My Aviary is FINALLY finished!!

[Captsteve]

I'm gonna make building one like that my winter project!!

Plans would be awesome, but the pics are good enough.

 

[deque]

Hey everyone,

So sorry for the “Hit and Run”. I’ve been so swamped at work that I haven’t had time to send a reply till now….
Thanks so much for the compliments on my kids. All five were rescue’s with challenging past (that’s a story for another post) and it’s taken us a number of years to get to such a happy place, so I’m very proud of them.
Regarding the Aviary, I wish I could take credit for the structure but I didn’t build from scratch, it was a rehab. Here’s the story:
Found it:
I came across an advert on Craig’s list advertising what looked like a bird house for FREE to anyone who could figure out how to move it. It was built on site and the home was sold. The home owner had a week to remove it or tear it down prior to closing and hadn’t had any takers. When I went to see it I understood why.
The structure weighs apx 3K pounds and was built in an area that was very difficult to access. It needed a lot of rehab but the structure was sound so I started making calls. The first 3 movers that went to see it “politely” declined (after they stopped laughing). I called one more mover and explained that no one thought it was moveable. I think he took that as a personal challenge, lol.
On moving day he arrived with a tractor trailer, massive flatbed trailer and 2 fork lifts. God bless him 3 hours later it was delivered in one peace.
Condition:
The structure was very solid and well-built but it needed a complete over haul, as it was built for small birds. It was divided into 4 enclosures with sheet rock and the homeowner was apparently remodeling his kitchen at the same time as there were 8 kitchen cabinet nest boxes nailed to the outside and the cabinet doors where repurposed as aviary doors. I think your starting to get the picture that it wasn’t to pretty.
Rehab:
I’ll try to give a description of what I did as this could really be done with any commercially made Gazebo for anyone interested but I’m not exactly a builder and winged it.
1. I started with demo and ripped it down to the studs, than started from the floor up. I removed the plywood floor exposing the support beams, went to Home Depot and found thin sheet metal that could be easily molded and cut with tin snips. I wrapped the floor joist with metal to protect from water and rot.
2. The structure is all wood, which my guys would make quick work of so I repeated the above process bottom to top, covering the wall joist. The ceiling was a bit harder so I took brown painter paper, traced out a pattern and cut the triangle pieces of sheet metal and attached with screws, basically protecting all wood surfaces from chewing.
3. I purchased a roll of GAW when the cage first arrived and left it outside to weather, so now cut and attached 4 pieces to divide the structure into 4 habitats. I secured it to floor and ceiling joist with a heavy duty staple gun.
4. Wrapping the outside of the cage was the hardest part as the structure is 12’ wide, 14. High. It was a real challenge to get the GAW tight enough. In the end I attached one end of the GAW to the structure, made a long 4 by 4 come along (thank you google) and attached it to a chain. I’m a city guy with no tractor as suggested, so I attached the free end of the chain to the bumper of my 2 seater convertible, pulled it tight and secured with screws.
5. Doors: This was quite a project considering I’m no handy man, but I cut out door openings, built frames out of wood and attached GAW to the inside. It’s taken a few design tries to protect the wood as my kids demolished the doors twice, lol.
6. Last step: I had one large support pole in the center of the aviary that needed to be protected and I needed to reinforce the GAW at the top and bottom of each habitat, so I used bamboo that I scored from someone cutting down a massive tree a few months ago. It was an afterthought but has become my favorite feature as it really softens the look of the GAW and lends a natural look.
7. It took quite a bit of time but I’m most proud of the interior spaces. I built out each habitat to match the needs of the bird it would house. My greenwing loves to climb, so her enclosure is filled top to bottom with a series of ladders that I made from bamboo, dragon wood and manazita. My B & G loves swings so he got a ton, my Catalina loves water so she got her very own “swimming pool” etc.
Again, I can assure you I am no carpenter or handy man so it really was a trial by error project. I started out with a screw driver, staple gun and fabric tape measure and just jumped in. Trust me, anyone can do it. I’m so happy with the result I’ve already picked my next project. I found a wooden kids jungle gym that I’m about to start. It’s one of those two story forts with a small balcony, slide and swing (another Craig’s list freebee). It is going to be an awesome Aviary for my Military!!

 

[Solo]

OK LMFAO. I just laughed hysterically at pulling the gaw with the convertible. While I'm sure it's not the case..I got the mental picture of the front of the convertible lifting off the ground.. The way tractors do with a heavy load.

 

[WilliamKenyon]

Awesome. I bet your birds are going too have some fun out there. How long did it take?

 

[Anansi]

That was quite the impressive structural rehab! Apparently what you lacked in experience you more than made up for with creativity and determination. Well done! (And I was quite amused by the convertible "tractor" as well. Haha!) Thank you for the run through, and I'm looking forward to seeing the results of your next project.

 

[deque]

Your not to far off Rachael. Thank God for touch up paint, lol.

 

[kalypso123]

Your aviary is amazing. I love that its visually appealing. It could be a center piece to a garden. Your flock is very beautiful. I am in love with your Catalina. I played with one recently, and fell in love. They are now on the dream bird list(emphasis on "dream"). Im going to be building an aviary. I have an idea about turning an old swing set into an aviary. It's three wooden A frames but I would only be using two.