Preschool - Perch Placement

Getting the Right Amount of Exercise and Proper Stance - Second Principle

It is time to assess the number of perches and there placement. If the birds are too thin, increase the number of perches so that they make short hops rather than fly and make their food and water easily accessible. If they are too fat, reduce the number of perches to two and make them far apart to ensure they fly the length of the cage and up and down for food and water.

It is also important to adjust the height of the perches to encourage the bird to assume the correct stance. German rollers sound the very best and deepest when they perch parallel to the perch and even drop their chest below the perch level. To encourage this posture, I move the German roller perches up high in the cage so that they are close to the cage ceiling. I just keep moving them higher until I like the way the rollers are laying down on their perches.

My type and color birds need to stand upright so the perches in their cages are placed much lower but not so low that they hang on the cage wire. By watching stance and adjusting perch height, the birds will be encouraged to stand naturally at the appropriate angle.