Hi Ingrid- When we installed the shelves in our aviary we put in shelf brackets & simply place the shelves on top (or in) the brackets. We weigh (some of) them down with water containers, bricks, etc though they would stay put without them because of their size....this way we can actually take the shelves completely out for cleaning, and have back up pieces of wood cut for replacements at times when the shelves are really scrubbed & need extra drying time. Here's an example from Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com/Storage-Organization-Shelves-Shelving-Systems-D ecorative-Shelving-Shelves-Requiring-Brackets/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xglZbcdd/R-1 00388233/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053 They're expensive- this is just an example to give you an idea, you can get really creative with it & keep your cost way down...believe me, ours was practically free done with findings from craigslist....I'm at work now though so can't take photos. ~Kimberly From: mickacoo-bounces@mickaboo.org [mailto:mickacoo-bounces@mickaboo.org] On Behalf Of Elizabeth Young Sent: Sunday, June 06, 2010 12:39 AM To: MickaCoo@mickaboo.org Subject: Re: [MickaCoo] Fwd: question about perches Pigeons definitely appreciate flat shelves to lounge and perch on. And ropes (or branches) offer variety (important for pij foot health) and can help less-qualified flyers to get up to high places by providing a diagonal ladder from low to high. I twist two pieces of half inch sisal rope together and it makes an easy surface for little and big and gimpy feet alike. Best not to "over furnish" the air space though because room to move and fly is important. One thing I learned about flat surfaces in an aviary- the smoother they are, the easier to clean (by far). When I first set mine up, I didn't bother to countersink screw heads when installing shelves and nest boxes. I will next time! Here's some perching pij in my coop, including Sam- MickaCoo's newest pigeon. He's an SF blue bar feral that had a head and eye injury and was rescued and nursed back to health by Alice. Elizabeth On Sat, Jun 5, 2010 at 11:05 PM, Ingrid Taylar wrote: Thanks for this thread. We'll be building an aviary before the end of the year and I was wondering about the perch/cleaning situation myself. ~ Ingrid