EXAMPLE OF BENGALESE BREEDING CAGE SET UP FOR BREEDING
1. The cage itself is a typical box cage, mine are
constructed from plywood usually 6mm,glued and pinned using liberal amounts
of strong waterproof glue to prevent to many crevices that could harbour
mites etc. inside I apply several coats of a washable matt emulsion paint of
a brand I know will be easily washable on a regular basis.
Dimensions of my cages are 24ins long 16in high
and 15ins deep, recommended to you as ideal for a single pair of Bengalese.I
can utilise all my cages for breeding they are built in units of 3 and
stacked, I have 16 breeding cages although I rarely use more than 10 for
breeding my Bengalese.
2. The cage front, on my
cages I use Fibre Glass fronts, these are available in black or white, I can
pop these fronts straight out, stick them in a bucket of hot soapy water
give them a scrub and rinse in about 2 minutes, pop them back and they are
as good as new.
Here is where you can
purchase these fronts
http://www.kentcages.com
I have been washing these fronts about once every
two weeks for about 5 years and they are still 100%, any damaged bars are
easily replaced and all you need is a tube of Superglue, excellent . Most
Fanciers use metal fronts, and these need to be painted at regular
intervals, as rust can become a problem,they are available in most standard
sizes, I used to make my own from punchbar, and if you need odd sizes this
is the way to go.
3. Nest box, as you can
see mine are fitted outside full details of nest box types and dimensions
can be found from the menu above.
4.I use a typical tubular drinker, my birds cannot
foul the water and I can see at a glance what the situation is regarding
water consumption.
5.This is the dish I use to supply my birds their
rearing and conditioning foods, it slip under the cage door, I advise you to
get round dishes, why? no corners to have to get into when cleaning out your
feeding dishes.
6. Cleaning tray, a slide out cleaning tray is an
important part of your cage, I construct them from plywood and line the tray
with thin galvanized tin sheet, I place about 5 layers of newspaper in the
tray, frequency of cleaning, I try to remove a layer of newspaper daily, and
spend as much time as needed to completely clean the cages at the least once
a week.
7. I use these heavy plastic dishes in different
sizes inside the cages for seed and grits & anything else that may require
one.