Expanding cage - questions

[vgonzalez]

Hi again

Taking the advise that we received about not moving the nest with the babies, we've decided to expand on the cage it self. Currently the cage's dimensions are 4'L x 3'W x 3.5'H. It sits on it's own structure which would give us the opportunity to enclose the bottom and expand the cage downwards an additional 3.5', doubling their space.

Also, just a note, the way we are going to extend the cage's enclosure will be in such a way that the birds will not even notice until we remove the current trays to move them down to the new flooring.

1. Since the nest with the babies are hanging from the top, i dont want them to fall almost 6'. should i place a platform (coated wire mesh maybe?) under where the nest is?

2. do you recommend any live plants? (we currently have fakes) if so, what types are best?

We'll post pictures this weekend when we have the cage finished

[tammieb]

I have bad news for ya... the height of a cage isn't taken into consideration when determining how many finches you can house in it. The reason is they don't spend much time at the bottom, so they are still going to compete for the space at the top half of the cage.

If I were you, I'd just leave the pair with chicks in the cage they are in and move the other pair to the new cage. Once these chicks have fledged you could then decide how you want to house the entire flock.

Just my two cents.