Preparing

Preparing Borders For Show

By Kevin Wirick

So much of a show can depend on your bird's comfort and ease in his/her show cage. When I had Border canaries, I trained them to their show cage for six weeks prior to a show. I hung the Border show cage (which is all wire) on the front of my single breeding cages (if they had a door in the front besides the regular door). To hang them I took a small bock of wood approximately 1"x 4" and two-cup hooks. Screw the cup hooks into the top of the 4-inch piece at opposite ends.

Place this in the door of the show cage and turn the hooks out toward the breeding cage. Hang the cage and the weight of the breeding cage will keep the cage from falling. For safety, a small weight can be placed on top of the breeding cage to offset the weight of the border cage. Take a clothes pin to keep the Border cage door open and place a regular outside water container on the breeding cage. I also put all the food on the bottom of the show cage so they must enter to eat and soon the bird is very relaxed in his new surroundings.

Over a period of a few weeks you will have to get the bird to stick his/her head out of the cage to his outside water (clear round glass or plastic). I have taken song food and put it in the water container and have gotten my birds to stick their heads though the wire this way (dry of course). When I put the water in I have gotten the birds to drink or find the drinker by putting a piece of broccoli in the water.

When a bird is trained in this manner you could open the door of your show cage and the birds will jump in without any hesitation. To often I have seen birds in distress because the owners have failed to train them to their show cages. Don't let it be your bird that the judges send back because they are in distress!

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