For those who have bird averies, it would be lovely to share ideas here, and talk about your avery.

I myself have 2.

The origional large one down the back yard holds the bulk of my birds which include Rosellas, Cockatiels, Caneries. At one time I had 40 budgies, but over the years they have died of old age, and now the last 2 are in the front avery.

The front avery came about when I had a sick bird, and nowhere to keep it.
Once a bird becomes sick, or disabled, it is not safe with the others, as they seem to 'take care of it'
So my husband built me a smaller one near the house where I can keep an eye on them, and attend to them better.

Of course, it was an opportunity to include some much wanted finches as the wirenetting I used for this avery was smaller holed, and they couldn't escape.

I have bred quite a few Cockatiels, some of which I included in the new avery, where they in turn bred in the rabbit box on the floor.

I am currently watching the finches build a fantastic nest in the new branch I included recently. Despite the fact that I provied nesting boxes, it is nice to see that they prefer 'natural'!

Last week the recycling truck took off yet another branch from the flowering cherry tree on the berm, which I quickly pounced upon for new avery trees. I like to change them once a year, the old branches being thoroughly dried out make excellent firewood.

The birds were delighted of course, as this new branch had horizontal branches, the previous one being more vertical, and if birds can be delighted, these ones were, particularly the rozellas.

Having a Rabbit and 2 Guinea-pigs on the floor of the Avery gives the birds plenty of greens to pick at.
The Cockatiels are so tame now that if I am feeding the greens in after dark, they just sit on the perch by the door and don't move.

This week we were given a cockatiel as it's owner had died.

Allan brought Joey home in his cage, and we put the cage straight in the avery, and left the door open for him to come out.

The other birds were very excited at a new bird, and gave Joey a great welcome.

After a couple of hours, and nothing had happened, I decided Joey needed to be in a lighter cage that I could handle easier, as I decided it was too cold to put him out, as he was used to living in a lounge.

I managed to transfer Joey, and took the new cage into the Conservatory.
After half an hour, when he hadn't moved, or eaten anything since he arrived, I realized he must be in shock.
I retrieved his cage, and he wasy it coming, and immediately sprang to life!

Back in familar territory, he still hadn't a thing from the time he arrived, and it was bedtime.
It wasn't until I took the covers off, got him out of his cage as he was used to sitting on top, gave him the food he was used to, that he started to eat.
So I took his water out and hooked it on the outside as well, which he promptly drank!

I was warned not to pick him up, as he had been mistreated as a young bird, and would probably bite.......well, it wasn't long before I had him sitting on my hand.
Quite a tame bird, with a definite routine that will take time to change.

I will leave Joey inside for the remainder of the winter, and then gradually introduce him to the avery. As yet, he can't fly, so having the run of the conservatory will give him plenty of practice.

Joey certainly has a mind of his own!

Apparently he was abused in a previous home and it has affected his thinking!

He will only eat outside of his cage, and he will only eat millet sprays.
Goes through one a day.
This means he is not eating a balanced diet, and not getting the oil from the sunflower seeds. I feel this is the cause of his loosing his feathers.

I am going to get him a honey stick, which has millett and sunflower seeds in it, hopefully he will eat that!
He likes to sit on my shoulder, and I try to get him to move around during the day, otherwise he would stay in the one place all day on top of his cage.

Joey continues to refuse all other food other than a millet spray. I don't think he will ever make it to my avery, he would never leave the top of his cage.
Must have been terrified at his 1st home, which is why he won;t eat inside the cage.

One of the budgies became sick,so I brought him inside as Joey was on an antibiotic. It took him 3 days to recover after removing the budgies after 24 hours.
The budgie has a stomach tumour, so he is in a separate cage, and will not recover. Life cycle of this sin sick world.

It is fun to read about your aviary. It would be nice to have one, but it must take a lot of time to keep them up. I have seen people who raised budgies and also had a friend who had outdoor aviaries - pheasants, and cockateels and parots etc. Several people I have come across have had show birds which they compete at the fairs.

Having birds caged makes me uneasy. I feel they were made to be free. But the caged ones don't seem to be that frustrated.

We have many wild birds come into our yard - they are my feathered pets.

Having 2 averies is a lot of work, more so in the larger one, as I have 2 guineapigs and a rabbit in there as well.

Providing I don't try and clean them the same day, I can manage.

The smaller one is just outside the back door, so when I go outside the cockatiels come on the wire and talk to me. They demand an answer too!

I agree, it is not fair to keep birds in small cages, they should be able to fly at least.

I did have cages inside as well, but I have introduced those birds to my smaller avery, and they just love it!

Today I walked around the park where the willow trees are just coming into bud. I trim them where the walking track is and bring them home for the averies. I am hardly out the door, and they are being nibbled at!

I was filling up the birdbath in the larger avery this afternoon, all the while a canary was flying around, couldn't wait to 'get in'!

So friendly, such a delight to look after, and they reward me with such lovely singing.

The one problem with having averies is attracting the mice.

Sometimes - especially in the wintertime, they over run the averies.

It happened again, recently, and I was extremely reluctant to put down bait, as I lost Bobby the Magnificant, our beautiful longhaired tabby through eating the poisoned mice.

We have Sandy McTavish, a cameo tabby, and don't want him going the same way.
I tried traps, several different kinds, but the mice learned howmto extract the food, even when tied on tightly with cotton.

I had caught 8, and there were still plenty judging by the droppings and the smell.

I had no choice but to put down the bait. Well, they ate it like it was going out of style. Very expensive to feed mice!
So I put down a stronger bait, and they just kept right on eating. After the 3rd week, I started using' tracks', the same brand as the 1st.

All the while, keeping Sandy McTavish inside, and watching him carefully when outside.

Unfortunately I had to leave for the hospital to get my cast checked, and our son locked up. Somehow, Sandy McTavish got outside, and managed to catch and half eat 2 mice. I was impressed to check the back avery immediately I arrived home, just incase any had come out, and there he was, waiting for a 3rd mouse to appear. Horrified, I immediately rushed him to the vet, and $46 later, came home with a supply of pills.

Now getting mice down his throat is one thing, but pills is quite another.
It took 3 of us to administer the pill each morning - that's because I have only one hand in use at present.

None the worse for his experience, I noticed another big fat mouse in the front avery tohight. No wonder Sandy McTavish has been watching it carefully this week. He knows it's there!

The battle continues..................

Well, 3 weeks have gone by and I am still feeding mice in the avery.

My Vet told me about a relatively safe bait to use, it is housed in 'tea bags', and easier to treat if the cat's eat the mice.
$14 for a box, and I am nearly through them, though it looks like slowing down the last 2 days.

Imagine if I haden't put bait down, would have been over run by now.

Sandy McTavish is none the worse for his part in catching them, and we have some delightful photos administerating his treatment!

With summer coming on, there will be no influx till next Autumn, but then I intend to keep the bait down so there is no build up again.

We are well into Spring, and the canaries are in full song before sunrise.

Just wanted you to know that I am reading this with great interest.

It is sad though whenever one loses a cat. We lost our cat, Prince, (the one showing here) five years ago as a result of a rare form of cancer in his mouth. Even our pets get cancer.

Thank you Daryl for your interest. Yes, our pets are very precious.
When I owned 4 cats, we didn't have a problem with mice, but now that we are down to 1 it's been a different story.

I went down the other day to the back avery, and there was Sandy McTavish, eyeing a mouse through a crack. I thought, "your never going to get it", and walked away.

I took a peek 10 min later and Sandy had settled himself down to wait. Talk about in your face! It took a patient wait of half an hour, and he had his mouse!

You learn lots of lessons in nature.