud at times but quiet a lot of the time. My Grey has two periods during the day where she will screech like a banshee but it only lasts a few minutes each time. The rest of the time it's just small chatter - enough so that I would not hesitate to have her in an apartment or motel room where neighbors are very close.

 

Also you might try earplugs. I have a set on hand just for those two periods in the day when she has to go berserk with her shrills. Helps me stay calm and just let her get it out.

[joekellner]

It's not screeching or screamong as such. Imagine putting ur fingers in your mouth and whistling as Loud as u can. We knew greys can be noisy but I've never come across one that can be this noisy as often as ruby is lol. I wasn't planning on making her an aviary and just dumping her out there.. no way. I would still bring her in/go out and spend time with her as often as I do now. I was just thinking that she would like to be outside and hear new sounds, animals etc and there would be more for her to hear/see as well. People do have aviaries for their greys and they are happy and healthy.

[joekellner]

I'd like to add that when we got her, her chest was bald from either plucking from stress or from not being washed properly but now she is now growing feathers back and is getting back to how she should be. Although she is patchy from where I think she has pulled out the feather out completely I don't think that area will grow back at all but compared to how we got her it's a massive improvement.

[joekellner]

It's more whistling very loudly as she seems to be a whistly bird rather than talky lol. It just seems like shè whistles as much as a normal chatty talky grey does and it gets almost to a point of being unbearable lol and I love her so much I can't bear to rehome her and she get depressed and start plucking.

[Muse]

Segregating her to the out of doors may cause her to have separation anxiety if she's used to being around you. Natural Grey sounds are whistles - this is how they speak in their native tongue. Peck, our wild-caught Grey has some of the most haunting songs - perhaps if you play some soft Grey whistles she will learn them. I find their native songs soothing. They can get loud, especially their excited screams. What I have found works here is gentle redirection. Find a way to get their focus (especially if you have only one bird), and make soft sounds. Eventually they often begin to mimic the soft sounds. We have a cue - "inside voices, please" which will often (not always) get them to stop screaming and speak in soft tones. I play videos of soft bird sounds for ours, but then we also have "fun time" where we watch noisy videos and even listen to other loud calls (the Amazon calls *really* get everyone fired up!). We do this for maybe 15-30 minutes and after that I say "Birdie quiet time" (and Megan echoes with a stern "Birdie QUIET!") and everyone calms down for a bit of a nap. Sometimes a few minutes of being really loud (which I join in for!) wears them out and gets it out of their system and they are fairly quiet the rest of the day.

 

We are a bird rescue with goals of outside aviaries however the birds will be in flocks. Keeping one bird isolated outside would not be recommended as birds truly need socialization.

[SRSeedBurners]

OHHHH.....well I misread your post as did others.

 

I have had THE EXACT SAME ISSUE! Search my posts, I believe I posted about it. GreycieMae has the most irritating shrill that easily busts eardrums and pisses me off to no end when she manages to get one off in my ear. When it first started it went for a couple of months and I mean she did it all the damn time. Over time she's stopped thankfully. However it was during that period that I did built her an aviary, not because of the shrills but I had always planned to. It helped immensely to get her energy down and stop that awful noise. I believe over time your Grey will stop doing it. Just don't mimic it or react to it. GET SOME EARPLUGS!!! I did and it helped maintain sanity. It was like feeding myself Avicalm. She really got me riled up when she did it non-stop.

 

Building an aviary for some outdoor time with some buddies in there with him/her is the BEST THING you can do for your Grey. I highly recommend it.

 

GreycieMae's shrill thread

 

GreycieMae's aviary

[Muse]

If you are just making a temporary 'area' for her, here is my advice - first, make it as predator-proof as possible. This can often be done by digging a footer down a few feet, filling it with concrete, then building a short block wall atop that. Nothing can dig under, and it discourages most earthbound mammals like dogs, etc. I'd advise using a small mesh wire - 1/2" x 1/2", and possibly even double-layering that about an inch apart to prevent toes being grabbed by hawks, owls, raccoons, etc. - but this depends on the amount of time you plan to leave her out unsupervised, etc. If humans are nearby, predators often won't chance it. Also provide shade and shelter. Our aviaries will be part greenhouse/part mesh, following the design developed by Matt Smith at Project Perry but they are designed for full-time outdoor living. I would think redirecting the whistle would be easy. The trick is you cannot have any "annoyed" or "upset" vibes when redirecting. You have to maintain calm and continually answer the "loud" with "soft" until they match the tone of your 'conversation.' Some birds take a bit more work than others but that said, it's worked with large groups here at our rescue. Good luck and I hope your girl enjoys her aviary.