Breeding cages

[nigel]

Hi All

I have put all but 2 hens in my birdroom but I have a couple of problems-

First one is I have wood shavings in the bottom of the cages and I spend most of my time sweeping up bits is there any other suggestions of alternative easily cleaned up material for the bottom of the cages and indoor flight.

Secondly is a warning to all if you don't already realise it, i made the indoor flight with normal small hole chicken wire as it was a cheaper alternative than welded mesh, I made a couple of hatches to make filling up food/water easier, the trouble happened when I hung a couple of millet sprays above one of the hatches as it was easy to reach in and fix, I went into the birdroom the other night and found one of my new red factor hens had caught it's closed ring on a bit of the wire I had cut around the hatch door the poor thing died trying to free its self god knows what pain and frieght it endured in its last hours. I have since gone round all exposed edges and covered any cut edges of netting to prevent the same thing happening again

Just a thought to pass on be careful with the construction of any flight cage.

Nige l:cry:

[PAUL HEARN]

Hello Nigel,

First I'm really sorry to hear of the accident with the Canary.:-|

Can you please post a photo of the hatches you mentioned so that we can possibly advise you on a safe way of constructing hatches in an aviary?

A good alternative to wood shavings as a cage, or even aviary floor covering is Dry Bird, this product is small wood chips rather than shavings which means it is slightly heavier, but it still does the job shavings will do.
The added bonus with Dry Bird is that it is dust free, which prevents the breathing problems in Birds (and their keeper) that can occur when using shavings.

Paul.:wink:

[jimmy]

spot on Paul,

got me first bag of drybird this weekend, great stuff.

[kenny]

hi nigel

you can solve this wire problem,if you make a frame out of wood to cover the bare edges then make another identical one and sandwich the wire inbetween and screw the 2 bits of wood togetther one through the other that should cover your bare edges mate,i had this ages ago and a canary had broken its leg trying to get free with a solid metal ring caught, it just bled to death.since then i have never used closed rings

ken

ps you could also use 4" plastic drain pipe or larger i used the big one in the past and they got that used to it they used to fly straight through without touching the sides.

[nigel]

thanks all,
I have put another frame inside to cover the mesh.
wheres the best place to get drybird in bulk ?

nigel

[jimmy]

Hi Nigel,

http://www.vital-group.co.uk/products.php?supplier=Nubed&range=Dry%20Bird&search=&code=12114&suppliers=200&ranges=1&results=1

http://thepetexpress.co.uk/petshop/product_info.php/cPath/31214/products_id/12114?osCsid=cbcb4ae49865be7443f4cac4fdb9f80e

[laurab]

Hi Guys

I used to buy Dry-Bird at £8.99 a bag but I have discovered that farm shops i.e. the sort that supply feeds and the like to equestrian folk, sell something equivalent called Easy-Bed at a fraction of the cost, £5.60 for the same size bale! :razz:

[josoll]

Weve been using easy bed for the last couple of months and it seems to work well.