Aussie Finch Forum

Hi all. Would appreciate comments on use of treated pine as part of an underground mice retard. Will the treated pine kill the chewing mice? Other suggestions for mouse wall appreciated. Have trench dug.

Pine buried will absorb moisture and the mice will eventually chew through it, It won't kill them as the don't actually ingest it. If you don't want to pour concrete zinc-alum sheeting buried with no gaps in joins will last a fair while before it rusts out.

Yeh, too many gaps in timber layered, concrete, blocks or bricks are the go............I'm feeling your pain........footings are a pain when all you want to do is get the aviary up and birds in.......but your footings are arguably one of the most important things to get right in your aviary build........make sure they're down at least 450mm, better still, 600mm

the rat wall is THE most important build requirement in my view.
get it wrong and the furry little buggers will plague you forever.
if you have dug "large" trenches you may be able to use the pine logs to part fill the trench then pour cement around them to ensure no gaps,thus saving on the volume of cement needed.
have seen other aviary builds where some "different" reinforcing goes into the mix never to be seen again(Fincho comes to mind).
overkill in this regard(ratwall) will be rewarded down the track.
good luck

Thanks for comments. The trench around was dug by a mini excavator. Varies from 1-2.5feet in depth, but is naturally wide. Good idea about the logs to reduce concrete costs. Have come across some thick glass, (14inches x 30 inches) and thought I might use it to pack down some of the sides. Cheers.

Just a quick note to say if using treated pine in the ground make sure it is H4 grade.
Also on poisoning from treated pine - termites are not killed off by treated pine. The treatment just makes it unpalatable to termites. They will eat it if absolutely nothing else around. But normally there is plenty of other food sources.

Thanks Bob21358. I'll tackle the glass option as I was able to purchase about 40 foot of thick glass cheaply. I'll infill with remaining soil so save concrete costs, although using logs as a support for the glass hasn't been dismissed. Thanks.