Lee Pycroft

by heck where does the time go? Seeing it was the end of June since I last posted in here I thought I would update for the people who are interested.... Well, the aviary part of the shed is all done, and I have even got round to putting some birdies in..... I have currently 11 birds in there, 7 I have bought from Merv Sheilds, which include one CFW Cock bird, 2 CFW hens, a pair of normals and a pair of pied's! I bought the other 4 from Dave Huntington, two hens and two cock birds, some lovely fawn birds.. All big birds too (exhibition sized) so looking forward to breeding from them, which I will be doing next year hopefully.. This will give me time to build an outside flight to house lots of babies lol... I would like to thank both Merv and Dave for the birds and the helpful advice about all things Zebbie's... I will upload some pictures of the inside of the shed/aviary in the next days.....

My quest in my new found love of keeping Zebra Finches is to one day fully understand what Dave H has just said! It probably makes perfect sense for most timed served Zebra breeders/keepers, but for me I haven't got a clue lol

lovely set of birds, big well done!

Happy Birthday....

Wow!!! I'm impressed! !!! Very nice!!!! 12 months in the construction? ?? Ditto about shed size, I think I'll be extending mine one day, but will get the first project done first lol ;-) Thanks for sharing!

when is this show? times? entrance fees? thanks for any info.. Lee

Yes, always some expense you hadn't took into account.. As I said to Mervin yesterday, although I wanted it all done yesterday I want to do it properly and not rush it through and then think afterwards " ******, I wished I'd done that,done this etc" Yes I'm planning on an outside flight, but will need to remove 6 conifer trees first :-( I put them in for some privacy from next door 7 years ago, if I take them out now I'll lose that and wife won't go for it.. So once I've replaced the 3 ft panels with 6ft, I'll remove the conifers...So I've got to find the money for 8 fence panels which at nearly £45 each will take a while then I can think of building flight........ I'm going to build an exit/entrance into the shed but block it off until the day the flight is ready! The plans for now is just to get the shed/bird/indoor aviary room done, so it could well be some time before the whole project it done! Thanks for your interest, any pictures of your set up? ps: re aviary roof.. Mervin made a good point re this... Make sure your entire outside aviary is covered so that passing birds don't do "their business" and it land inside your aviary and possible spread of deceases? ( something else I hadn't thought of) I was only going to cover half! It's great this site, very helpful and informative! Thanks again..

I've painted the shed, waterproofed the best I can, plastic sheet on the back of the shed, at the minute that side of the garden has 3 foot fence panels which i'll replace with 6 foot panels to add extra security and protection from the elements! But the panels I want (match the others I've bought before) are nearly £45 :-(...... Dear Santa lol . Couple more pictures below of where I'm at as of today, a very wet and damp Saturday in June :-( This picture shows what I've being doing inside the shed... I've put plastic sheeting against the panels (inside) then T&G over the top and filled the gap with loft insulation! The shed is becoming very rigid and water tight, I bought a few tubes of brown sealant and have gone around the shed filling all the holes or gaps in.. Again, to protect from the elements and prolong the life of the shed.... Still got lots to do, again, really time and money will determine the speed and progress of the project, but a start has been made!!!!

A few pictures of where I'm upto so far! This is down the side of my house and what I had to remove, took some doing to.. I then put a concrete base down for the shed to sit on!

After visiting Merv and seeing his great set up and looking at his many babies he has I'm even more keen to get the shed finished and start building the flight!!!! Sods law though, first weekend off and its a typical english summers day, pouring it down!!!

Oh pooh, too be fair since we have bought them all we have done is talk about the beak colours and how they seem to be getting more the same shade as the weeks go by lol so the daughter was right, we have two girls lol. Dave, funny you should mention Merv, I went across to see him yesterday!!! What a cracking set up he indeed has... I wanted to buy half his stock lol don't think the wife would have been impressed :-(.........

and this is our male (cock), Robbie! although my daughter insists we call her Rosie! Kids eh! Now I've seemed to have worked out how to post pictures i'll upload a few of my progress with the shed/aviary etc :-)

This is our female (hen), Poppy!

sorry, just working out how to upload pictures, these are our two zebra's..... The daughter has called them Rosie and Poppy despite me telling her the black cheeked one is a boy! I'm calling him Rob :-)

Im just impressed they stayed still long enough for you to get a ruddy picture of them! Think mine are crossed with Usain Bolt and concorde! ;-). We let them out of the cage in the living room each evening and its like tornado jets zooming past from one end of the lounge to the other! Lol. Great looking birds by the way...

Nick H...Good idea about keeping the shed raised to stop mice etc, It's currently 2 inches off the floor so that air/wind can circulate underneath to stop it from rotting! Claire L.....And yes I do wish I had a bigger shed lol.... keep getting further idea's on what I can do after looking at other sheds/aviaries on tinternet! Hoping to pop and see a fellow member on here soon and view his set up, had a kind offer from a chat called Merv who lives local..Again, been that busy this month it's just flown by, as to money out of my account sadly lol But hey, such is life! Emmy,.. the party was on Tuesday, decided to have it at a local play centre etc, 19 kids, lot's of noise and fun had by all, along with a cake and birthday presents (and a shed) been a costly month! Finished painting the outside of the shed today, going to buy some brown sealant to match paint and fill in all the gaps where water could get in! Bought some tongue and groove panels, also bought some plastic sheeting and got a spare roll of insulation at had in the loft! Lined one of the walls so far, first stapled the plastic sheeting to the side inner wall, then lined it with the insulation before panelling it from bottom to top with the T&G.... (look nice painted, but won't be pink) Will continue with the rest when more funds permit, also need to add some leccy, and vents, because being in that shed this week has been like being in a sauna! HOT HOT HOT!!!!! The shed I bought was the best I could afford, but the windows are pooh! Just cheap pieces of plastic with are supposed to be fixed in, thus not opening! So going to bin the plastic and get some glass and alter the design so I can open the windows when needed.... Once that is all done, going to line the whole floor with lyno, and the walls that will be within the aviary also so I can wipe them clean.. As one thing I've noticed, even with two zebra's they can pooh for England can't they! Speak soon everyone......

Just quick update, shed has arrived and has been built! !! I'm just in the process of painting it to match the colour of my current fencing lol (OCD) ... Funds permitting I will make a start on paneling it out to make it more rigid/sturdy/draught proof etc... That will be next month as just had to pay out of daughter's 6th Birthday party ;-)... I've been taking photos as I going so will start uploading them when I get chance! !!! Hope your all enjoying the hot weather, can't seem to keep my zebra's out of their bath lol They're having about 4 baths aday at the minute, is that normal??? Too much??? They seem to have such fun bathing!!! ;-) Bye for now!

lovely bird, exactly the same in colours as mine that I bought last week... To say you bought it blind, you have done well!

Great colours fella, but why does the beak shorten?

lol, i'll draw a line at painting it PINK lol...... Been having another read on here during my lunch, great info everyone, a big well done to all concerned! Looking forward to getting more involved with the site and my wonderful new Zebra's........Ooop's, sorry my daughter's wonderful new zebra's lol...

Hello to you all, Just thought I would say hello and introduce myself! I have spent a few hours reading through similar posts to this and the other topics, which I have found very interesting and informative so far! I to have recently re-found my love of keeping these wonderful birds after many years doing the usual, buying houses, getting married, starting a family etc etc etc.... I never reached the standards many of the members seem to have reached on here with regards breeding and showing these birds.. I was simply bought a pair as a birthday present around the age of 10 or 11... The 2 birds soon became 7, then 12 until my dad gave into my nagging and let me take over his garden shed in order to house my ever increasing numbers of zebra's! Despite not owning any of these birds for well over 20 years now my love of them has never left me and I always seek them out whenever I'm in a pet shop...... Well two weeks ago I get a call from my dad to say they have bought a bigger cage to house the family parrot and would I be interested in the cage????? Well my 5 year old daughter heard the conversation and hasn't let the subject drop! So after discussion with the wife the decision was made to take possession of the cage but the choice of bird must be Zebra's... Two have been purchased, the cage altered to house them, a suitable place in the living room sought! I've done some reading up to remind me of the important issues' on keeping them, even bought a book of ebay! Although I feel I have some good knowledge of these birds I have joined on here to seek out further info... So I'm very sorry if some of my questions seem basic to some of you seasoned breeders oh, and I have bought a shed which arrives soon, wife thinks it's just for the ever increasing junk we seem to have! But I think you guys can guess where I'm going with that hahaha... Lee Pycroft Radcliffe (Bury)