All Entries in the "Aviaries & Equipment" Category
Ultra Violet Lighting Scare
A leading Red Eye breeder built a new aviary and installed UV lighting. To his dismay, he found some red eyes going blind with these lights.
Pairing Up Techniques
Techniques that experienced fanciers associate with the introduction of the individual partners to one another
Beating the UK VAT Increase
Beat the VAT rise when buying seed.
Trichomoniasis Threat to Common British Birds
The decline in various indigenous British wild birds – specifically Greenfinches and Chaffinches – has been blamed on our “old friend” Trichomoniasis.
No Danger When the Chips are Down
Gold Chip sawdust is supplied to laboratories – where it has to be ultra clean and sterile when medical testing is in process. Added to that, it is great for us fanciers because it does not scatter as the birds fly – and furthermore, it goes further than many other baled varieties and is far easier to lift each bag.
Glue Story Sees Fancier Stick at It
The construction of this piped watering system required PVC pipes which had to be primed and glued – the former being a red priming fluid that apparently is highly toxic and required the pipes, after jointing, to be thoroughly flushed.
T8 Fluorescent Light Tube Ban
Many of you are likely to use fluorescent tube lights in your aviary. Following the European ban of certain types of incandescent light bulbs, fluorescent tube lights have now come under the microscope. Standard T8 Halophosphor fluorescent tubes are being phased out, with production being halted and the importation of them being banned.
Hatching Assistance Guide
As we know, opening too early can reveal the chick which still has not absorbed the yolk into its body and it is pale and weak. The outcome is death! Opening too late and the chick for various reasons also dies, unless helped a fraction earlier. Close observation and timing are therefore vital assets to your husbandry.
Ignore the Ring Issue Date if your Stud is Ready to Breed
Is the Ring Issue date more important than grabbing that moment to begin your personal season? Personally, I grab the moment these days and get a round in from perhaps a third of the stud and get results on the perch early with whatever rings I have to hand.
The Influential Effects of Artificial Lighting
After a few weeks it became obvious that breeding was poor and the question was – Why?. The old birdroom was breeding at the same time and producing good numbers of chicks as usual. In the new room, infertility abounded and what chicks there were, were not being fed properly. Dead tiny chicks appeared regularly.
Preparing to Breed
In the last 6 weeks I have been working to get the aviary “winterised”. A very cold one by UK standards is forecast. So, having a cedarwood exterior, it needs treating every three years without fail. That has resulted in it still being as good today as it was when I purchased it in 1971. It would be massively expensive to replace as it covers 1200 square feet (110 sq metres).
