Tour Our Facility
In the summer of 2008, we achieved our dream of constructing a wonderful purpose-build building for the birds to live in. It’s located in what used to be our sheep pasture, 150 feet from our house and overlooking a peaceful stream with oak trees along it. Surrounding the building you can see our land restoration project flourishing through Abi’s nurturing.
We built this to be as secure and energy-efficient as possible. The building is earth sheltered on the north, east, and part of the west sides. The south wall is a passive solar collector, designed with two layers of six inch thick, 500 square foot, double walled polycarbonate, with six inches between each layer.
The other walls are 10 inch poured concrete with oversized reinforcing bars. The attic insulation is 16 inches deep and we have floor-radiant heat. We use an on-demand tankless water heater, and all of the ceiling lights are full spectrum energy-efficient LEDs.
Thanks to these nasty midwest storms, we have a generator and stores of water/pelleted food available. The roof and ceiling are heavy weight steel panels.
Our solar panels generate as much electricity as we can use, as long as the sun is out.
Across the front of our building is our outdoor flight area. It’s 500 square feet, and is partitioned so the little birds don’t get tangled up with the macaws.
The macaws utilize half of the interior building in Macaw Mansion. There are cages for security at night and when we are away from the building, and play gyms during the day. Those who live in cages have their play gyms on top of their cages, and during the day most of them are open and hanging out.
Some of our macaws live permanently on these trees and are never caged. The birds can fly around and choose who to hang out with, while supervised.
There is a door to the aviary at the back, which gets opened on nice days and birds get carried out one by one.
Most of the Amazons in Amazon Alley are aggressive towards each other and have to remain caged. They come out to play in rotation, with much care taken as to who can be out with who. A select few get to be out with any of the amazons, and some of our wild caught birds prefer to stay in their cages all the time.
Amazons get to go into the aviary when the weather allows.
Dusty old world birds like cockatoos and African greys can be a health hazard to new world birds, especially macaws. We separate these guys into their own room, Cockatoo Corner, covered in clear polycarbonate. The material lets all light pass through, but allows us to clean the dust off without harming the other birds. It is also flexible enough that if a bird were to fly into it, it wouldn’t hurt them at all. It had its own air filter, humidifier, bathing fountain, and its own door to the flight. These guys may go outside with the macaws, since the dust doesn’t bother them outside.
The small birds (conures, quakers, caiques, ringnecks) have a room of their own, Conure Condo, for their safety. This allows them to fly loose, visit, bathe, and perch without the fear of being injured by the bigger birds. It is made from the same polycarbonate sheeting as the cockatoo room, and there is a solid door connecting the two.
Some birds live permanently free flighted in the small bird aviary, and most of the caged birds get to come out during the day to visit. They have their own door to their own aviary, attached to the large one but partitioned off.
On the other side of the building is our workshop, office, and kitchen areas. This workshop is where we build toys, repair cages, and construct play gyms. Nearly everything we use here is recycled, repurposed, or reused. What isn’t any of those is almost always donated to us by generous supporters.
Our kitchen may be small but it handles what we need it to. We have a freezer, fridge, microwave, dishwasher, plus storage and a chest freezer in the bathroom for backup.
In addition to this, we have a backup storage shelf for dry goods in case of shortages.
DIET
We feed Harrison’s organic pepper pellets to most of our birds, and the eclectus get TOPS. Picky birds, newcomers, and small birds have Zupreem pellets mixed in as needed to aid in the transition process. Our seed mix is a Goldenfeast blend, and treats are typically nuts… walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, cashews, pistachios, brazil nuts, and more. The only supplements we use are a liquid calcium for greys and egg-layers, and a once-weekly dried nettle leaf for eye and immune support.
Oh, and our coffee pot is ALWAYS working overtime. We use only organic, fair-trade, and rainforest certified coffee. The birds don’t get any, but it’s what keeps us people running here.
The birds here get a complete diet every day, which includes fresh vegetables and fruits. We use organic sweet potatoes, fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, and frozen vegetable blends. We have worked hard to ensure our diet is providing them with everything they need, and changing things up. Our vet, Dr Jen Bock-Vanaria of Quad City Pet Care has been helping us as we take on a new chapter, changing their diet gradually to reach all their needs and more.
Outside the quarantine room is the art wall… Here is where we hang gorgeous pictures, paintings, and drawings for the birds to look at when they’re bored with each other. Most of these are donated from people passing through, looking to spread their joy.
The guitar is for entertaining birds and people. The macaws really enjoy Jimmy Buffett; the amazons prefer opera (we can’t sing that, sorry). The cockatoos like Elvis, but will dance to anything! (For those who care… The guitar is a Martin)
We are very proud of our medical and quarantine room. It has cages and space for four to six birds, an oxygen unit, an incubator/nebulizer ICU unit, and its own dedicated air filter. The room has independent ventilation and a door straight to the bathroom, to allow anybody working to shower before interacting with any other birds, if we have a hard quarantine in effect.
The room features a large stainless steel medical table, where we can treat minor injuries, trim beaks and claws, administer medications, and do intake exams. It’s a small space, but we pack a lot of capability into it.
Our last area at the front of the building is our education area. Here we have books and displays, with information on how to adopt, species identification, what parrots need, conservation issues, and more. We also keep our records on placements here and our finance sheets. We sell T-shirts, books, and ballcaps here.
