Aviary in remembrance of my brother

Who AM I: My name is Barry L Salter and I'm 54. I own a very small web hosting company under three names, Hosting Master Internet, My Phoenix SEO and the newest under construction is Hippo Loco aimed at providing cheap hosting and compete with the big companies like Blue Host, Gator and Go Daddy plus the other company names they own under their company umbrellas.

Why am I raising Funds: On July 1st, my brother Steven past away leaving behind a whole lot of animals to be cared for by his wife and son (whom I might add is in collage and not in Phoenix).
My Brother Stephen E Salter's Obituary  

So Silvia (my wife) and I volunteered to take the birds all and any Karen wanted someone else to take. There was one large bird Karen and Brandon kept and 30 parakeets they gave Silvia and I that Brandon, Silvia and I with nets fished out of Steve's Aviary. 
That's me inside Steve's aviary that's going away.
Steve kept these birds in a small aviary in the back yard that he feed and watered probably once a week, the rest of the time the birds where pretty much left alone.

So Silvia and I decided, for many reason not just for the birds sake,  You see here the mess they make cleaned weekly and 30 birds in one cage to the right there.
to create for them a parakeet aviary paradise in our back yard in remembrance of my brother. Steve's was about 5' by 4' and he used the emergence door in the front rather than the double doors on the side to enter it. Our memorial to him will be much bigger. Ours is side to side 12' with 9' plus for birds after removing double door (section space required), by 5' deep to the back wall and 5' high from top of patio to top of brick wall.



What your money will do: The hole you see in one of the pictures and video, cost us a hundred dollars to have it dug.

Your money buys brick and mortar for the floor and walls of the pond/river, the hole and video are both pond with gold fish and river as the water will be flowing to constantly clean the water in the sump area under the double doors. The rock for the water fall I will pick up at a friends house Michael, who has donated a bunch of pieces of sand stone and we need your help for the mortar to put that together. Your money buys also a pump and hose to the water fountain, cage wire 2x rolls 4' x 25', 1x roll 3' x 25' and 1x roll 2' x 25'. I have to recalculate but I might not need the 2' x 25' it depends on scraps that are usable. The 4' x 25' cover the back 3 pieces 4' x 5' (15'), the top (again 15'), the front 2 sections (10) leaving 10' x 4' piece. The right side and left side would use the 3' roll plus scrap or 2' wide. Then the inside doors would be made of scrap and 3' wide wire.. so probably won't need the 2' x 25 roll. Your funding will also supply the indoor trees inside for the birds to enjoy plus many colorful pond plants that flower and bloom. It will provide gold fish for the pond and for turtle to have lunch on when she isn't eating from my hand.. She currently eats food pellets from my hand. Forgot to mention, I have a red ear slider, she was the inspiration for the pond idea in the aviary. Since she couldn't play nice with her friends in my fish tank any longer, I decided she had to come out but she is living in the sump and that's not fair to turtle, she will love this pond. Also, your support will also provide a fan on the side, temp sensor to turn fan and mister spray on and off to keep the birds cool, thin pipes for the pond float and float. 2X4 wood is needed for the frame, at least 8 pieces 12' long plus 22' studs plus screws and washers to hold it all together with. Plywood top and heat / weather sealant to cover the plywood roof.

When do we need your help: We need this funding right away. As the project developed in my head and the income for my business just isn't coming in like I need it, I decided to turn to crowd funding to see if you all would have the same vision with me and want to help make it a reality. But I need to move forward one way or another because it's not nice keeping 30 birds in a cage this size
and turtle needs a better place to live also.

As you can see we have already invested in digging the hole and I've been calling around looking for cheaper ways of doing what I want to get done, done. But seriously, if you like the idea, please support the birds

and turtle on their new habitat, if they don't appreciate it, I know I will and my wife will appreciate getting the mess out of the house.

Why this means so much to me: Of all the questions to answer, this is by far the easiest of them to answer. My wife and I years ago had parakeets in our trailer before buying our own home. 16 birds loose in the living room with a perch ladder from floor to ceiling made of rope and wood sticks tide together. The only issue was, apart from the poops flying and feathers everywhere, where the family members that would open and stand with the door open as everyone yelled at them “DOOR” so they'd remember the birds and close it. But we enjoyed those birds sitting on the perch then suddenly flying the living room circle and landing on their perch again, it was amazing. Yes, 16 was the top number, and since it was my mother and father in law mainly leaving the door open back then, this cause strife for the wife and I and the birds ended up caged and of course slowly died off from what was left. And now we both really really miss having a lot of birds

This part hurts to write.. When my brother passed away, he took with him, at least in my mind, the future adventures we would have shared together. You see my brother Steve was more than my brother to me, he was a friend and he was like a father also. My father is still alive and I love my dad very much, but I felt far more comfortable talking with my oldest brother, not even my brother Rick, we hardly speak basically because he and I are always tied up in business and he lives in Vegas while I live in Phoenix. So Steven was the one that I'd frequently go to lunch with and discus all my ideas, situations and problems with. Steve and I took trips to Mexico to study the sea life in tide pools and even once went on a fishing boat dragging. Crazy what is dragged up and crazy what is destroyed by dragging. My brother and I tried our hand at selling saltwater animals mainly fish and coral, he left at least 5 large tanks in his house when he passed and provided fish and coral supplementing some of what was sold here in Phoenix. He said it helped off set his costs of having fish, my tank died and I converted it down to brackish fish (light salt to no salt).

So you can now imagine, I would like to hold on to everything that represents my brother, everything, fish tanks, saltwater, birds, tortuousness, iguanas and frogs, guitars, pinball machines, antique radios and books BUT I SIMPLY HAVE NO PLACE TO PUT THEM NOR THE FUNDS TO BUY THESE THINGS FROM HIS WIFE, and if she is to part with something, she needs money to cover expenses so she couldn't just give them away. B u t then there are the birds! Silvia and I really enjoy the birds together, we have the room outside to build them this really special space they will enjoy and we can watch them fly and reproduce in their cage... We are thinking of buying some cockatiel and maybe finch to add variety but no love birds as they are rather mean. Steve wouldn't keep animals that abused other animals other than say fish that eat smaller fish or cut up shrimp, but here is an example. In the door area of the aviary, Steve was keeping a larger bird, don't remember what type it was, but it was sickly and he was nursing it back to health. A neighbor gifted him with a dragon and he put it at the bottom of the cage. Three days they seemed fine together, fourth day dragoon, feathers and bird blood was all that remained. The dragon was gotten rid of the following day.. So in his honor I won't keep anything that abuses the other in the cage other than turtle that eats gold fish.

What if my goal is exceeded: If I raise more than I need to build the Aviary, I've decide to invest in IP camera's with night vision.  I figure 4 cameras should be enough. One to show the whole of the Aviary so someone online can watch and hear the birds sing and dance about.  The second camera will point down at the pond and waterfall so online you will see the birds drinking water and any movement in the pond plants.    The third and fourth camera, if funds allow,  will go inside a brand new  large bird house.  I'll set a hole in the top and the third camera will aim straight down on the nesting bird if there is one.  The fourth camera will be a hole in the side aimed to capture a side to side view hopefully under the bird nesting .  With sound, someone will be able to watch the laying, and hear the birthing of the little birds breaking out of their shells..  There will be no return sound so as not to scare the birds and the camera's will be open to everyone.  I thought about excluding to only donors but then I believe those who donate are contributing so that many can enjoy their contribution.