Useful Info - Part II

My husband, Peter, has made three air filters which were first described to us by Chris of Cams Birds and they are working extremely well in The Birdroom.

Beg, borrow or buy a 6" desk fan (20 watts). Remove the foot stand from the fan and safety cage. The diameter of the safety cage was 8". Make a size 8" internal box, 12" long out of scrap wood, but with open ends. Cut a 4" strip of strong cardboard (or thin metal) 26.5" long as a bezel. Wrap the cardboard bezel tightly around the safety cage and mark the outside overlap with pencil (a dotted line)

Remove safety cage and re-mark the dotted line: with a sloping line, as in the diagram below. Complete the bezel by gluing the 1.5" piece to the right of the sloping line. Bring the other end of the strip to lie on the sloping line and press to fix. When dry, place fan unit into bezel and then put fan and bezel into "wind tunnel".

Stuff each of the four corners between the bezel and the wind tunnel with newspaper and press firmly from both sides. The fan is now securely mounted and there is only a one-way flow of air.

Cut a 12" square of interlining (from a textile shop (buying two metres for spares) and place it over the intake end of the tunnel, fastening with a large elastic band to hold it into position.

Once a day, switch off fan and clean filter with vacuum cleaner set at reduced suction.

Once again Peter came up trumps with this door closer, which has proved to be very effective and is essential when you have to carry cleaning and feeding equipment in and out of the Birdroom

  1. Ordinary washing-line pulley
  2. Length of washing line or thin rope to fit your requirement
  3. 1 litre screw-capped plastic bottle (preferably a fairly heavy plastic)

The washing-line pulley is fixed outside the safety door but at some height greater than one metre above the floor. Make a hole in the centre of the cap of the plastic bottle and thread the rope through it making a knot at the end so that it cannot pull through. Half-fill the bottle with water and screw on the cap. Thread the other end of the rope through the pulley and attach to the inside of the top of the safety door. As you go through the door you will find that it will automatically close behind you. If you find that it closes too violently then remove some of the water from the bottle.

Hospital cage How would you like a really nice heated hospital cage without paying out vast sums of money? This is a tip sent to me by Chris of Cams Bird, Long Island, USA. Get a small fish tank or plastic hamster box. Buy a small aquarium heater and fill a large Nescafe jar with water. Put your heater in the water, having first made a hole in the lid for the lead to come through. Line the tank with newspaper, place a jamjar feeder of seed in the corner, plug in the heater and put the lid on. Test the heat of the jar adjust if necessary. You now have a heated hospital cage. The sick bird or young chicks who have been abandoned by their parents, can go into the tank and can choose for themselves whether they want to cuddle up to the warm jar or to move away. It is easy to keep clean and if you have chosen the hamster box then it is very easy and light to move about.

 

     

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