My cage front size preference is 36” long x 18” high in white. With each cage front purchased I also order a large nest box door. I prefer cutting out for my nest boxes once the cages are in situ.
I will guide you into making a set of nine breeding cages,three high and three across.
Once my cage fronts arrive I check they are the correct size ordered and I have nothing damaged.
All my cage fronts are removable for ease of cleaning, with this in mind I decided I would frame each cage front using planed all round timber, a funny thing is planed all round timber you don’t get the size you want, it was that size before it was planed but now it’s this size. Okay we can work with that.
Now you will have to follow me on the diagram, we start with the bottom of the cage front and I use a piece of timber approximately 2” (50mm) high by a length defined by the size of your cage front The reason for the height of this front rail is it keeps the seed and chaff inside the cage.
The two sides and the top are framed with 20mm x 20mm planed all round ( marked a , b and c),the bottom rail should be 50mm minimum in height.(marked d)
The horizontal and vertical wires can be cut a little shorter using a pair of wire cutters or hacksaw,once shortened you then need to drill holes into your framework at the correct distance apart.Keep all your four pieces of framework slightly longer than required,you can trim them to the correct length after assembling, mark the centres of the bars on your wood and drill a pilot hole for them,now assemble all four pieces of framework,glue each joint and screw together,a pilot hole for your screws will stop your timber splitting.
You must have all of your cages fronts framed and painted before starting on the main cage cabinet.
Nine Block of Breeding Cages
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Each cage after framing will measure approximately 945mm long x 450mm high,based on using 900mm x 375mm cage fronts
The overall size of the unit will be approx 1200mm high x 3.000mm long. This can be tailored to your own needs.
The red edgings represent 15mm thick x 450mm wide white melamine boards. You will require two pieces for the ends approx two metres long and four pieces for the top,bottom(the bottom shelf is supported by the front coloured yellow) and shelves,these will need to be three metres long.
The black vertical lines are where we will put in our cage dividers and also represent where our supports will go.I use 12mm ply for the dividers.
The solid yellow is a sheet of 15mm melamine ,the height is 450mm on my cages ,various sizes are available to suit your requirements.
Do use chipboard screws when fastening melamine together,drill pilot holes for you screws ,this will stop your timber splitting.
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Because the shelves of our cages are rather long we need to look at how we will take away the sagging and offer support.Stack all your shelves one on top of each other on the floor and mark out where your first frame will go,then a 18mm gap for your dividers followed by the next frame another 18mm gap and then the last frame.
Now mark in pencil on your shelf where the cage frame sits,directly behind the right hand side bottom rail which will be 20mm from the edge drill a 13mm hole through all the four boards,repeat this on the second frame behind the left and right side,again drill holes,now on the last frame mark and drill on the left side only.
The drilled holes are for a length of 12mm dowel one in each hole,that will be four lengths in total.Once all the shelves are fastened onto the two end pieces put a screw through the pre-drilled holes in the melamine front edge,now no sagging will occur on your cage floors.The added bonus is it also stops the cage fronts pushing back into the cage.
Sounds a little complicated does it ? www.officialbarrieshuttbudgerigars.com/wirecages.htm
For the back of the cages use white faced hardboard available in 8 x 4 foot sheets available from any good timber merchants,glue on or fasten with panel pins.