What do yall think???

[southern_feathers]

I recently got rid of my chickens so my coop is now empty. I was thinking of cleaning it up real good and overhauling it to make it acceptable for parrots as kind of an outside playtime cage. Do yall think this would be a good idea?

 

[izmail1215]

sounds fine to my when i had my ring necks i did the same thing.

 

[suebee]

as long as the joins are beak proof lol

but my main worry would be any diseases they may pick up out side?? but if your birds see the vet on a regular basis i can't see anything wrong, and they would definately benefit from being outside

 

[southern_feathers]

Yea its pretty stable structure. Been through some hurricanes! Also I forgot to mention the cage is about 16' x 8' x 8'. Im gonna clean it out with bleach to make sure nothing from the hens being in there survived. They would probaby only be in there for maybe an hour or two each day per bird. I dont plan to let them stay together in the cage so they may not neccesarrily go in the cage but once every other day or every three days as i rotate them out.

 

[Netty]

It sounds fine, when you do the bleach thing buy gloves use a strong solution of bleach to water and let it sit for 5-10 mins before cleaning it up with water.

ALSO if you are using chicken wire it might be a good idea to switch it out, i have seen that do some damage to toes and feathers since it is twisted and not welded. The twist means it can (and does) come a little loose and easy for toes and feathers to get into and pinched (in the case of feathers thy can pinch and when the bird flies it rips the feather out or tears it)
In falconry I learnt that one you aren't even supposed to use chicken wire because of the risks. when you are in falconry they only way you can is on the outside of a barred window to prevent squirrels/chipmunks from getting in. Keeping feathers in top shape is a big thing to falconers LOL. You can tell that by the imping techniques they are now using on parrots (imping is originally part of falconry to keep the bird in prime condition for flight)


Optional: but window screen mesh and put it on the outside of it for a "bug proof" aviary.

 

[southern_feathers]

Yes I was planning on taking the chicken wire off and replacing it with some square welded wire. Its a bit more pricey but for being stronger and safer its worth it. I think there is a version available that has some sort of coating on it to help prevent rust and make it more asthetically pleasing but I dont know exactly what it is that the coating is made from. Do you think it would be a better idea to use the plain wire as they could chew the coating off.

 

[Netty]

the coating on it is just PVC.

i have seen 50 million different toys (not to mention play gyms) for birds made with PVC so i think it will be perfectly ok to use the coated stuff.

The only thing is watch out for what KIND of metal is under it you can get plain old stainless welded wire mesh stuff or it can be galvanized

AVOID the galvanized as it is def. not good for them to chew on.


EDIT: you can also get a powder coated galvinised but while powder doating does help it would still be something i wouldn't risk especially if you have chewers.