Aussie Finch Forum

Deb, I'm pretty sure that Sydney sand which we get here is beach sand. It good for tiling, maybe becuase it is low in nutrients?

Yeah its very fine so would be good for tiling ... certainly not very good here for my birds .

We shovelled it all out of the aviary today , man did it stink it reminded me of a stagnant rock pool at the beach ....birds are on concrete now till I think of some other type of flooring .

Jusdeb,

I agree that fine sand is not really appropriate for an aviary floor that will get wet or have bird excement on it. Depending on sand types the best sand would be a washed sand as this process removes the 'fines' being the clay / soil particles that trades such as bricklayers and plasterers rely on to goet a good 'fat' mix for their works. I have never used sand but from my lengthy experience in construction I would steer clear of it unless it was a washed river sand which is courser.

I use grass clippings for my base over concrete. The clippings are from a nearby reserve that the Government mow with the result that the clipped grass is about 300mm long due to them not mowing too often. At this length I get seed heads and it very closly resembles swamp grass and the birds absolutly go nuts fossicking for the seed. Every month or two replace the lot bird poo included and grab more from my reserves that I bag up when they mow.

John

That sounds like a good idea as we have council reserves on all sides ...only problem is they are constantly poisoning meat ant nests so I dont know how that affects the grass , maybe too risky .

I guess that leaves you with two options,
1) talk to council regarding the composition of the poison they use and seek advice on the likely impact on birds,
2) don't touch it and let someone else 'test' the result.

You could always buy a couple of bails of lucerne from a produce store and ask for a product that has retained seed?

Lucerne

Heck, it doesnt have to be lucerne. Ordinary grass hay would do just as well, and you should get plenty of seed heads...

Just saw several large round bales floating down the river ... Yes Id be getting whatever bale had the most seed in it .

if you have seen russell kingstons dvd he has 7mm gravel in all his aviaries.