Aerie Aviary

We finally got the new bird room finished this summer!  We enclosed our 21' long x 10' wide x 9' tall carport for this purpose, and added 4 windows, 2 doors with large windows, and 2 skylights to the room.  Now we have 2 new aviaries- each 8' L x 9' H x 4' D- one for the finches and one for the grass keets, and a 5' L x 9' H x 4' D anteroom between them where we keep the breeding cabinets. 

We also brought the parrotlet cage and the former grass keet HQ double flight to the new bird room, and put them along the opposite wall from the aviaries.  The double flight is now home to our kakarikis, who currently include Giggles, a cinnamon red-fronted hen, Chuck(les), a normal green pied red-fronted male, and Archie, a normal green yellow-fronted male.  We are waiting on an unrelated yellow-fronted clutch from our breeders so we can get Archie a much-wanted girlfriend! 

The bird room is an excellent new place for the birds.  The ceramic tile floor has a heating system underneath so we can keep it warmer from the floor up in winter, and the high ceilings allow the heat in summer to settle at a level above our heads.  While there is no vent for AC or heat in the bird room, there is a door that leads from our kitchen that we can open to let in some of the temperature-controlled air, and while we may need to bring a radiator out in winter, the birds didn't seem to mind one bit when the temps in the bird room reached the upper 80s this summer. 

We have places now to use all 6 of our breeding cages, so of course we have 6 pairs set!  5 pairs have eggs or are looking promising, whereas one young, unproven pair doesn't seem to like being out of the aviary.  They'll probably go back and we'll try them again once they're a little older and mellowed out. 

Finally, we have 4 birds (all clutch mates) for sale from an excellent pairing from the spring breeding season.  We decided to keep both of the birds from the first clutch, so we have all four birds from the second clutch available for sale!  They are close to 6 months old now but were fully colored up around 4 months of age.

Today I went ahead and purchased the domain www.aerieaviary.com so as to prevent further confusion with people trying to access the site.  Don't worry, though- the old link will just redirect to the new one.  Also, check out www.artistaraquel.com for my new knitting, jewelry, and other artsy stuff site!

Lots has been going on at Aerie Aviary since our last post.  We decided to enclose our carport and turn it into the new bird room, complete with a 24' long, 10' tall, 5' wide flight to be divided in half between the Australian grass parakeets and the finches.  Until construction on the flight panels is complete, the grass keets and parrotlets are hanging out in their current cages in the new room.  We're very excited to give our birds more room to stretch their wings, and to keep the mess contained to only one room!  We will post pictures as they are available.

In addition, I spent some time this weekend figuring out who is what in terms of color and gender, and who we will keep or sell, for the juveniles in the aviary.  Looks like we're going to hang onto Mondrian and Sprite's lovely red head, white breast, yellow back male and his red head, purple breast, dilute brother, and sell the babies from the second clutch from this pairing, to include 2 more dilutes and another yellow male, as well as what looks to be a black headed, purple breast hen.  We also plan to keep a black head, white breast, blue back male and probably sell his black head, purple breast, blue back brother and green back sister.  We also have several other greens (with a large possibility for split to blue, with yellow tipped beaks and split to white breast on some of them) that will be available, and another red head dilute from a different pairing.  Check the available birds page for detailed listing on the ones who will be available for sale in the coming weeks and months!

All of our birds are out of breeding for the time being, but we plan to set lots of pairs coming up in early August.  Also hoping to have some to bring to the show in Maryland in October!

Mondrian and Sprite's 4 eggs hatched, and all the babies are wiggly and well-fed.  Now we're up to 15 babies!  Dandy and Zelda, the pair laying eggs in the coconut in the aviary, is up to 8 eggs.  We'll see if anything comes of it!

As of this weekend, we jumped from 3 babies to 11!