If you’re keeping birds, you want to keep them in good health at all times, and you can go a long way towards this goal by practicing good standards of avicultural hygiene. Hygiene is the science, or art, of preserving good health (or preventing disease and bad health, whichever way you wish to look at it). In keeping groups of birds under close confinement, hygiene is of utmost importance. Infectious diseases can spread very rapidly from one bird to the next unless strict and logical hygienic measures are taken. Hygiene often sounds more complicated than it really is; all that is really required is thoughtful and thorough management of your aviary.
I give my aviary a good going-over once a week RELIGIOUSLY.
Keeping the perches clean is a very important step in your hygiene program. Your birds wipe their beaks on these, and this makes the perch a prime source of infection due to dirt and food matter being deposited on it that can become a haven for bacteria. As perches become difficult to clean they should be replaced.
All water containers should also be washed in warm water and given a thorough scrubbing inside and out. A tip to keep them clean is to put a cap full of Apple Cider Vinegar in them before you fill them with water again.
Your seed dishes or hoppers must always stay dry and clean, and always make sure they’re full and free of husks.
I brush the concrete floor of my aviary first, and collect most of the discarded materials in a pan. I then scrape the hardened droppings on the floor with a paint scraper to loosen them up. After brushing the floor again I get my old Hoover and give the place a once over (my birds don’t seem to mind the noise, probably because they’ve been brought up with it). When the floor is spotless I give it a good wash down and scrub with warm water and to finish it gets a hosing out.
Once a month the aviary gets sprayed with Avian Insect Liquidator, which can be purchased at any good pet store.
Provided with the correct nourishment and kept in clean, dry and vermin-free quarters, birds should remain in good health and live to a ripe old age.
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