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Feathers First Aviary
11-23-2013, 09:44 AM
Took some pictures of the one bird room and thought I'd share :) This is my best attempt at a virtual tour of our baby nursery, this is where all of our babies are raised from the time they are about 10 days old. They get to start out in a heated brooder and then as soon as they get their feathers they go to their very first baby cage. Baby cages will either have the grate removed or partially covered, it depends on the particular birds. They start with all of their perches and toys very low and they still get a snuggle buddy, either a stuffed animal or a hanging cloth snuggler. After they have mastered the ropes of their baby cages, their bowls, toys and perches are all moved up as they would be for a fully capable adult and they start using a fully grated cage. I also try to rearrange them periodically, that probably seems like a strange thing to do but it seems like it helps them when they go to their new homes. That way they have already experienced more than one cage and are used to the transition. If they really seem to like a specific toy, I make sure that at least stays with them :)

As you can see, there is plastic on the walls. This is something we just did about a month ago and I couldn't be happier! I only wish I would have done it sooner! When we moved into our house the walls were not painted, merely primered white. If you know anything about primer, you know that it is incredibly easy to get dirty and even harder to get clean. That, my friends, is a horrible combination with parrots! I can't tell you how many hours I have wasted scrubbing the walls with poop off, vinegar and magic erasers! Now I can just spray and wipe! And I can use all that extra time playing with the babies. I have wanted to paint the entire house but having birds, especially in the numbers that we have, makes it nearly impossible :/
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This is one of our brooders, we have a larger one that is divided into four separate areas and few others of assorted sizes. The size and number of brooders varies depending on how many babies we have. I have also been experimenting with the effects of individual brooding, or secludabrooding as some people call it, versus group brooding and I have had some interesting results.
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That's all for now, I want to get pictures of our breeder room as well, just haven't gotten around to it yet. It looks pretty much the same as this except there is no desk, no brooders and some of the cages have nestboxes attached. We set our breeders up just like the babies, with lots of perches and different toys to play with. :)

Pinkbirdy
11-23-2013, 12:13 PM
Wow ,this is so great [thanks for sharing] can you show a close up of your brooder [and explain the temperature thing)

Honesty
11-23-2013, 12:52 PM
Wow! What a fantastic set up you have Sara :) Each cage has some lovely toys for them to play with!

spiritbird
11-23-2013, 01:40 PM
Totally impressive and neat/clean in appearance. What a wonderful start for your babies. I bet there are not too many breeders that would show us, in photos, their operation.

Mare
11-23-2013, 02:23 PM
Beautiful setup Sara! I can tell you do an excellent job with your birds, lucky little ones! :)

Blancaej
11-23-2013, 05:08 PM
Wow, that is great Sara! What a nice set up you have. :D

Feathers First Aviary
11-30-2013, 06:49 AM
Wow ,this is so great [thanks for sharing] can you show a close up of your brooder [and explain the temperature thing)

I don't have a close up photo right now but I can get one then, everybirdie is asleep right now :)

We don't use any premade brooders, I've had a few opportunities to buy prefabbed ones but I have had great success with our home made ones so I figured, if it aint broke don't fix it! We use aquariums with aspen bedding on top of under tank heaters meant for reptiles. We always put a dishtowel between the top off the heating pad and the bottom glass of the tank just to keep it from getting too hot. Each brooder also has a temperature and humidity gauge and we just mist the air around the tank for humidity. I used to divide the aquarium and put a dish of water on one side but it took up a lot of space and misting seems just as effective :)

Turquoise
11-30-2013, 12:33 PM
Wow!! That is a very beautiful and impressive setup you have. I can imagine you are super busy keeping everything clean with so many to take care of. And all those hungry widdle feathery mouths to feed. :th_hug8: I love the looks of everything and how you have them set up. It is so much fun looking into other people's homes and see how their birds really live. :)