Avian Influenza Updates

Avian Influenza Updates

The current Avian influenza situation is concerning alongside the Covid-19 pandemic and is especially worrying for bird owners. It is strongly advised that all bird and poultry owners should be vigilant and monitor the situation and guideline changes. 

The following information is being published on 11/01/2021 and is only true up until this point. We advise that you check the Government website for further updates past this date.

Bird Keeping Guidelines

Housing measures outlined on 14/12/2020 state that it is a legal requirement to keep birds indoors or take measures to ensure that they are separated from wild birds, an aviary covered with tarpaulin for example. 

If you have large flocks that must remain outside, then extra measures must be taken to prevent the spread of the disease. This includes the disinfecting of any footwear and clothes that are worn when entering the aviary or coop, minimising contact between yourself and the birds and keeping disinfectant at relevant points for easy use.

On 07/01/2020 it was declared that Surveillance Zones around two premises nearby Northallerton in North Yorkshire have been removed. Local movement restrictions have been removed, however the Prevention Zone measures still remain.

Symptoms of the Avian Influenza

You should be vigilant of avian influenza symptoms both for yourself and for your birds. If any of your flock experience the below symptoms you should immediately take measures to prevent the spread of the disease by quarantining the entire area around the aviary/coop and report the outbreak to the relevant animal health authorities. 

  • Sudden death without any warning.
  • Lack of coordination.
  • Purple discoloration of the wattles, combs, and legs.
  • soft-shelled or misshapen eggs .
  • Lack of energy and appetite.
  • Diarrhea.
  • Swelling of the head, eyelids, comb, wattles and hocks.
  • Nasal discharge.
  • Decreased egg production.
  • Coughing, sneezing.
Symptoms of bird flu in chickens, swollen face

If you experience any of the below symptoms yourself, you should seek medical attention after pre-warning them before arriving.

  • Fever.
  • Cough.
  • Sore throat.
  • Conjunctivitis.
  • Muscle Aches.

These symptoms may also lead to:

  • Pneumonia.
  • Acute respiratory distress.
  • Other severe and life threatening complications.

Avian Influenza Worldwide

There are some unfortunate reports of India beginning a culling process of birds to further prevent the spread of the disease, with France potentially following suit. Over in the US the disease appears to be spreading and causing alarm. China has suspended poultry imports from France. 

Keeping Parrots Outdoors in the UK

keeping parrots outdoors

Keeping parrots outdoors is becoming more and more popular with bird owners wanting to give their companions some outdoor time to offer enrichment and the change to stretch out those wings! It is important, though, to remember that parrots are exotic birds and are used to higher temperatures than what the UK typically experiences.

What temperatures can parrots withstand?

As well as getting too cold, parrots can also become too hot, so it is important to place your aviary somewhere that allows your parrot to access sun and shade. Parrots can withstand up to 29 degrees Celsius, however their ideal temperature is somewhere between 19 and 22 degrees Celsius. 

Anything below these temperatures could start to harm your bird, so it is important to familiarise yourself with the warning signs.

If you are keeping parrots outdoors, you should also look into other illnesses that your parrot could develop, you can find a list of potential illnesses here. Parrots are mostly prone to respiratory diseases, so it is important to regularly check on your birds when keeping them outdoors.

How to tell if your parrot is too hot or cold.

The most obvious sign that a parrot is too cold is shivering, they may also become lethargic and lose their appetite. Check your parrots frequently when you believe the temperature may be toward the lower end of their comfort zone. If you notice any of these changes, or spot any other concerning changes in behavior, you should relocate your parrot to an indoor cage or an indoor area attached to your aviary.

A parrot that is too hot may hold its wings away from its body and start breathing with its beak open. If not rectified as soon as possible, this may lead to seizures. If you notice any of these warning signs, you should move your parrot to a cool and shaded area with easy access to water to allow your parrot to cool down.

Keeping parrots warm in the winter.

When keeping parrots outdoors in the UK it is possible for the bird to become acclimated to the British weather, however it is still always safer to either move your parrot indoors during the winter, or offer them a sheltered area with their aviary. The sheltered area should aim to be free of draughts and ideally have a heater. This page tells you what to look for when buying a bird heater.

Do you also need help choosing the best aviary mesh wire? You can read our article here.

Order your FREE samples of our ClearMesh products by clicking here.

Outdoor Aviaries By The Seaside

Outdoor Aviaries header picture

Seaside Aviaries

One of the main benefits of choosing our stainless steel mesh for outdoor aviaries is the anti-corrosive properties and weather resistance. These properties make ClearMesh ideal to use outdoors, being able to withstand soaring temperatures, UV rays and freezing cold.

Our products are knitted from a 304 grade of stainless steel wire as a standard, however, different grades of stainless steel have different strengths. Some grades are better with corrosion, whereas others are better with heat. This is why we always advise our customers to contact us if they have any specific requirements that they are concerned about.

Customisable Outdoor Aviaries

Alongside having a completely customisable aviary structure with our mesh, we can also customise it to your needs. Thanks to customer feedback, not only have we customised our wire diameters to welcome new products, but we can also customise the material to your environment!

A perfect example of this is aviaries that are near the seaside. We have had quite a few enquiries for this type of environment. For this issue we always recommend that we use a 316 grade of stainless steel as opposed to 304, as the 316 has stronger anti-corrosive properties to protect better against the high levels of salt corrosion.

Case Study

We had a customer contact us who was concerned about his seaside environment and the strength of the mesh. To ensure that we fully met his requirements, we offered him our ClearMesh HT product in a 316 grade of stainless steel. 

side of outdoor aviary in a seaside setting

As many of you may now know, we always welcome customer feedback and work hard to create products that meet our customers needs. If you feel you have any special requirements for your outdoor aviary mesh, then we invite you to contact us for a full discussion on how we can work with you to achieve your desired result. 

Kamp Kenan Sponsorship Update

Kamp Kenan and Knitwire Logo's

Kamp Kenan Sponsorship Update!

As many of you may know, we are currently in the middle of a sponsorship with Kamp Kenan, supplying him with some mesh to make a brand new giant enclosure for his adult Rhino Iguanas!

The sponsorship video has been put on hold at present due to a change in mesh product and the current soaring temperatures in Florida preventing Kenan from doing much building work. You can see project updates on Kenans YouTube channel.

Who is Kamp Kenan?

Kamp Kenan, ran by ex-BMXer and TV presenter Kenan Harkin, is a small reptile sanctuary based in Florida which features many realistic outdoor enclosures promoting animal welfare and conservation.

Kenan hosts a YouTube channel to promote the benefits of keeping reptiles outdoors in hotter areas, conservation efforts out in the wild and general reptile care for pet owners. Kenan keeps many reptiles ranging from turtles and tortoises to lizards and snakes, and has many years of reptile keeping experience under his belt.

New Additions to the Kamp!

Kenan has released an update video onto his channel showing off his brand new baby additions to the kamp! 

The kamp has welcomed 13 new baby Rhino Iguanas that have hatched from their eggs over the weekend. All 13 babies seem to be doing well and have been isolated from the mother for their own protection. Kenan will now be moving them into their own small nursery encosure until they have been sent to their new homes. 

If you are interested in purchasing one of the baby Iguanas, you can do so by contacting Kenan directly. His contact details can be found on the Kamp Kenan website.

If you would like to order your free sample of our Kenan sponsorship mesh, you can fill out this form and select the ClearMesh 35 option.

Aviary Mesh Customer Visits

Close up image of owl

Our Aviary Mesh Customer Visits

We sell many different types of aviary mesh to many different types of customers. Some are general members of the public wanting to build their own bird aviary in their back yard, and some are small to large businesses such as falconries or zoos. 

We wanted to go and visit some of our aviary mesh customers to see how they make the best use of our mesh and to receive feedback on our aviary mesh products. Our meshes are so versatile that not one aviary ends up looking the same. 

The Feathery Folk

Our first aviary mesh customer visit of the day was to Libby at The Feathery Folk, who attend educational events with their Birds Of Prey to share their knowledge of each of the species. Libby has been a fantastic help to the development of our products to ensure that they are safe for Birds Of Prey.

Libby contacted us some time ago to express her concern that the ClearMesh 25 wire may be too thin for her birds delicate claws when he was landing on it. Since then we have developed products using a thicker wire for customers keeping any species of Birds Of Prey. The great thing about knitted wire mesh is that despite the thicker wire, the product is still extremely easy to see through into an enclosure.

aviary mesh knitted wire mesh with owl out of focus in background
aviary mesh knitted wire mesh with owl in focus in background

Shoreside Stables

Our second customer visit of the day was to Helen at Shoreside Stables who wanted to build a small aviary to hold her budgies. Helen found that the mesh was great for keeping the budgies inside, however she was concerned about keeping her many cats outside.

For Helen, we decided to send out another roll, free of charge, so that she could double skin her current mesh, adding an extra layer of protection and security. Helen is now extremely happy with her aviary and feeling confident that her cats will not be able to break through.

outdoor aviary against side of building
2 cats sat together

Would You Like To Be The Next Aviary Mesh Customer Visit?...

Contact us today if you would like to be the next aviary mesh customer visit and be featured in our blog. We love to hear about customer experiences of our products to help us to learn, grow and develop to better suit your requirements.

Falconry Aviaries

row of falconry aviaries made of wood and clearmesh

Falconry Aviaries

We have supplied many customers and organisations with our mesh to create falconry aviaries for many different species of Birds of Prey. Falconry aviaries are set up differently to those of other bird species, so we thought we would give you some top tips that we have found from our customers!

Tips For Building Your Aviary

Aviaries for falconry birds are best as enclosed areas, as opposed to full aviaries. According to IAF (International Association for Falconry), “Some very tame and calm individual birds, especially Buzzards, Eagles and Harris Hawks, can be kept in aviaries made completely from mesh wire”.

One of our customers, Mr. Stanley, had the idea of adapting a shed into an enclosed space to hold his Harris Hawk, Skye. He also decided to cut a window into the enclosure so that he could check on the bird easily, using our mesh across the open space to ensure that the bird could not escape. You may have already seen this project in our monthly newsletter. If you are not subscribed to our newsletter, you can do so here.

construction of falconry aviary shed outdoors

Aviary Security

Should your home have any other fury friends, it is also important to keep these away from your falconry aviaries as they could be harmful to your birds. Extra care is needed with smaller birds as they are more often targetted by preditors. When considering one of our mesh products, we always advise ordering our free samples so that you can see the strength of each of them before making a purchase. 

Most of our meshes will protect against rodents, and some will protect against larger predators such as cats and foxes. In fact, our mesh is currently being used by the RSPB on Gough Island to protect sea birds against rodents. You can read the full story here.

row of wooden aviaries

Lighting Your Falconry Aviaries

Our customer Mr. Stanley, who converted the shed, has also shared with us the lighting that he has installed for when he checks his Harris Hawk, Skye, in the evening. As birds are sensitive to light and have colour vision, our customer decided to use coloured bulbs to help protect the Hawk’s vision. 

green light shining on falconry aviary
Harris Hawk on Perch

As much as we teach our customers about our mesh, our customers also teach us about different bird species and conservation, which is what makes our job so much more enjoyable!

If you would like to learn more about our knitted wire mesh, contact us today

Aviary Wire Mesh – Best Choice

aviary wire mesh with african grey parrots

Choosing The Best Aviary Wire Mesh

Choosing the best aviary wire mesh can be a daunting and confusing task for those who are new to the DIY aviary scene. There are a few important matters to keep in mind when selecting the perfect wire mesh for your feathery friends! The health and safety of the bird is, of course, paramount, however, there are also other matters to take into consideration, such as ease of installation, durability, and visibility to name a few.

In this article, we will cover each of these points to help you to make an informed decision!

Bird Safety

The safety of your bird(s) is the most important matter when selecting an aviary wire mesh. Wire mesh can be manufactured from a variety of different materials, some of which are animal friendly, and some that are not. Galvanized wire can be a tempting choice due to its low cost, however, this material contains high amounts of zinc, which can be toxic to birds. When selecting a wire material, it is best to look toward stainless steel. Stainless steel is anti-corrosive, weather-resistant, and completely safe for birds and other animals. This material may cost a little more but will last longer and is animal friendly.

Another issue to keep in mind is the size of the holes within the mesh. If the holes are too big, the bird could either escape or become trapped and seriously injure itself. You should always check the gap size before purchasing to ensure that it will securely hold your bird.

Dependent upon your local area, you may also need to select a mesh that will not only keep the bird in but also keep any predators out. Rodents and foxes are a common predator to birds that are kept outside in aviaries. If you predict that you may have a few unwanted visitors, you may want to consider using a higher wire diameter. The higher the wire diameter, the thicker the wire, and the harder it is to slash/cut through. 

Installation

If you are a DIY novice, you may want to consider a mesh that is easy to install. For this, you should consider the weight of the mesh, flexibility, and structure. Wrought iron is another animal-friendly material, however, it can be extremely heavy and unpractical when installing. Stainless steel can be a very light product, especially when it is a knitted mesh.

Knitted mesh also offers flexibility, meaning that it is extremely easy to attach to nearly any structure made from either wood, metal, or plastic. 

We offer a range of stainless steel knitted aviary wire mesh products in a variety of different wire diameters and lengths. You can order a free sample of each of our products to compare which may be more suitable for your bird species, your environment, and your DIY skill level. If you have any further questions then please feel free to contact us using our contact form or the details provided on our company contact page.

Aviary Mesh – RSPB

Gough Island

Aviary Mesh - RSPB

We have been supplying our aviary mesh to the RSPB to help protect the seabirds of Gough Island.

Gough Island is a volcanic island located in the South Atlantic Ocean, more than 1,500 miles off the shore of Cape Town, South Africa. The island acts as a nesting ground to seabirds such as various types of Albatrosses, Petrels and Moorhens.

Mice have been accidentally introduced to the island and have been feeding on all species of the seabird chicks, devastating the number of eggs and chicks being raised. Several species of seabird are now facing extinction as a direct result. 

Moorhen
Albatross chick in nest

With our aviary mesh, the RSPB are doing all that they can to protect the seabirds and their chicks from extinction. ClearMesh is extremely robust against rodents. The RSPB have made some fantastic aviaries for the Moorhens to safeguard their population until the eradication of the invasive mice, after which the Moorhens will be released.

Considering the islands rough terrain, the RSPB have had to fly in their equipment via helicopter, our aviary mesh is very lightweight making it ideal for navigating harsh terrains.

aviary mesh on gough islad for moorhens RSPB
aviary mesh gough island RSPB

This project has been completed previously on the South Georgia Island by the South Georgia Heritage Trust (SGHT). This project was a massive success and the island is now completely rodent free, giving great hope for the future of Gough Island.

If you would like to learn more about the benefits and uses of our ClearMesh, or you would like to see how our ClearMesh can help your conservation project, then please feel free to contact us.

Bird Aviary Mesh – Joining

joint of two meshes

Joining Bird Aviary Mesh

We have had many enquiries about joining bird aviary mesh together, so we thought that we would compile all of the different ways to join our mesh into one article!

The process of joining the mesh together is not actually as complex as some may believe, it is extremely simple, inexpensive and will not negatively impact the strength of the mesh.

'Hog Rings

The most common methods of joining our mesh together is using hog rings. This is a quick and easy method of joining, however it is important to ensure that the hog rings are made of stainless steel, as galvanised hog rings will corrode and break.

You should also ensure that you fold over the edges of the mesh before joining to prevent the mesh from unravelling. To see a short tutorial for this method you can watch our YouTube video.

Hog rings joining two pieces of ClearMesh together

Twizzing

Twizzing is a method of joining two pieces of knitted wire mesh together. The method involves using a crochet style hook to grab wire from either side and twist them together.

It is important to make sure you twist for 3 full rotations, as 2 could cause the wires to come undone and 4 could cause the wires to snap.

Stitching

An alternative method of joining 2 pieces of mesh is to stitch them together using wire, which we can supply to you at an added cost.

We recommend using stainless steel as this is resistant to corrosion and conforms to the long lasting quality of the mesh.

Non-joining

If you would like to avoid having to join the mesh together entirely, then you should consider 

This is a great way to produce a seamless joint without obstructing too much of the view into the enclosure.

Bird Aviary Mesh Attached to Wooden Frame

If you would like to learn more about our Bird Aviary Mesh or would like to receive a quote then please feel free to contact us today.

If you are a business, then we invite you to check out our company website and contact us via this.