Dave Guppy
The type of accommodation required for breeding and exhibiting budgerigars all depends on your financial circumstances and the space in your garden.
The first hurdle is to find out what you neighbours think about you keeping budgerigars in your garden, especially if you live in a terrace house with a small garden. Once you have done this, it may pay you to consult your local planning authority to see if there is any planning prmission needed for your birdroom, but you may have a shed or garage in your garden which you may want to convert into your birdroom.
Try to visit some local fanciers for their ideas. It is possible to buy a birdroom and aviary from shed manufacturers.
Most fanciers start out with a standard garden shed of 8' × 6'. Make sure when erecting your birdroom that the joists it sits on are level and at least 6" off the ground. This allows for inspection in case of vermin that might be about, also to enable a cat to get underneath the birdroom, to deter the pests.
The next stop now your birdroom has been erected is to line it out. This could be either polystyrene sheets or fibre glasss roofing insulation, then covered with hardboard or something similar to make it easy to clean.
The construction of the wire mesh panels can now begin, 2" × 2" wood can be used for this. This must be treated with wood preservative; if creosote is used, allow 3 - 4 weeks before allowing your budgerigars to use it. The best wire mesh to use is Twilweld or something similar, but not chicken wire. The mesh usually comes in 3' widths, and it is best to put mesh on both sides of frames as this prevents the birds from chewing the framework away. Budgerigars are quite a hardy bird, but they do need some cover in an outdoor aviary at one end. Also, the roof may be covered with PVC roofing sheets to prevent wild bird droppings getting into the aviary, although budgerigars do love to go out when it is raining. The outdoor aviary must be attached to the main birdroom, thus needing a small indoor aviary for the birds to roost and feed themselves. Another useful addition to an aviary and your birdroom it a safety door. This is built around your main door to prevent birds escaping.
Perches for aviaries can be of variable sizes, from half-inch dowels upwards, also three-quarter-inch soft wood. These perches should be placed across the width of the aviary, not lengthways. A useful addition is natural perches cut from trees, eg., apple, sycamore or ash. These should be washed before use. Do not use laburnam, lilac or yew, as these are poisonous to budgerigars.
Editor's Note: This article is part of a booklet Welcome to Caring For and Breeding Clearwing Budgerigars used as a welcome to new members of the CBBA and is reprinted by kind permission of that Association.
Copyright © 1997, The Clearwing Budgerigar Breeders Association.