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Hello, I am new here. I aquired a pair of cockatiels a few weeks ago. The first thing I did was get them into a bigger cage. Now I am planning an aviary. I've found wood screen doors for $19.88. and plan to use 6 of them. I had a hard time finding aviary wire. I don't want to use hardware cloth! I found 3/8" bronze chicken wire. Is this an OK material to use? The aviary should measure 6'X3'X6'. I only have the two right now but they are on 4 eggs. I would like to trade birds with people who know how to care for them properly. This way I could get some colors that I hope to achieve. Dad (Guss) appears to be a normal grey but is either a pearl or a split for pearl. May even be split for cinnamon. Mom (Abby) is a cinnamon. The previous owner didn't really know much about thier background, she just didn't want them anymore. Lucky Me!!!

Welcome!

Maybe the good people who usually post here are all busy having fun this weekend, so I'll play "20 Questions" if you're willing. Are these your first birds? What has you interested in breeding cockatiels? Are you employed outside the home? Full time? Very flexible, supportive boss? Great avian vet nearby?

Have you met a local cockatiel breeder who is willing to provide training, advice, and help in an emergency? Have you practiced hand-feeding very young chicks? How soon are the eggs due to hatch?

What is the screen in the doors made of? What kind of wood and is it treated in any way? What is the composition of the screws or clips that attach the screen to the wood? How will you attach the doors to the chicken wire? Cockatiel toes are VERY tiny and get trapped in the tiniest spaces. I would much prefer to buy a flight cage made by a company that knows how to do this safely. Ebay and the UAS ads make it very economical to buy large cages. Making your own without first doing a LOT of homework is asking for tragedy or huge emergency vet bills and birds with permanent injuries.

The size you're planning is too small for much flight, and will be much more crowded in a couple years if your pair and their 4 babies all begin producing chicks at the intervals most cockatiels like. How will you find good homes for so many birds? Cockatiels reproduce so willingly that they are one of the most overly abundant hookbills in the world. They can be very hard to even give away, much less sell or trade. Have you looked into this?

Bird breeding is very hard work that pays mere pennies for a hard hour's work. It must be a labor of love because it most definitely will not make you rich. It sounds like you're on your way, so my hope is that I'm not telling you anything you've not already learned, the easy way! Please be responsible to the lives totally dependent on you.

Hello and welcome. I don't have much advice on building a flight as the one flight I helped build had to be replaced after a few months due to chewing by the birds. I would go with a commercial flight. They will be cheaper in the long run and you know that they are well built.

If you plan on breeding, don't do so in a colony setting. This will make it so the offspring are difficult to tell who they came from. If you keep some of the offspring, inbreeding would be a real concern not knowing genetics or which birds are mating with whom. They will not discriminate with what bird they mate with.

Also, commercial bronze being an alloy of Copper and ZINC can be dangerous to your birds. Zinc is toxic to them, so I would be EXTREMELY careful with what you use to build the flight.

Bronze is typically 88% copper and 12% tin.[4] Alpha bronze consists of the alpha solid solution of tin in copper. Alpha bronze alloys of 4–5% tin are used to make coins, springs, turbines and blades.

Commercial bronze (otherwise known as brass) is 90% copper and 10% zinc, and contains no tin. It is stronger than copper and it has equivalent ductility. It is used for screws and wires.

Thank You Christie

You're welcome Sue. I wish I could be more of a help. I have been researching building a flight for my finches for quite some time, and even though they don't chew, I still cannot find anything that I feel is safe enough.

Sorry I didn't say so before, but congratulations on the eggs. Do you know if they are fertile or not? You can candle them with a small flashlight after 5 days of incubation to find out.

I don't know if they are fertile yet. I am lucky to get a peek in there let alone candle the eggs. Abby has been so diligent about sitting and I don't dare open the box when Guss is in there. He's very protective. I'm sure I will get an opportunity. I just have to watch like a hawk. I've built a new nest box that has a door on the back rather than the top and I think that will help for next time. They are so warey of predation from above that it just seems natural for them to freak when approached in that manner. Thanks again, I'll keep posting

Sorry Bluesbird,
I wrote a long involved post answering all of your questions but when I hit submit it went to someones response to my post. So here are the answers again. Abby and Guss are not my first birds. I have had and bred cockatiels in the past. I do not have a conventional job. I take care of my Dad at home. I have a GREAT Avian vet about 20 minutes from me! Yes I would like to meet local breeders just for the sake of networking. I have handfed many babies. I have a preference for Kaytee Exact. Do you have a favorite? I expect my first pips on the 25th. I have not candled the eggs yet. The last of 4 was laid on the 10th so I'm just about ready to do that.
The screens doors are untreated fir. I would like to use a non toxic stain and intend to cover the chewable areas with metalic strips used for sheet rock corners. The screen will be removed. It is spline applied and has molding over that. This is my second build. My first was 6x8x4. The new one will have to go into the dinning room. I don't intend to house a bunch of birds in it. It will be a place to rest and play and condition. No colony breeding! I have two other large cages. One for breeding. I don't intend to get into this in a wholesale fashion. Just a few babies now and then and will work to get some other colors.
The gal who gave them to me didn't know much about thier genetics. She is aware of one prior offspring (last year) that she referred to as speckled. I assume it was a pearl. She also said it was pale. She could mean cinnamon. She had described Abby to me as paler grey than the male who is a visual grey. Abby IS a cinnamon. Sooo Guss could be a cinnamon pearl split. There are a few pied markings on Abby but nothing else that is apparent. Of couse any other recessive genes may or may not become clear with this clutch. I'll let you know what I find when I candle.

I'm greatly relieved, both at your experience and your plans to stay very small. And at your reply. I feared my questions had offended you. Time is limited, especially in the evening, and I hadn't wanted to type an essay without knowing more about your situation. I'm glad you're here and being careful to safeguard your birds.

Happy father's day to your dad!

Woah...now I am concerned about something.

Zinc? It's toxic?

What about zinc in food? I have been giving my birds Gerber graduate sweet potato puffs (I think others do this too). They happen to be sitting in front of me when I read this and I see that it has 10% of what children 0-1 need and 6% of what children 1-4 need. Is this safe to give the birds? What about zinc naturally occurring in veggies?