Importance about birds cage size

 Every living corner of the school, every bird-catcher must certainly have a set of cages, different in structure and volume, adapted to keep this or that species of birds. It must be borne in mind that the structure and volume (size) of the cages play a very important role in keeping birds in captivity. With a properly arranged cage, we have an almost complete guarantee of the preservation of the birds we have caught both in the first days after the capture (that is, the most difficult period for preserving the life of the bird), and during its further maintenance.

The widespread among the general public, the current idea of ​​the need for large cages for birds, in which our captives are supposed to feel especially good and will more easily get used to the loss of freedom, is deeply mistaken. This opinion of compassionate people has no reasonable basis. It is based on lack of experience in keeping birds and contradicts this experience. Bird lovers and connoisseurs of their keeping in captivity say something completely different, confirming their opinion with quite logical reasoning and experience. An excellent naturalist, connoisseur and great lover of indoor birds. Kompaniets says about the size of bird cages as follows: “As a rule, birds are kept in cages alone, or at most in pairs, a male with a female. This achieves a deeper, in comparison with the cage and aviary, acquaintance with the bird "(add to this from ourselves: placing birds in cages, as more portable rooms, does not clutter up the rooms and, of course, is accessible to everyone, which cannot be said about cages and aviaries) ... “In no case should birds be kept in cages that are too spacious for them, such as a goldfinch in a starling cage. In such a cage, the bird feels uncomfortable, sings little, shy for a long time and itself reduces the size of its dwelling, keeping only in a small part of it (usually only at the top).

It is necessary to establish, as a rule, that the bird is deprived of the opportunity to flutter aimlessly around the cage, because this makes it even more fearful, complicating its adaptation to room conditions. It would not even be an exaggeration to say that most insectivorous birds die early in captivity precisely because of the wrongly selected cells.

AG Kompaniets recommends a table (see Table 1) of cage sizes for birds of different species, from which, as he warns, "only minor deviations are permissible."

Of course, one cannot go to the other extreme - to put birds in cages that are too small for them. With an insufficient cage, birds all the time either sit motionless on the perch and as a result grow fat and quickly die from general obesity, or, trying to jump around the cage, upholstery and break feathers on their tail and wings, making this unattractive.

The shape of the cell, as well as its size, is far from being indifferent. Hobbies for all kinds of artsy cages with porches, windows, sloping or rounded roofs are harmful. Round, polygonal cages with different decorations are unsuitable, since it is inconvenient for a bird to jump and fly from place to place in them, it is difficult for a bird to find cozy corners for rest in them, dust, debris, bird feathers accumulate in the decorations, parasites start, and the content of birds in complete cleanliness is difficult.

Any cage should have a retractable bottom, preferably a metal one. The rods of the cage are preferably made of wire, preferably not copper, the oxide of which is poisonous. Wire rods are hygienic and let in more light than wooden ones. (However, for some especially fearful birds, which tend to rush up and onto the side walls of cages when frightened, wooden rods are more suitable, which are less damaging to birds. Species of birds for which wooden rods are preferable are indicated in the table of A. G. Kompaniyets.

Solid metal cages are also very good, but they are much more difficult to manufacture than wooden ones, and their cost is much higher. The most common cells are with a wooden frame and metal rods. The color and color of the cell are also not indifferent. The most hygienic should be recognized either unstained cells, the skeleton of which is made of smoothly rounded planks, easy to clean, or cells painted with enamel or, worse, oil paint.

It is by no means recommended to stain the cages in bright colors - in brightly colored cages, birds are poorly visible and the plumage of most of our birds loses its beauty. The best color for coloring cells should be recognized as various shades of brown - to match the natural color of planed boards of various tree species.

Each cage should have perches on which the birds will sit and jump. The perches should be of such a thickness (diameter) that the bird can barely cover them with its toes. Perches are made from dense shoots of various tree species (without a spongy core), best of all from linden, alder or hazel (hazel). There is no need to scrape off the bark from the perches. Hollow perches (made from reed stems, elderberries, etc.) are unacceptable, as they are always a habitat and accumulation of parasites.

The perches must be placed, observing two rules: firstly, so that the distance between them allows the birds to easily jump from one to the other, barely flapping their wings, and, secondly, so that the birds, being on the perch, do not pollute the food and water with their feces. Periodically, you should remove the perches from the cages and scrape off the dirt adhering to them with a knife.

At the bottom of the cages, it is necessary to pour coarse river sand, washed from dust and debris. Sand is necessary for digestion, since the grains of sand swallowed by birds play the role of millstones in their stomachs for grinding food, which they swallow whole, without preliminary mechanical processing in the mouth (which animals do).

It is better to hang feeders and drinkers from the walls of the cage, and not put them on the bottom, since in this case they are less contaminated by birds.