• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

Another casualty of the wind- Our aviary roof!

Kittykat23uk

Mama Doe
:evil: The wind has completely ripped off the corrugated plastic roof of our aviary :cry::cry: So the buns have been forced to spend the night locked in the kennel. So today we will have to repair it. Those of you with covered aviaries, what do you use?

Jo x
 
Oh No! :(

My buns are locked up at the moment too...I locked them up last night at around 6pm when things got real bad here and I have been out to feed them this morning and have left them locked up :( There is stuff blowing around all over the place, house and car alarms going off, bits of tree flying round etc :?
 
We use the black corrugated stuff but it's only lasted a year. Come the better weather dad is going to put boards up there and cover those with roofing felt.

Sorry your roof is damaged :-(
 
Thanks, I was wondering if covering it with some marine ply and roofing felt would be better, but worry whether it would then make it all too dark, since the kennel is attached to the back, the only light that gets in comes from the aviary. The other option is to leave it exposed and trust that the buns will go into the kennel in bad weather and/or lock them in at night. But the carpet on the shelves gets soggy and the water pools on the lino. They do love sitting on top of the hutch. That's their favourite spot. Opinions? :?
 
I've attached the corrugated wotsit to the underside of the aviary roof instead of on top of it, and much to my surprise it's still in tact! I think because the wind has a tendency to push the panels upwards, it's just pushing them into the mesh aviary roof, so they're staying fairly solid.
 
I would secure the aviary down to the ground and then secure the roof better. Marine Ply would cost a lot more and only offer a bit more protection than Red Face Ply WBP. Along as both the aviary and roof is secure all should be fine in strong winds. :wave:
 
I'm saving for a solid roof as I have the corrugated plastic at the moment, and it worries me when the wind is this high.

Fortunately The Boys have sturdy hutches inside, just in case, and there are mesh aviary panels under the plastic, so nothing could get in at them, and we also have ropes tied across the plastic, just in case!
 
Thanks all, it has been raining again here and the bunnies are sulking in their kennel. I'll definitely need something to keep the water off. :(
 
Sorry to hear about more damage to bunny accomodation. I'm so glad I have Spenser indoors, but no that isn't an option for many - or even what the buns would like.

Hope you get sorted soon. :wave:
 
Is the plastic itself broken or has it just blown away? You can't see it too well from these photos, but this is how I've done it:

66fd46d5.jpg


3fdc5e11.jpg


Basically the corrugated plastic is screwed to the bits of wood you can see across the width of the aviary. I have 3 screws screwed into each end of the wood, and I use these to hook the wood over the aviary mesh. This sandwiches the corrugated plastic underneath the roof, so when the wind pushes into it, it just pushes it up into the mesh/wood roof rather than it floating away. Because it's on the inside, obviously you can't have any overhang, so it's hooked on slightly higher at the shed end and I've attached some guttering to a waterbutt :)
 
Thanks, I think the water butt idea would take up too much room in our aviary. hmm.. Ian has a plan apparently. We will see how that works :thumb:
 
I bought the cheapest one from Argos, it's only about 27cm square, which is why it fits so nicely in that corner behind the door :lol: I did think about putting it on the outside and diverting the tube through the mesh, but that seemed like an awful lot of faff :oops: Good luck with Ian's plan, whatever that turns out to be!
 
We have the corrugated plastic on the top of our hutch/run/aviary type construction - we weighted it down overnight with bricks, plant pots and litter trays of grass! I'll have to see whether it's all still there when I get home from work!

I like the idea of putting it under the mesh though.... will have to see if we can convert to that somehow :thumb:
 
I must admit though that I didn't do it that way for that reason, I did it because the aviary is sandwiched down the side of our house between the house and fence, so if I'd put it on top, I'd never be able to take it down or clean it without dismantling half the run - so I put it on the inside so I could get to it. I didn't even consider that it would have the advantage of the past few days :lol:
 
Only one of my roofs came off last night - found it half way up the garden in pieces:roll: Luckily the others have survived intact.

The weak point on the plastic roofing is where the screw goes through the plastic, as it gets brittle over time, and the movement by the wind just causes a circle of plastic around the screw to fracture.

If you replace with plastic simply use a 1" baton across the width of the aviary between the roof sheet and the screw - it will make the fixing far sturdier, and the sheet will be secured across the who;le width of the sheets across the top, middle and bottom:D
 
Thanks. I don't know what to do for the best really. Have you got a photo by any chance BBMommy? I think Ian's having difficulty picturing how that would work. is your roof flat?
 
Thanks. I don't know what to do for the best really. Have you got a photo by any chance BBMommy? I think Ian's having difficulty picturing how that would work. is your roof flat?

No I haven't needed to do it on my roofs. Just thought that I would re-fix it that way if I had to replace it.

Sorry but my drawing skills nowhere near match my diy skills:lol:

012-1.jpg
 
Last edited:
Back
Top