Quick and inexpensive spare cage; a laundry basket or plastic milk crate up-ended over a piece of hardboard wrapped in newspaper. Stick a dowel or a piece of branch through the bars as a perch.

Good tip for an emergency but small cages aren't that expensive and come with feeder cups, floor grates and easy access to the dove. If the bird is totally trained and not flighty, this will work but a real cage has a door and easy access. I don't think I'd want to house a bird permanently in a milk crate.

That makes sense, how much does one of these small cages caust?

Ninety-nine cents. Oh, you mean a pet store cage. $30 or so.

A cage to hold one dove can be as cheap as $20 or $25. I have a very small one for use when a bird is sick. It is made for a canary and is only about 15" x 10" x 15". Being small, it restricts the activity and allows the bird to rest while I'm nursing it back to health. The other spares I have are about 24" x 24" and cost me $35 each. I got a deal from the store because at the time, I purchased 12 all at once and they gave me a discount. Normally they would have been $45 each.

Yeah, you can find cages just about anywhere it seems it you know where to look. A lot of garage sales, other people who have at once in their lifetime had some kind of flying animal. Just make sure you thoroughly clean these cages before using them, but they are an easy find. I seem to have collected a few extra just by chatting with people when they ask what I do for a living. Most of the time they will give them up for free because to them its "junk" - - I think the saying is "One man's trash, is another man's treasure" ?? - So to quote a price..unless you want a brand new one, I think the price ranges have been mentioned.

T-shirt for Bob....sounds like a plan! *haha*

Spellbinder,

For a guy who lives in the Colonies, you sure sound ranch raised!

Out west I have done plenty of shows on stages made with milk crates under sheets of plywood. I could have kept my doves there! (And I could have had a V-8 too!)

What Thomas will like is that today my neighbor brought me a leaf bag full of empty gallon milk jugs I use for dove waterers. I just cut a large door in the side of them. Is she an "enabler"?

Protect Aaron while you can.

Bob

Thrifty, thrifty, thrifty - after all, after spending money on illusions, $$ falls short! *smile*

Why buy the cow, when you can get the milk for free? or jugs at least in Bob's case.

Speaking of tight with money, Dave gave me a dollar out of pocket one time. The money had been in his pocket so long that Washington had to have sunglasses because it had been so long since he had been in the light.

Sorry Dave. I'll confess I'm just joking.

Bob

Hey Bob, Washington slept everywhere else, so why not in my pocket.

Whoa....Washington sleeping around? hmm...I guess Founding Fathers has a whole new outlook!

If you look at the number of signs around here saying "Washington slept here" it's amazing he had time to conduct a war. He was always sleeping

Thanks for the help guys!



Hey Bob what did you mean by that?

Aaron,

Look at the company you keep. Dove Magicians!

You'll be building cages the rest of your life.

Bob

Ohh, ya your probably right, but I don't mind. Hows your studio coming along bob?

I do hope you like building cages!

We are just finished with the new dove cages here at the ranch. We have a 12'x24' walk-in aviary with a concrete floor and lights and water. We can just water hose the floor out into the pasture. Then separately there are 18 cages that are 18" wide, 18" high and 24" deep. They are outdoors in a lattice covered area. Ultimately roses will surround it and cover the top. There are white fiber glass sheets on the cage tops to protect from rain. The welded cage wire we use is 1/2"x1". That also fits clip-on feeders etc. available at feed stores for rabbits and game birds. (Remember that here in Alabama we don't get snow. We think weather in the 40s is awful.) My doves get access (their choice) to sunlight and appear to love it. I think it keeps the white whiter!

For water, gallon milk jugs with a large hole in one side has been found to work best. They hold a little less than a quart of water and are shallow enough that the doves can get in and play in the water. Leaving the rest of the jug attached gives strength, privacy, limits the "splash" and a handle to use moving the jug around. Dirty ones are trashed.

For nests, we use 6" flower pot saucers with drain holes (sometimes we drilled) to keep them from holding water. A nest with a pinch of hay in it will often keep eggs out of the feed containers. (Doves are dreadful nest builders!)


The rehearsal studio/theater is approaching being finished. The attached work shop 24'x 20' is finished and the prop storage area is also finished. The bath tile work has begun and may finish today. The stage area is complete and can be used with Lucy's live unicorns (horses). It is painted for use with black art effects too! The large area (24'x 34') is being painted before the floor goes in. At last, it is beginning to look like a theater.

We love our rehearsal room at Collinwood (our main house) but it is different from this one. It is 16'x38' with hardwood floors for Lucy's ballet. It does not have the 2' raised stage that this new one does. It also is far from the workshop and there was very little prop storage area.

I do like the mini kitchen and wardrobe area at Collinwood. If money were no object, I would have added a kitchen and laundry room to the new studio. I'll have to ask Steve and Dave for a raise!

Magic Valley Ranch looks like magicians live here!

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

Just woundering, but why do you need a kitchen in your rehersal studio?

In time you will learn that you really live there! It stops trips to and from the house. A refrigerator and coffee pot are a must.

Also, there are times when you need things like eggs, water, fruit, etc. It's just handy and it helps keep home private from work.

Bob

And when Lucy's had enough of you for one day, you'll have a place to go

LOL, that makes sense just woundering about the kitchen but I see its usefullness know. I will have to talk to my mom about getting one put into my room, I already have a bathroom.