damianhucker 0 Report post Posted February 5, 2011 Just introducing myself , ive not even got my aviary built yet as ive just moved into a new house (Nottingham)but im going to be having a mixed finch aviary , ive kept Finches in the past as a kid when my dad built me a small aviary alongside his Budgie aviary , but ive gone around 20 years without them now , im very experienced in keeping tropical fish and have bred virtually everything i could get my hands on , i was manager of a branch of maidenhead aquatics ,the biggest aquatic company in the uk , but i fell out of love with my fish , i think it was caused by my move up to Marine fish , i couldnt have all the breeding etc that i could before , it just seemed so expensive for very little reward, im one of theses that reads up on everything first beforehand ,im hoping to start my aviary build very soon in the hope of getting my birds towards the end of summer , im planning on an 8x6 shed with a 10x6 flight , i may then add an extra shed later for breeding cages but need to persuade the other half first .A question , to get started with though would be if any one could recommend a good oil radiator thats reasonably priced suitable for keeping my shed (size stated above) warm , reason being id like to try again with Gouldians , outdoors can obviously get too cold for them wheras the Zebras are fine , also if someone has any good tips on insulating the shed too , as ive been thinking about how to do this but its the roof thats got me stumped a bit , im no diy type so needs to be pretty basic .Otherwise i hope to learn a lot from reading these boards , will speak with you all soon im sure .Damian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zebraman 267 Report post Posted February 5, 2011 Welcome to the forum Damian. We look forward to hearing how things progress with your new project. Personally I would line your shed walls with polystyrene sheets available for good builder’s merchants or B&Q. I would then ply line over the top with ¼ or 6mm ply, you can then paint as required. If you’re going to install electrics I would do this before you line the walls.Another option would be to purchase a purpose built setup. Here’s a link to a supplier: Birds & Things Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paulm 119 Report post Posted February 5, 2011 Hi DamianI have kept and bred gouldian finches and i found the heats is not so much for the adult birds but more for the breeding season,as the parents dont sit the chicks right up till they are fully feathered and cold tempratures will kill them off,any adult birds should be ok as long as they are aloud to acclimatise to any change in temprature,i kept mine in the same shed as my zebra's and they got no extra heat only to keep the frost off and during breeding,all my chicks were parent raised and i did quite well with them.Hope this post is of some use to you.Paul Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mark1e 67 Report post Posted February 5, 2011 Hi Damian welcome to forum i also am new to this site and enjoying every day on here, good info what Gary said keep it in mind good look in bird keeping Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
damianhucker 0 Report post Posted February 8, 2011 Thank you guys for the replies , id get my aviary built right now if i could .Being on this forum and learning more about what im intending to do will hopefully satisfy my thirst for now , but i know ill learn more via experience than anything else . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mark1e 67 Report post Posted February 8, 2011 good thinking damian allways best to read and learn about differant birds and take in things and talk to people i.e breeders before jumping in deep end buying all you see and making biggested mistake as a lot off newcomers do to bird keeping, they like a look of certon breed or bird and jump in at deep end and in the end make a mistake, mind you always best talking to more then one breeder as a breeder trying to get rid of certon birds now them selfs that the birds he or she is selling are no good, so read lissen to some top breeders a lot of people selling at shows do know there stuff so be carefull, best thing to do is join the ZFS £12 a year and your get a list of good breeders local to you, hope this helps happy building and breeding......mark Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
damianhucker 0 Report post Posted May 29, 2011 Hi all , as ive stated in the wanted section where i really waffled on a bit , im lookinf for anyone local to me that may be selling a few surplus birds , Zebra finch to start off with , or maybe hardy species such as bengelese .Expecting to have my aviary completed and ready for birds in the next 10 days .thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
