Aussie Finch Forum

I rarely converse these days but an issue has arisen that concerns me.
The Shepparton sale organisers are trialling all-wire cages this year only for selected sellers.
I have never been a fan of these cages yet they are used a lot in NSW.
In the light of our recent animal welfare battle and the problem with exotics at sales, I really doubt the timing of this trial.
Can people tell me how these all-wire cages work at sales, are they successful, how are the birds during the hurly burly of the sale and are there barriers to keep people at a distance?
Thanks
Tom

Hi Tom.
I have mostly seen them used for Parrots & very rarely for finches at the bird sales I attend.
I sometimes use them as short-term quarantine cages in my birdroom but always against a wall, with a towel draped over them and the room is only ever frequented by me so they are undisturbed most of the time.
I personally find them relatively difficult to hand catch small birds from and this is usually very stressful to the birds being caught compared to a quick grab from a carry cage. I must admit that the medium sized & possibly more domesticated (some hand-reared) parrots I see in them at sales generally appear quite settled in them despite the close and high volume human traffic.

At a fairly recent NSW sale, I observed a buyer presenting a wire cage to a seller for a purchase of Gouldians. The seller politely asked the purchaser to buy an approved carry box from an adjacent vendor and come back to complete the sale. He offered a (very) small discount for the inconvenience and the buyer agreed. The seller rolled his eyes towards me but said nothing.
Later in the car park I saw the purchaser carrying two new carry boxes and an empty wire cage.
Probably an exception to common practice .... but it does happen.
I have also seen breeders selling from uncovered and partly-covered wire cages.