Pet Bird Feeding Bowls

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In a softbill aviary, where birds may be flying high up or perched on the ground, it is a good idea to have two sets of dishes. Change the position of the dishes on the ground as often as possible, so that no single area of the aviary becomes irreparably damaged. There are two ways of constructing the higher dishes.

One is to build a welded mesh holder 1.2-1.5m(4-5ft) above the ground onto which you can place some dishes. (If you opt for this option, place some sand directly below the holder to catch any mess). The second option is to place the food dish on a wooden platform with a lip around the edge. The lip functions as a ‘bib’ to collect the mess left by the birds.

Remember, it is very dangerous to leave old, uneaten food lying around the aviary. Fix covers about 30cm(12in) above the food and water dishes to prevent contamination from wild bird droppings and to keep the food dry.

The best place for water dishes is in the outside area of the aviary and not in the back shelter, where they can become very dusty. The dish can be very simple – a plastic bowl for softbills containing about 2.5cm(1in) of water and a galvanized metal bowl for parrots. Larger parrots, such as cockatoos, Amazons and macaws, have no difficulty in tipping over a light bowl, so fill their dish with at least 5cm(2in) of water to make it heavier.

You may find that as soon as your birds are given water, they tip it out and play with the dish until they become rather thirsty in the afternoon. To guarantee a
supply of water all day, give them a larger water bowl and, if necessary, place a clean rock in the centre so that the birds cannot knock it over. The only time your birds will not require a water dish is if there is a pond in the aviary. (A ‘pond’ here means a small, easy to clean concrete or plastic structure.) It is fine for the birds to drink from such a pond, providing you clean it out thoroughly at least three times a week.

If you keep some of the more common ground birds, you may decide to use a grain hopper, at which the birds can easily peck. Be sure to replenish the hopper once a week. Before refilling it, completely clean out all the old food, otherwise dust and crushed pellets will build up and the hopper may become blocked without you realizing it.

Breeding Pet birds -Once the chicks have hatched

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Once the chicks have arrived, make sure they have plenty of food. Young chicks eat vast amounts; in fact, you may need to double the amount of food you normally feed to your adult birds. If food becomes scarce, it is quite common for birds to kill their young or stop feeding them. The adult birds may also stop feeding their young if you clean out the nestbox. Even if it smells rather unpleasant, leave it alone. The exceptions to this rule are lorikeets, in which the nestbox can become so foul that you will lose the chicks anyway. Therefore, after a few weeks of age, you will have to risk changing the bedding in the nestbox.

Another stage to cause concern is the day that the chicks leave the nestbox. At this age, they are not very strong and not familiar with the use of their wings. As a result, they may become cold because they are not acclimatized to an outside environment or damage themselves by flying into the wire mesh. Another possible, but easily avoidable, mishap is that a chick may drown in the water dish. To prevent this happening, either remove any deep water dishes or cover them with wire mesh so that the birds can drink but not get right in. If you think that the chicks are about to fledge (i.e. leave the nest), keep a close eye on the aviary.

If they vacate the nestbox on a wet and windy day, they are unlikely to survive. In fact, keep a constant eye on the chicks, even after they have fledged, just in case the adult birds decide to breed again. In this case, the adults may start fighting with the youngsters or even keep them from their food. Therefore, during the first few weeks after fledging, be aware that something could easily and quickly go wrong.

Once you decide to remove the chicks from the aviary, take them inside and keep them somewhere warm and quiet. You will need to monitor the chicks to make sure that they are feeding properly. It is quite common for them not to feed for the first 24 hours after being taken from their parents, but once they become hungry, they will begin to eat. If you wish to incubate the eggs or hand-rear the chicks of any species, it can be done, but you must be prepared for a great deal of work.

Monitoring Feeding and Drinking

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Monitoring your birds feeding and drinking habits can provide useful pointers to their general health. If your birds are always eager to feed, you should have no problems, but if any of your birds suddenly goes off its food, this could very well be the first sign that something is wrong.

If your bird tends to be rather timid when it comes to feeding, which can happen when you change its diet or food dish, an effective technique is to scatter a little of the food around the dish. Continue to do this until the bird is familiar with the new food or dish. It is also important to stop bold and audacious birds inhibiting any timid birds from feeding. The most constructive way to handle this problem is to provide several water and food dishes around the aviary and so create more choice and availability for the less intrepid occupants. Since smaller birds particularly can rapidly suffer from dehydration, make sure that they have easy access to a constant supply of clean water.

Seedeaters are very wasteful, often scattering their food all over the place. It is fortunate, therefore, that this type of food does not tend to spoil. The birds for which feeding hygiene is essential are soft bills, which eat a variety of different foods, and parrots feeding on pulses. With these birds, the food they eat deteriorates very quickly over a short period and so it is important to collect all the waste food from the floor each time you feed them. Otherwise, your birds may be eating food that is two or three days old, and this is obviously very dangerous. It is often a good idea to put their feeding dish inside a larger dish so that any good escaping falls into the second dish, making it easier to clean up.

Any dish containing food must be under cover, as rain will ruin the food. And, of course, do not place food or water dishes underneath perches, where droppings can easily contaminate them.

Choosing and Locating Perches

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It is absolutely essential to obtain the correct size of perch and fix it in the correct position. You can determine the correct size of perch by looking at the bird’s feet. When it is sitting on the perch, its toenails should reach all the way round and almost touch each other. Nail the perch very firmly to the side of the aviary framework, preferably fixing it in two or three places. If the perch is fixed on the wire and is not secure, it will gradually drag the wire down and leave a hole. You can also attach perches to a post in the centre of the aviary or to the roof. If the aviary is long and narrow, place the perches at either end to encourage the birds to exercise by flying between them.

Smaller birds and some species of softbills appreciate a few springy perches on which to jump about, instead of sitting on a solid foundation. It is quite safe to provide perches with a degree of springiness, but consider their shape carefully. Avoid using sharply V-shaped branches as perches; it has been known for stressed birds to fly straight into the ‘V’ and be caught by the neck. Do not attach a perch on a piece of wire hanging down from the aviary roof; if a bird suddenly panics, it is quite likely to break its wing by flying into the wire. Also avoid placing perches over food or water dishes, as you run the hazardous risk that droppings will fall into the food or water.

Many types of perches are available for cages and aviaries. Plastic and wooden types are both suitable in most cases, but it is very important not to give plastic perches to large parrots that can chew them; the birds may break off pieces of plastic and swallow them, which can be dangerous, if not fatal. Large wooden perches are best for parrots, but since they are usually destroyed so quickly, it can he cheaper to cut natural perches from trees.

Sandpaper perch covers are useful in several ways. They are easy to replace to keep the perches clean; they give the birds an excellent grip on the perch; and they help to keep the birds’ toenails short as they are rubbed against the abrasive surface.

Bird Food and Water Dishes

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There are various types of good dishes and containers that you can use to feed your birds, including earthenware, glass, metal or plastic. Use a metal container for birds with strong beaks, such as parrots. They are more likely to destroy any flimsy dishes and may swallow the fragments they have chewed off. A heavy earthenware bowl is advisable for nectar feeders, such as lorikeets, and some soft bills. These birds tend to tip their bowl up every day, scattering the contents over the floor, and the extra weight of an earthen ware container should prevent this happening.

Plastic dishes and glass tube dispensers with plastic spouts are fine for smaller seed eaters.
Nectar feeders are not only messy when eating, but they also tend to bathe in their food fish. To prevent this, place a piece of wire grid with a mesh size of 5 cm (2 in) over the bowl; this will enable the bird to eat but not bathe.

If is vital to provide the correct size and style of water dish for your birds, an over sized water dish, for example, can result in your birds drowning. In a large aviary containing many small birds, there should be a shallow water dish so that the birds can bathe in their water. If the bowl is too deep and the sides are too steep, however, a bird may not be able to get out and, when realizing this, panic and drown.

A typical food dish made up for soft bills should feature a variety of fruits, some pre made soft bill diet and some live food. You should keep the meal worms separate from the fruit in the bird food dish. It is always a good idea to feed a variety of foods to your birds. For parrots, do not chop everything into small pieces; they will enjoy chewing it up. Of course, they will make a terrible mess in the process, but this is their natural behavior

Introducing New Birds

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Try to avoid disturbance during first few days by introducing it to one new thing at a time. If you have any pets, acquaint them very gradually. A common problem is with cats. You may not keep a cat yourself, but any local cats will soon become aware of the new bird in the neighborhood. Do not think that your bird is perfectly safe just because the cat cannot get to it; the sudden appearance of a cat can literally scare a bird to death.

If your bird has been kept in an indoor environment, such as quarantine, and you eventually plan to house it outside, keep it inside for a period and provide a shallow water bowl in the cage in which it can bathe. A dish with angled rather than straight sides is best and perhaps with a few stones at the bottom to help the bird get out. This approach will also help to acquaint the bird with rain. If you put the bird outside and there is a downpour of rain, it can become waterlogged and then extremely cold.

Always give new birds several food and water dishes around the aviary. Do not be alarmed if your bird does not immediately hunt for food; this is quite normal. After a few days, your bird will know where all the food and water dishes are and you can then slowly remove them until only one food and one water dish remain.

Although it may not eat for the first few hours or so, once it becomes familiar with its surroundings check that your bird is eating properly. Just because the food dish is being emptied, this does not necessarily mean that the bird is eating