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This was the area that I
decided would be most suitable
to house my new breeding
unit, first job was to clear
the area
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the area was clear it
was time to draw up
the plan of how to best
build the unit with
a few things in mind.
How
the unit would look,
to add a feature to
the garden, total cost
of unit, List of materials
that would be required
and most of all how
best to incorporate
the units that would
prove most productive
as a breeding unit.
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I got started I found
a little helper, he
was great at shifting
all the insects and
small worms from around
the area, at times he
would get under my feet,
I had to watch I did
not tread on him. Its
great to see such trust
in a wild bird, nothing
seems to bother this
Robin even electric
saws & grinders,
he found the project
very interesting
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I
decided that that wood
was a cheaper option
but if i could use concrete
fence posts and concrete
barge boards, this would
never rot and save money
in the long term.
Living in England the
climate is not very
well suited to timber
the damp winters rot
wood very quickly each
barge board measures
6ft
x 1ft
so I decided to use
these 2 boards high
this would help to stop
vermin from gaining
access to the unit,
I used 9ft
posts, the post holes
were dug 2ft
deep in the middle and
2ft
6" at the back
to create a fall on
the roof of 6"
on the open aviary section
the posts were all set
at 7ft
as this roof was mesh
so did not require the
6" fall
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| Some
of the barge boards
had to be cut to create
doorways, where doors
were to be fitted no
barge boards were used
other than the door
to the large aviary
I decided to fit one
board there, 13 posts
and 19 barge boards
were fitted and then
concreted in using a
dry mix, this allows
you to move each post
all day until you are
happy with everything
being square if you
then leave the unit
overnight the damp in
the soil will set of
the concrete. A single
brick wall was the built
on a semi circle around
the front of the unit.
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| Then
7 high quality fence
panels were slid in
to the solid areas,
these were 5ft
panels x 6ft
long to create the walls
of the aviaries as you
will probably know concrete
posts have slots down
either side and corner
posts have slots to
allow panels to fit
around the corners,
the wooden fence panels
should be the strongest
available and pre dipped
in a tanalising solution
to stop any rotting
of the panels. |
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| 2"
x 2" frames were
made 5ft
x 6ft
long and mesh stapled
on to the frames, these
were dropped into the
concrete slots where
required, also door
frames were made from
2" x 2" and
they were dropped into
slots where required,
then 7" x 2"
joists were notched
to drop over the concrete
posts to hold the unit
square and to create
the roof supports for
the mesh panels of the
roof and plastic roof
sections. |
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| I
used duplex plastic
sheeting to cover the
solid roof section,
this gives plenty of
light. Duplex is a twinwall
clear plastic sheet
that has an air gap
running through the
middle, it is generally
used on conservatories
this product is quite
expensive but it is
very strong and does
not drip with condensation
in the winter, also
it will stand a brick
being thrown on it unlike
the cheap and very brittle
corrugated plastic that
is normally used. |
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| A
facia board was bent
by soaking in water
overnight, then slowly
bending by fixing from
one end of the main
aviary and slowly bent
over a few days keeping
the wooden facier wet
and fixing it to the
roof joinst as you go,
a rope was used at the
other end to hold the
tension |
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| this
board was only fitted
to improve the finished
look of the aviary and
to match the curve of
the front wall, the
facier was made from
8" x 1" planed
timber |
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Inside
the Larger aviary, this
aviary measures 14ft
x 12ft
with the front rounded
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Start
of 6 inside flight
pens measuring 7ft
tall x 6ft
deep x 30" wide
and a 3ft
walkway |
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| Feeding
Station from the walkway
with drop down back
so you can feed without
going inside the aviary
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FINISHED
AVIARY & BREEDING PENS |
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AVIARY
& BREEDING PENS EXTENSION
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| Now
the winter is here,
this is the best time
to do your work on your
aviaries, so with this
in mind I decided to
increase my aviaries,
it was decided to add
4 more breeding pens
and finish of the unit
with a 6ft x 6ft Aviary.
Work started early December
before the freezing
weather. |
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| We
had lots of rain but
managed to keep working
using a tarpaulin. |
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| This
extension measures 15ft
x 8ft you can now see
how the new block will
look |
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| A
lot of ground had to
be dug out to keep this
unit level, as you can
see on this photo, if
my garden had been level
it would have made this
job easy also the December
weather did not help.
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| To
get to this point took
5 days hard work , but
I think it will be worth
it as the unit now measures
31ft across. |
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| From
this picture you can
now see the extra 4
breeding pens, and far
right is the 6ft square
Aviary, the outside
has been weatherproofed
just the inside to paint,
this will have to wait
now until after Christmas,
to get the unit to this
point took 2 of us 7
full days. |
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Below
right
looking down the safety
walkway you can now
see the 10 aviaries
on the right the measure
30" wide and
7ft 6" tall
Below
left at the back
of this picture you
can see the door to
the 6ft Aviary |
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Aviaries
After Painting |
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6
ft
x 6ft aviary |
Looking
down the duplex roof giving
plenty of light |
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