Bird Room Design

My bird room is a walled off 12-ft by 18-ft section of my basement. The walls are plywood siding or cement, painted light green, and the floor is cement painted forest green. We installed a modified drop ceiling (it doesn't drop as far as a true drop ceiling would) and a silent exhaust fan on a timer for ventilation. We wired the room with outlets on different circuits. The room gets no meaningful natural sunlight.

I designed many bird room layouts before I decided on this one. I wanted flight space and flexibility so that I could experiment and adapt to different housing needs. The final layout consists of three 4 ft by 8 ft walk-in breeding aviaries, each of which can be partitioned into two 4 ft by 4 ft aviaries, and an 8 ft by 10 ft free flight area. The room is laid out such that there is one 8-ft dividable breeding aviary on the left as you walk in, and another on the right, with a hallway in between. At the end of the hallway is a door leading to the free flight, and to the right of the free flight is the third 8-ft aviary.

This should offer me the flexibility I want, given my limited space. I have the ability to use cages inside the free flight if needed. I have the option of using 4x4 or 4x8 aviaries for breeding or even the 8x10 free flight for breeding if I want to work with a species that needs even more space. I have enough options to house breeding birds as single pairs, but enough space to try breeding in a community or mixed flight if desired. Non-breeding birds will usually be kept in the free flight where I can care for them as one unit, but in some instances may be kept in the aviaries.

Amenities

A good bird room has all your necessities on hand. I have a large plastic deck storage bench in the free flight to store everyday supplies. While running water is not available inside the bird room, it is available in the other half of the basement. We installed an inexpensive laundry sink with a water filter and will soon be adding a cheap dishwasher and refrigerator. Infrequently used supplies are stored in this half of the basement. This will give me access to everything I need right from the basement. I also keep a pair of canvas slip on sneakers in the bird room so that I don't drag debris out or "fomites" (bad thingies) in.

Temperature/Ventilation

An oil-filled radiator heater is used to heat the basement. Right now, the temperature in the bird room is usually around 72 degrees (without the heater). Breeding may require higher temperatures. An exhaust fan is set on a timer to run for an hour four times a day. I also run an air cleaner with a HEPA filter.