Outdoor aviary for day play

[GambotheGreyt]

Howdy friends

We are considering making an outdoor aviary for our CAG. This would located at our dacha. During the season we often spend the weekends there. I do not expect that Gambo would stay out overnight (primarily I am afraid of theft).

I have some paranoia about fleas and other critters. The floor of the aviary would be dirt/weeds. I would not expect him to choose to spend time on the ground. What is the experience with others that have a natural outdoor floor to their bird area? Will the birds go to the ground? Eat the weeds? Hide in the weeds? Or do they stay up?

My big concern is fleas and any parasite type risks from wild birds.

Again, realistically would not expect him to spend more than about 8 hours in the aviary and more than likely only on the weekends.

Any ideas/thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Greenhouseparrots]

I have an aviary for mine for the weekends and they love dirt. The floor itself is concrete but I have lots of plants in there and the birds love digging through the dirt. None of mine have ever gotten sick from being outside and digging in the soil. It's a converted greenhouse so there's only a couple of aviary panels and they're quite well protected from wild birds, but I did have some kind of bird of prey try to attack them a few months ago, and the pigeons are curious about them. Cats don't bother with them for some reason except my own cat so she's not allowed in the garden when they're out there.