# Ringneck Flight



## legaleagle (Aug 2, 2017)

Hello! I'm a novice dove owner, and I have a single pair of ringnecks that I keep as pets in my house. I'd like to give them more flight time, but I'm often not home to supervise, so I was thinking about building them an outdoor pen that would be large enough to for them to do some flapping around. I'm a student and I don't have a ton of money to spend on it, but I'm hoping to build something in the 4'x8' range. I'd like them to be able to overnight in it safely, maybe year round? I'll number my questions for ease of answer. 
I'm in Michigan and not totally certain (I've gotten conflicting info) how weather-hardy ringnecks are--my guys have lived indoors all their lives. 1. Can they safely overnight in freezing temps if they have an insulated cote or loft? (I'm assuming not, and I would be bringing them indoors for winter.)
2. Can I cover it in chicken wire, or do I need to do something smaller, like a 1/4 in mesh?
3. If it's basically just a mesh pen, and they're only a single pair (with an indoor house I can easily take them to in rough weather) can I get away with building them something like a cote in the flight, or should I be making them a small, insulated 2'x2' loft for winter weather? 
I live on a heavily wooded lot, and the best location for this would be in a little clearing, so it would be very shady even without roofing over the flight. I know we have some predators around, and I was planning on doing a mesh layer on the 'floor' as well. 
I know some of these are fairly rudimentary questions, but I don't want to accidentally screw something up. Thanks!


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Hi, just saw this post. They would need a loft to live in, with the aviary to go out in when they want. They will spend most of their time in the actual loft, so a very small house area inside the wired enclosure wouldn't be any good. Especiall in the cold weather, they would be inside, so need room the move around and live in there. 

Any wire would need to be heavy gauge hardware cloth 1/2 inch, to keep rats and such out that could walk right through chicken wire. Raccoons can also tear through chicken wire. They also do need sun to go outside into. If it was just shady all the time they wouldn't get any sun. The floor should be a solid floor, but if you can't do that, then heavy gauge hardware cloth. Wood on top of that would still be better.
You don't want to be bringing them in and out all the time, as the temperature extremes wouldn't be good for them. Have you built anything yet?


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## legaleagle (Aug 2, 2017)

Yep, construction is underway! I found some really neat salvaged windows from a factory to use as the sidewalls, so I tweaked my blueprints to use them. (They're lead-free, I checked.) Current size will be 12x6x8' with about three feet of the length occupied by a mantrap so nobirdy escapes. All the mesh involved is 1/2 in steel hardware cloth. I'm still debating loft plans, but I've got enough on my hands just getting the flight up before the weather shifts. But at this point I expect it'll be unoccupied until spring--First frost will probably hit before I get the roof up. 
I'm not too worried about temperature shifts--it seems wisest that they only go outside during periods when I can comfortably leave the window in their room in the house open, so temperature shifts between indoors and outdoors should be minimal. The clearing is shady, but it's tree cover, so sunlight does get through. The roof will be half covered, half 1/2 in hardware cloth, and the floor is also mesh--one of the conditions of the flight being where it is is that it not kill the grass underneath it. 
Progress pics below:


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Gee, that's interesting looking. Can hardly wait to see it together. 
Where is it you're putting it?


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## legaleagle (Aug 2, 2017)

In this little clearing. It's quite near my house and opens on the driveway, so they'd be visible from my kitchen window. That's the floor sitting on the ground there, waiting for walls to be attached.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but chicken wire will not work for the floor. One, it will rot quickly, 2) the holes are too large for them to walk on without their feet going through, and not firm enough for them to walk on either. But mostly, rats and mice can go right through those holes. Things like raccoons can tear right through that wire. You need to use like 1/2 inch heavy gauge hardware cloth. Not chicken wire. Never chicken wire.


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