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Do you shield you breeders from seeing the other breeders? I have heard it works? and I have heard open bird room so that all the birds can see each other. just want a few opinions on what people do and if it is successful. thanks in advance

Lenny

Yes,
My amazon are side by side, but cannot see eachother. I was told that 2 male amazons will spend more time fighting and defending than mating. But, the sounds of mulitple pairs will stimulate breeding. I'm not sure on other species, and would like to hear from others.

Many species need some sort of flock interaction, even though they also need to feel secure in their own territories when they are nesting. 20 years ago, when goffin's 'toos were considered difficult and were still rare, we were successful when we added a pair of lesser sulfurs to our collection. Actually, both pairs which had never been successful, produced babies within 3 or 4 years.
I've heard that a single pair of budgies are less successful than 2 pairs (separate cages, of course. )

I agree with all of the above statements and I have been sight blocking since the late 80's. Greys will get interested in the other greys next to them and the same goes with amazons and other species.If you would like to see my sight blocked aviary with the panels go to http://WWW.Platinumaviary.com and the pairs can hear each other, but have no idea who is on the other side of them.

Denis

That's what I do with my Crimson-wings, they can hear each other, but not see each other.

Your set-up is magnificent, Denis! BRAVO!!! Have you endured any hurricanes? Curious how the sight blocking impacts the cages' ability to withstand those horrible winds. I've had about ten Corners Ltd cages, most a bit smaller than yours appear and only one outdoors. My Moluccan had a mild case of zinc poisoning that promptly landed him in a stainless steel cage. Have you had any zinc problems? Do you do periodic vinegar scrubs?

<<Do you shield you breeders from seeing the other breeders? I have heard it works? >>

That depends on the species. Only a few of the species I breed need a visual barrier. My Goffin's Cockatoos have 1/2 their flight blocked, but I don't house the pairs next to each other. They are 4 flights away. None of my lories need visual barriers with the exception of the Cardinal Lories who would if they were housed next to other Cardinal Lories. I will place lory species from different genera next to each other to help with any aggression from the males. Generally, the males of different genera don't recognize the body laguage of each other.

My fig parrots don't have any visual barrier and I house all the pairs next to each other in the same section so they can all see each other and observe what they are doing. I do the same with my mutuation Quakers.

Hello Matt -- I'd greatly anticipated meeting you at the conference in Fredericksburg, but after the vets cancelled, I was too bummed to make the trip. Short on funds and time. Was it a good weekend despite? Maybe another time. I would like that.

BCV was nice. You missed a good conference. The vets aren't everything - several of us had very good talks.

aves75 wrote:BCV was nice. You missed a good conference. The vets aren't everything - several of us had very good talks.

I felt certain you would, but I've heard most -- except you and the vets -- numerous times before. I did make the trip on Saturday and was sorely disappointed. Just couldn't see making the long drive again on Sunday and paying another $60 for a single hour-long session, even if it was yours! I hope you'll be back another time, in good company.

I spoke on both days...

As for going back to BCV, I told John I would definately accept another invitation.

LOL I know, but it was earlier Saturday than I could possibly get there. Had to feed the flock first. I am sorry though.

I have not had any really bad weather situations YET, but the aviary is drilled into the concrete and hopefully it won't end up on the back end of my five acres. We are located 35 miles in from the gulf. No toxicity problems and we pressure wash the aviary every other week. The panels have worked out well and the birds have not chewed up anything other then a few of the Bosch j-clips on the feed stations of the hyacinths.Thanks for the compliments about the flights. We are going to add 8 more yet this year to the one end. The economy and a few other things have held us back so far. We have already cleared the area and just need three loads of dirt and 45 feet more of concrete.

Denis

Denis58 wrote:we pressure wash the aviary every other week.

I'm impressed and envious. Except for the M2 (who might have chewed the wrong toy), none of my other birds has had any toxicity problems in long years. Cleaning is the only complaint I have with my indoor cages. The overlap of the wire on the reinforcement bars catches EVERYTHING and won't let go easily. I had to move my quakers into powder-coated since they're so very fond of shooting theirs sidesways to drain down the wire, leaving some in every weld

Wishing you the wherewithal to get your additional units in soon.

Thank you for the nice comments and we were an inside breeder in Indiana for many years and I have been in the poop out of the cage and all over the floor for many years. Quakers are almost as bad as the lories and even in my bird store that I owned in Indy I didn't keep many quakers as it was always a chore cleaning the poop every morning. Yes, they poop on the wires of the flights, but the pressure washer takes care of it in no time. I have noticed though even with sight blocks that some birds still can't be next to each other as they still like to know who is there and try to scream at the neighbors. So I don't have two like pairs next to each other then the queens. Metal toxicity is always a concern and I have seen it happen from toys to cage wire and if it does it is always that quick eye that can tell that you have a toxicity problem going on and not something else.

Denis