The amount of care and affection that they devote to their birds is immense and their dedication to the hobby is the same.

Their stud is located in a beautiful rural location near the town of Ballybay in County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland.

They are always happy to share their knowledge of the exhibition budgerigar with visitors, many of whom regularly travel from as far away as the U.S.A., Europe and the U.K. to purchase birds from this high quality stud.

The Birdroom

The Emerald birdroom is a superb building measuring 70′ x 25′ (21 m x 8 m) and is described by many visitors as 5 star budgerigar accommodation.

The birdroom, among many other things, contains:

• 4 full height flight rooms each being 10′ x 8′ (3 m x 2.5 m)
• 2 nursery flights each being 10′ (3 m) long
• 2 breeding rooms which contain 50 breeding cages

All wire breeding cages are preferred, not just for their cleanliness, but so that all birds can enjoy a colony atmosphere.

Wooden, outside fitting nest boxes are used, sprayed inside and out with disinfectant and an anti-mite solution, before copper coins are put under concaves for their anti-fungal properties, with a handful of fine wood chippings added.

Stock

Emerald Budgerigars line breed and keep all the mainstream colours, specialising in Lutinos and Albinos.

Fine examples can be found in all colours.

The stud’s original mainstream colour stock came from Eric Lane and Ormerod & Sadler bloodlines.

The “ino” original stock came from Margery Kirkby Mason, Reg Watts and Rick Watts …. that was about 40 years ago!

In more recent years, very strong blood lines have been built, based on Daniel Lütolf, Reinhard Molkentin, Jo Mannes, Huxley & Marchant and Willi Dokter.

Eileen and John’s birds are well known for their overall quality and especially for their strength in width of head, length of feather and directional feather, which they have also managed to put into their “ino’s”.

Management

Daily management for Eileen and John includes changing the birds’ water and cleaning the utensils. Bottled water is used – not tap water – due to the chlorine content.

Another daily job is to make and provide every bird with fresh soft-food. This is made from boiled eggs, soaked oats, Orlux moist eggfood, vegetables, honey, garlic oil, ‘Panta-20′ (supplement), a small amount of salt, cod liver oil, wheat germ oil, ‘Frucht-mash’ (supplement), calcium / D3 powder, love bird seed mixture, and the most important ingredient ….. “EB.1 complete” – a magical mix that is used by many of Europe’s top breeders.

Eileen and John will provide more details and quantity information to any breeder requiring the same (see website link at the end of this article).

All birds, at all times, have access to 4 different seed mixtures:

• An “A.1.E.” mixture that contains 60% canary and 40% mixed millets
• An “E.B.” feather growth promoting seed mixture
• An “E.B.” conditioning and herb seed mixture
• An “E.B.” Japanese millet and fruit pellet mixture

Again, Eileen and John will provide more detail to any breeder requiring the same (see website link at the end of this article).

Grit and mineral utensils are changed weekly and all flights and cages are cleaned and disinfected weekly.

Cuttlefish and iodine blocks are provided to all birds and the bird room is cleaned with a vacuum cleaner twice per day.

Once a year, all birds in the Emerald Budgerigars birdroom are treated with “Tricho Plus” as a preventative against Trichomonas.

Also once a year, all birds are treated with “Doxycycline”, before pairing-up, to ensure the birds optimum performance.

Breeding

All birds are kept in the stock flights unless breeding.

Cocks and hens are kept together to encourage exercise and eucalyptus branches, ladders, tumblers, balls and various other play things are provided to stop the birds becoming bored and to encourage additional exercise.

Ring issue dates are ignored, as pairing commences every year in September. Eileen and John say that September is the best time to pair up exhibition budgerigars. If the birds are in condition, 50 pairs are put up in this month.

Both cocks and hens have their vents plucked and both birds are put into the breeding cage at the same time with the nest box already attached. Nest boxes are inspected daily, but only once.

When pairing birds, Eileen and John attach much importance to pedigree, and try to pair the best visual cocks to a lesser visual sister of their best hens, so long as the pair complement each other visually – i.e. if one of the pair lacks in a particular feature, the other in the pair must excel in this feature, and so on.

Showing

Eileen and John have won many “Best in Show” awards, “Major Specials” and “C.C.’s” at Championship, National and World Championship level.

However, in recent years, they much prefer breeding budgerigars than showing them and now, regrettably, show very little and do not show at all in Ireland.

However, they say that they will always support the B.S. World Championship Show whenever possible.

Tips for Beginners

Here are some of Eileen and John’s top tips for beginners:

• Budgerigars do not always breed when paired up for the first time. Some birds can go 2 or 3 years before they breed for the first time, so it’s worth persevering with a quality bird.
• Try to buy one outcross, or two, every year to add quality fresh blood and always buy the best that you can afford with the desired feature(s) that your own birds require for improvement. Do NOT be tempted to split the money you have available over say 3, 4 or 5 birds – spend all the money that you have available on just one or two birds and buy the best that you can obtain. Quality is more important than quantity.
• Some budgerigar hens will not use a nest box if the entry hole is facing direct sunlight, as it will not be dark enough for her inside.
• Every evening before the main lighting changes to night lighting, fine spray the bird room (NOT the birds), with an F.10, Virkon-S, or similar solution, to kill possible airborne germs.
• When preparing your birds for a show, spread the de-spotting process over many days. Do NOT de-spot a bird completely in one attempt, as you run the risk of a good spot falling out later due to bruising around the area.
• It is good practice to spray the inside of a nest box that has chicks, in the same way using an F.10 or Virkon-S solution. Simply cover the chicks with your hand when spraying to protect the chicks from the spray.
• Have patience! If your birds are not performing as well as they could, seek assistance from an experienced breeder. If things are going wrong in your birdroom, it is probably not the fault of the birds, but your fault!

Further Information

For further details about the Emerald Budgerigar Stud, please visit Eileen and John’s website:

• www.emeraldbudgerigars.4t.com

Photographs

All photographs below of Eileen & John’s birdroom and birds were taken and kindly supplied to us by Eillen & John Hall.

Click on any image to enlarge it.

Emerald Budgerigar birdroom
- external view

Emerald Budgerigar birdroom
- internal view

Breeding cages are on the all wire system

The Hall nest box design

 

 

 

 

I breed both the English quality budgerigars and also the Japanese Crested variety – it is the latter that I refer to in this article.

Six years ago I managed to buy three of these fascinating budgerigars in the local market place.

One was a cock and two hens were also available.

Breeding Technique

I have now managed to extract many new colours in that time in this way, stage by stage:

1. I obviously mated the male to the two females
2. I then crossed the two lines together with the chicks that had been produced
3. I then mated the original male to normal hens as well as to another full crested hen I found and cross bred these English and normal results with other various colours
4. I mated Japanese crested hens to another group of normals and other Full Crested males with more different colours
5. I mated the two original crested hens to the new Japanese males produced from previous clutches

My project was to select birds with the highest quality bloodline (full circular crest on the heads with a large back frill and feathers on both wings).

All my surplus Japanese Crested are sold to a contact from Dubai who knew of me via an Egyptian forum.

Feeding Technique

• Canary and millet seeds
• Boiled radish seeds and sunflower seeds
• Green fresh clover which enhances breeding because of its vitamin content – which acts like Viagra, hence breeding is easy!
• Lettuce and cress also has the same effect – particularly the cress
• Sweet potato — one slice / week when there are no eggs around and I increase it to two slices once eggs are present
• A few drops of honey and black molasses each week
• Boiled eggs with grounded up toast
• Minerals and vitamins from a pharmacy

Now, in this region, this specialist variety favoured by many, can reach $500 – depending on colours, sizes, full circulars, back frills and feather distribution – as it is so difficult to get the desired result all together in the one bird.

Rare, near perfect ones can reach double that if they are ever sold.

Photographs

Click on any image to enlarge it.

Japanese Crested 1

Japanese Crested 2

Japanese Crested 3

Japanese Crested 4

As fanciers familiar to this website understand, in Dr Rob Marshall, we have on board, arguably, one of the finest avian veterinary surgeons in the world.

His book The Budgerigar should be to hand for all serious fanciers for the answers to all the disease conditions that exit in parrot-like forms (but specifically on budgerigars), when it always seems as though it is the best ones that succumb to “going light” and we struggle to help them.

Below are two examples of sound procedural advice on what are mysterious problems for even the most experienced of us.

Neither fancier wishes to be named.

Problem #1 affecting cocks only

Question: I get occasional birds that do not exhibit any external fluffing up features or nasal discharge or vent problems. However they do not look 100 per cent and their crops are almost empty. They require a heat source to help as there is some loss of weight. No signs of wetness around the beak and no regurgitation is evident. It can occur in flights or breeding / stock cages but seems worse as the colder weather begins. Can you make a calculated guess as to what it could be and would it be helpful to crop feed them using one of the powders made for this purpose?

Dr Rob says:

These birds are birds that come into breeding condition, so sexually they are on the rise (see pages 270-273 in The Budgerigar). You may see a very blue cere(s) and as you say, involving a cold spell (see pages 322-323) – there may be pin feathers on the head as well?

What happens is that under the effect of testosterone, their immune system is affected which causes an acute Streptococcus infection (see pages 374-376).

Check also for quill mites around the tail region in particular (see pages 390-291).

Preventative treatment is by using “Quik Gel” to support the breeding condition while it is chilly and using a penicillin based product containing amoxicillin from your local veterinary surgeon. Administer via a crop needle. Both of these products are obtainable from my surgery or through Riversway Avicultural (see advert on this Website) in UK.

No action and the result is infertility in the next cycle in 7-8 weeks and of course possible death at any time.

Associated images from “The Budgerigar” – click on any image to enlarge it:

 

 

Problem #2 affecting hens only

Question: Many of my hens develop watery large droppings with a few having caked vents during the breeding season, in and out of the breeding cages. All the cocks are fine. There is a smell to the droppings. Can you advise please?

Dr Rob says:

The most likely cause is stress which all breeders seem to dismiss, probably because we as humans all suffer stress in the modern world.

Where birds are concerned, stress occurs during the breeding cycle of the hen(s) (see pages 285-287 especially figure 22b). Not all hens are affected because this problem affects only those breeding hens when the stressful factor arises at the critical stage of the breeding cycle (e.g. a cold spell, wet weather etc. See pages 380-384)

Look especially at fig. 30a and figs 30b and 30d and examine the stress factors outlined.

Treat the complete flock with “Quik Gel” for two days to counteract the stress across the complete stud.

Isolate and treat hens with dirty vents and treat them also with an appropriate antibiotic medicine. Such hens require additional nutritional support (e.g. a liquid calcium and “Quik Gel”) during their recovery and once recovery starts such patients must be rested and fed well for 2 months (a complete breeding cycle).

Associated image from “The Budgerigar” – click on the image to enlarge it:

 

Additional comment by Gerald Binks

A warning to the inexperienced!

Do be aware that many items sold as “Hospital Cages” can quickly cause death by dehydration as the patient is incapable of drinking itself because it is so ill.

Many fanciers today use a show cage placed on a heat source so this sustains the body during treatment plus frequent topping up with water direct to the beak or via a crop needle.

Hi,

I am a member of BAA and ABS here in the USA.

I live in Georgia.

I have an unusual marked bird that has been labelled frosted pied. I am a novice and turning intermediate next year – due in no small part to this bird whom I have named “Jack Frost”.

I can find no clear statement as to what a Frosted Pied is supposed to look like. Jack’s crown is white and his mask has violet patches, with large round black spots. His body color is a soft blue somewhere between sky and cobalt & brighter sky color on back between wings.

There is some mottling of white through blue on chest. He has a spot on the back of head like other pieds.

His feet are mottled blue/pink.

His wing flights are mostly white with a couple of dark/black feathers. The tail has 4 central long feathers. Two underneath are about 3/4 length and white, while the top 2 are full length and dark blue.

He is unusually large for a baby 8+ months old. The black/white wing markings are somewhat blurred like snow on them – there is no blue wash into the wing color.

His cere seems to be developing into a normal blue.

Two world budgerigar judges, David Collier, formerly from UK now residing in US, and Mr Al-Nasser of the UK seem to think he is a Frosted Pied – as well as other US judges – but I can not find a clear standard of what a frosted pied should be.

The mother/hen is a white DEC from Gorden Davis’ aviary in Florida. The cock is a dark green recessive pied split from Maureen Broderick here in Georgia.

His line also traces back to Gordon Davis.

The clutch produced a white DEC hen, a recessive pied, 2 green clear flights that died as babies of unknown cause, and Jack – the largest and first to hatch. Will repair them this breeding season.

As a novice I need a real clear statement of standard for a dominant/Australian pied, a Dutch/clear flight pied, and a frosted pied as well as how to tell the difference between them.

There is currently a pied here in the USA that is in question – Dom Pied or Clear flight.

We are due to go to a show in December in New Orleans. Hopefully Dr Travenechek (sp?) will be able to look at him then.

Still somewhere there must be a standard to follow?

Many Thanks,
Jo Ann Boyle
Georgia, USA

Photographs

Jo Ann has now kindly taken and sent us photographs of “Jack Frost”.

If you can help Jo Ann, please add your comments to this post.

Click on any image to enlarge it.

jack-frost-1

jack-frost-2

jack-frost-3

jack-frost-4

jack-frost-5

jack-frost-6

jack-frost-7

I first became interested in budgerigars in 1965 and at that time I kept about 5 pairs in a mixed aviary.

It was in 1986 that, after a visit to the aviary of Gerald Binks, I decided to breed budgies of show quality to compete in shows.

Since I was always fascinated by the colours, I decided to build an aviary for only “Rares”. This was not the easy way to start – but it was a challenge and I still have the rares today.

History

As a boy, I was always fascinated by birds and other animals, but I think it was in my genes because my grandfather was a well known racing pigeon breeder and my father kept canaries.

So, I was destined to do the same.

First, I started with racing pigeons, later on canaries and then I concentrated on budgies.

Many years ago I became a member of a local club and soon after that I became a member of the boards of several clubs. First the parrot clubs, then later on I started, with some other fanciers, the B.G.C (Belgian Budgerigar Club). I also became the first Vice-President and after that I became President. I was at that time one of the delegates at the W.B.O. for Belgium.

It was Gerald Binks who taught me the way to breed and keep budgies. After a while I became a correspondent for Budgerigar World for my country and I am still a member today.

Meanwhile, I became involved in the Belgian Lovebird Society as editor and judge and I still have the same interests in the “rares”.

I reorganised the BBS and was editor and member of the board. At that time I was also one of the two Belgian delegates at the WBO meetings and an WBO judge. BBS was one of the three budgie clubs
in Belgium. I left the club in 2008/2009 and in 2011 the club stopped its activities.

Breeding

Keeping rares is one thing, but breeding them is quite a challenge.

So I bought a lot of books and videos and attended as many meetings as possible to learn about other aspects of the birds – such as genetics, colors, feeding, standards etc.

I contacted Mr. Inte Onsman, from MUTAVI, and through him I learned about the genetic rules. Indeed, I was so involved with this subject that I became the liaison for MUTAVI in Belgium.

To breed rares you need to have a basic understanding of genetics, otherwise you will miss a lot. You can breed good budgies without knowledge but specialising in rares demands the knowledge of genetics.

In the past my aviary contained Slate, Saddleback, Texas Clearbody, Easley Clearbody, English Fallow and recently Recessive Pieds.

Breeding rares without some good Normals is not possible – you need them in order to obtain a better standard in the rares. That is why I always try to put a good Normal to a mutation – this makes the birds stronger.

My Normals came from two different lines namely, BA23 (Mr. Gerald Binks, U.K.) and RE 08 (Mr. Roger Reynders, Belgium).

Now I have also birds from German breeders Mr. Dieter Keller (100% Mannes line) and Mr. Gerd Bleicher (Anthracite line).

Every year I visit one of those breeders to obtain one or two outcrosses and, due to the mixing of bloodlines I used in my aviary from different breeders, I have developed new genes from Mannes and Moffat through the BA23 bloodline, Ormerod and Mannes through the RE 08 and Keller bloodline.

With that base I try to build up my own strong bloodlines.

For a few years I do not attend any of the shows with my birds in my country. The reason for that is a lack of time on my part and also a lack of co-operation within the Belgium clubs.

In Belgium we have 2 clubs. There is a lot of discussions and politics going on between those clubs and members – so I decided to leave that and concentrate only on breeding.

With the modern way of the Internet and websites I have no problems in keeping contact with breeders all over the world and selling my birds to countries like Germany, The Netherlands, France, U.K., Portugal and the U.S.A. (where I introduced the Slate).

I like to enjoy myself in this hobby and that is why I do this.

Slates

My first Slate came from a breeder in The Netherlands, who had stopped breeding Slates because of the lack of interest from the breeders in this mutation.

I concentrated on the normal Slates without darkfactor, one dark factor and two dark factors, I am getting rid of the Opalines because I do not like them.

Slate is a sex-linked variety, so if you want to start with Slates it is better to start with a visual cock or hen, just to be sure you have the mutation. Later on in your breeding program you can use split birds.

To improve the mutation I have never paired Slate to Slate and prefer to put a blue split cock to a slate hen.
It is also possible to breed Green series Slates – but in my opinion it is better to stay in Blue series birds.

Always avoid the grey factor as it masks the Slate. The Slate mutation is sex-linked.

Fallows

Breeding Fallows is a real challenge, not everyone is able to do this because it takes years of breeding to obtain a very good bird.

If you want to breed Fallows you must understand the differences between the three mutations:

• English Fallows
• German Fallows
• Scottish Fallows

Most common are the English and German Fallows.

English Fallows are supposed to have an iris ring with no white so the eye seems to be red. In fact, there is an iris ring but it is deep pink in color.

German Fallows, on the other hand, have a white iris ring and between the two mutations there is not much difference in body color.

Paring German and English Fallows together is not a good practice because the youngsters are all “black eyed” and split for German and English Fallow. The Fallow mutation is recessive.

Most Fallows are small birds, so when you are breeding this mutation you have to use your better Normal birds – this is why I said earlier that it is always good practice to breed back to a Normal.

I prefer not to use Cinnamon because I found that it did not improve the Fallow mutation.

In my breeding room I have only English Fallows and after 10 years of breeding I do not have the standard bird that you would expect.

In conclusion, I can say that the Fallow is a very attractive budgerigar, but is a bird for the experienced breeder.

Clearbodies

Here we have two types who are common, the Texas Clearbody and the Easley Clearbody.

The Texas Clearbody is sex-linked whilst the Easley Clearbody is dominant.

The Texas Clearbody is the most common variety to be bred in Europe. It has close links to the Ino mutation to which it is dominant.

An Ino cannot be split for Texas Clearbody, a Normal can be split for Texas Clearbody and Ino, but Texas Clearbody can be split for Ino.

In my aviary I have two different lines which can produce Clearbody. The first line is a mating between Clearbody and Ino, the second line is a combination between Clearbody and Normals.

Later on I have put the youngsters from the two lines together to produce a Texas Clearbody with the correct markings.

Texas Clearbody coming from the first line have a better yellow color but the wings are white, those coming from the second line have better wing markings and color on the flights. Putting them together gives me a bird who has a nice body color, good wing markings and a better standard.

I have had the Easley Clearbody in my aviary since 1999 and I am trying to breed a DF Easley Clearbody, so the challenge goes on.

Anthracites

Since 2007 I have introduced the Anthracite mutation in my aviary. You can read more about this in other articles on my website – didiermervilde.bestofbreeds.net.

Aviary

I have two aviaries, so to understand it better I will call them Aviary 1 and Aviary 2.

Aviary 1 is a wooden summerhouse with 20 breeding cages with no special facilities.

Aviary 2 has a wooden construction and isolated walls, tile floors and is just big enough to be managed on one’s own very effectively.

Inside the aviary I build breeding cages and a flight for the surplus birds and young. The breeding cages measure 30 x 30 x 80 cm, the inside flight is 4 by 6 metres.

In recent years I built a second flight which measures 3 by 3 metres.

I use outside boxes for the breeding cages and keep a record of all my birds on the computer so it is easy to see which pedigree and bloodline they have.

As seed I use a mix of 50% canary seed and 50% millets.

As additives I give Abidec (multi-vitamin solution) and Cytacon (vitamin b12 solution) – a product that I buy in the U.K. because in my country it is not available – and for the youngsters I use Biovit soft food. I also give grit and iodine blocs.

I give the additives continuously in the breeding season, and twice a week in the non-breeding season.

I give the soft food once a week in the non–breeding season, and every day in the breeding season.

An Enormous Challenge

Breeding rare budgerigars is certainly an enormous challenge.

After years of work and with a little luck, one day you will achieve success.

Enjoy your success and be aware that breeding budgerigars is a challenge but first of all it is a lovely hobby.

Photographs

All photographs below were kindly supplied to us by Didier Mervilde.

Click on any image to enlarge it.

Normal blue cock

Cinnamon blue cock

Australian yellowface blue cock

Full Crest cobalt hen
(Best Rare at the BBS show in 2007)

Lacewing yellow cock

Anthracite cock

Recessive Pied opaline blue cock

Normal Greygreen cock

Lutino cock

Normal grey hen

Recessive pied Opaline Cinnamon blue hen

Full Crest Opaline green hen

Dutch pied cobalt cock

Australian yellowface Opaline cobalt
recessive pied cock

Breeding budgerigars this year reminded me of the racy days of the 1960s, when you put down a pair of birds and got 5 or 6 fertile eggs from each nest, and reared 6 or 8 from each cage over the two rounds.

In those days heads were the most important feature as it still is today.

For many years, our advertisement in the year book claimed the bold statement:

“Bred for Head, Winning with Type”

Type was important and you were advised not to breed buff to buff.

Fanciers of that era would be blown away by what is the norm on the show bench today.

2010

This last season, we started pairing birds the earliest ever, because there was so much scrapping in the flights particularly amongst the hens.

Five hens were chosen primarily for their fitness and in 2 cases their poor breeding results in 2009.

They were put in the breeding cages on the 20th July with open nest boxes. 3 days later the cocks were introduced. Four of these 5 hens went to nest and laid.

The Earthquake

On the 26th August, we paired up another 6 pairs and the first of these laid on the 4th September, the day of the earthquake.

On the night of the big “rock and roll”, my wife got up at 4 a.m. and woke me to look at the sky.

It was a brilliant clear blue with a bright quarter moon lighting our back lawn.

Half an hour later all hell broke loose as we leapt out of bed. The noise of breaking glass and falling crockery was horrendous.

When that subsided, we could hear the birds in a frenzy of uncontrolled flying just crashing madly about in the breeding cages and flights.

I turned to Fay and said:

“That is the end of our budgie hobby”

We had 6 show cages in a line at the back of a shelf 50 mm wider than the cages and at shoulder height.

They fell to the ground, but only received minor damage to the cages although the fronts were badly damaged and needed straightening.

The mess in our lounge and kitchen was a mix of liquids, glass, vases, china, and pantry solids.

No power for 24 hours.

The street corner was cordoned off as a power pole was down. We checked on our neighbours and went back to bed.

Daylight Breaks

Come daylight we were up and taking stock.

4 retail shopping areas within a radius of 2-3 km, had severe damage and in one case the whole complex has been bulldozed.

At about 8 a.m. I went out to the birds.

The first 4 pair had young and the hens were in the nest.

The results were:

• 23 eggs
• 14 fertile
• 12 young
• 1 dead in shell
• …and a feather-duster

There was very little chirping.

I turned the radio on, gave them their daily silver beet and the birds soon returned to song. I think they were glad to see me!

Post Earthquake

Between the 4th and 12th of September the second six pairings started to lay.

The results were:

• 35 eggs
• 32 fertile
• 16 young
• 10 dead in shell
• 6 died

By early October the first 4 pairs were laying their second round, one cock with a new mate.

The results were:

• 26 eggs
• 24 fertile
• 14 young
• 5 dead in shell
• 1 died
• …and a nest of 4 scuttled

Then early in November the six pair of August pairings started laying again and other replacement pairs for cages that produced nothing and a replacement for a lovely large sky hen that must be barren.

The results were:

• 33 eggs
• 32 fertile
• 18 young
• 14 dead in shell

A high percentage of dead in shell we attribute to the December aftershocks culminating in the big one on Boxing Day (26th December). During December we had another 4 pairs laying.

The results were:

• 28 eggs
• 24 fertile
• 18 young
• 6 dead in shell

2010

Total results for 2010:

• 145 eggs
• 126 fertile
• 78 young
• 36 dead in shell
• …and 12 deaths

5 nests have had 7 or 8 eggs each and 2 other nests 9.

We have had extremely good fertility this season.

The high percentage of dead in shell we attribute to the aftershocks – 36 dead in shell and another 12 young dying is a very high percentage (33%).

On one occasion I was out in the garden beyond the flights, facing the aviary and actually saw the aviary house area lift as the quake rolled through and under me, quite spectacular!

I went into the breeding room immediately. Not a sound from them. The hens with chicks were out of the nests, but those with eggs were still in the nest boxes.

How Did This Happen?

So, what was happening at night when some of the worst aftershocks took place?

What has contributed to the high percentage (87%) of fertile eggs?

What have we done differently?

Some Possible Theories…

• Firstly

  Our matings also coincided with the majority of hatchings occurring just on or after full moon (i.e. pairing about 3 days before full moon).

  This is what pigeon breeders, who, after extensive studies, found gave the best results.

  In the case of pigeons, it was a question of speed and reduced their losses with their racing stock.

• Secondly

  Although we had used the Massey Pigeon Complementary Feeding Oil spasmodically last breeding season, this season we started using it early in July.

  Although directions were given on the bottle for rearing young pigeons through to racing pigeons, I decided that, as pigeons eat whole grain, putting oil on seed was sufficient for them to get the oil – but not so for budgerigars.

  We decided to allow the oil to soak through the husk to the kernel where it would be more likely eaten by our birds.

  With this in mind I already had an aluminium container 250 mm high and 150 mm diameter with a lid. It holds approximately 3.5 litres of seed when full – ideal for the flight birds and sufficient for the 15 pairs in the breeding cages.

  We poured in 40 mm of plain canary seed and adding a teaspoon of oil on top in a circle and repeated until we had 4 layers of oil plus a cover of seed over the last one.

  Approximately 3 litres of canary seed in total.

  We left this for 24 hours to get high concentration of oil into some of the seed.

  We then stirred it with a flat paddle to mix it thoroughly and left it for another 2 days.

  This treated seed was darker than untreated seed and could be seen to have absorbed the oil. To use this oiled seed we mixed 1 part treated to 4 parts untreated seed mixture. This meant that theoretically 1 in every 5 seeds the birds eat is rich in oil.

  Those of you who have used it will know it is not tacky like most oils and penetrates readily if allowed to stand. We keep a lid on it and it does not appear to deteriorate over the time it takes to be used. The manufacturers say to keep the bottle refrigerated.

• Thirdly

  It is widely accepted that trees and bushes coming to the end of their life will often produce an abundance of flower or fruit in a last ditch effort for the species to survive.

  Could this be the case with our budgies with over 4,000 aftershocks?

  We don’t think so, because other Christchurch breeders would also be having a good season.

  Unfortunately that is not the case and I have not heard of anyone having anything like the fertility we have experienced this year.

Perhaps none of these three reasons have anything to do with the pleasing results we had this breeding season and it is the result of a number of coincidences just chipping in to give us a season to be thankful for.

Postscript

On 22nd February 2011 at one in the afternoon, a third earthquake (of 6.3 magnitude) hits Christchurch, New Zealand.

The depth is a “shallow” 5 km and it is centred near Lyttelton.

The surrounding rock structure of the hills sends shock waves equivalent to an estimated 1.25 times the strength of the September 4th quake – hence the destruction of the entire city centre!

The First Purchases

When making these first purchases don’t expect to buy a champion’s best visual birds, remember he/she has probably spent many years of time, effort and money building up the stud to its present standard.

What perhaps you should look for, are those which I call stock birds. These birds will, with luck, be closely related to the seller’s show team. They will show good features but also have some faults. Look on these birds as being like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle – your job is to put these pieces together to make the finished article.

Perhaps it is worth mentioning that these first purchases will form the foundation of your future stud – so the better the birds you start with, the fewer the faults you will have to improve.

I would suggest that you don’t buy all fine feathered birds – try to obtain one or two that are coarser feathered, even if they are of a paler colour. Look also for good head quality – this I consider to be the most difficult feature to establish and maintain.

The First Few Breeding Seasons

These first purchases will form the basis for your new stud and, because the birds are likely to have common backgrounds, after the first breeding season you should have a few birds that are better than those you started with.

My suggestion would then be to select the best three or four young hens – consider their strengths and weaknesses, then go back to the original breeder and try to purchase two cock birds that are very strong in one or two of the areas where the hens are weak.

Don’t be tempted to buy birds that are just a bit better overall than the hens you have.

What you are looking to do, is to buy the features you want.

For these two cocks I suggest that you would expect to pay at least the amount you paid for the first two or three pairs.

The cocks should be used across all the hens.

The following breeding season, cross-pair their chicks – which should show an improvement in the features you require.

If one then carries out the same procedure, trying to improve any other faults, gradually the standard of one’s birds should improve.

Progress to me is all about selection and it’s no good just pairing two birds together with no purpose in mind.

Mixing it with Normals

When visiting most top UK shows it is obvious that even most of the best Lutinos are some way behind the top “Normals” with regards to size, feather and head quality – so at some point I consider it would be wise for the Lutino breeder to ‘dip’ into the Normal.

However, my view is that it’s pointless doing this unless your Lutinos are already of a pretty high standard.

Bear in mind, when one does this one should be using top quality Normals, excelling once again in the features you require.

It’s worth bearing in mind that these pairings may not be the perfect answer – because many times, not only does the Normal bring in the good features you require, but they can also bring in faults such as wing markings and green suffusion – so beware!

The challenge for the Lutino breeder, is to produce birds that are equal to the Normal in stature, but also have the deep buttercup yellow colour that the variety is all about. This is no easy task to produce this type of bird in numbers.

Defining the Lutino

I have described below some of my thoughts on what a Lutino is – and some of the faults that occur – which may be of help.

One tip, that may be useful, is if one avoids pairing two light shade birds together – one will always produce some offspring with a satisfactory depth of colour. Light shade to light shade always means pale youngsters.

The Lutino is the Albino form of any green series bird. The fact that the Albinoism generally hides the variety involved, means that the bird should appear “clear coloured yellow”.

The shade of yellow will be either – light, medium or dark because the bird will carry either:

• No dark factor – light
• One dark factor – medium
• Two dark factors – dark

This would equate in normal green series birds as follows:

• No dark factor – light green
• One dark factor – dark green
• Two dark factors – olive green

The actual colour will be the background yellow colour of the individual bird being masked and would, therefore, match the colour of the mask, wing feather edges, background colour on nape of head – all green colour and black pigmentation having been taken away by the Albinoism.

There will be no totally white feathers on the bird apart from the cheek patches.

The only other things that I believe affects the colour of the Lutino are:

• By adding the grey factor, one would produce a dull version of the yellow
• A fine feathered bird gives the impression of being a better colour than a coarse feathered bird
• The light in which the bird is viewed can also affect the appearance of the colour

Faults in the Lutino

Faults from a variety point of view are:

• Markings of any sort anywhere on the bird -this includes Cinnamon markings and throat spots
• Violet cheek patches
• Green suffusion – this can vary depending on the light type in which the bird is viewed

In my opinion, birds displaying these faults should be penalised very severely – even if the budgerigar content is good – because they are breaking away from the whole point – that the Lutino should be a clear bird.

I would point out that the above views are based on my experiences and in no way would I pretend to be an expert.

Gallery

The author wishes to thank Terry Tuxford and Ghalib Al-Nasser for the use of their photographs in this article.

Click on any image to enlarge it.

Lutino cock - another member of
the 2011 show team

Lutino Cock, Colour Champion

Lutino Cock, Son of
Colour Champion

Lutino Cock, Breeder CC Winner
S&RV Show 2011

Lutino cock - a member of the
2011 show team

Lutino Cock, Any Age CC Winner
& Best Red Eye S&RV Show 2011

Lutino Cock, never shown

Lutino Cock, Nephew of
Colour Champion

Apart from the unexplained and instinctive attraction we feel for their brilliant colours and delightfully biddable ways, there are probably as many different contributory factors that motivate the hobbyist as there are hobbyists.

For some, getting the knowledge is almost the next logical step after learning first to walk, then to talk.

Others take their greatest satisfaction from the sense of community they get from local groups, almost like the camaraderie shared on the terraces by lads in matching scarves.

Observing the outcomes of selective breeding is what might motivate others, while seeing the hardware stack up after the wins at major shows may be the driving force in some cases.

An Accidental Fancier

For me, what became a lifelong fascination and source of great pleasure began almost accidentally.

More than fifty years ago as an animal-lover with what was left of his first meagre pay-package burning another hole in his holey trousers pocket, I was desperate to own a pet.

There would have been no question of being allowed to keep anything that took up house room, and it was love at first sight when I came upon the pair of red eared waxbills in a local pet shop.

But despite what the songs say, love is not always enough. Ignorant and unable to find any resource that would inform me on their needs, I learned the hard way that some things are not hardy enough to withstand the Cumbrian climate and a well-intentioned amateur touch.

After a decent period, I decided to do things a little differently and my next venture began from a different starting place.

New Found Knowledge

The local library, a conveniently free source of knowledge, had a tiny section that included information on budgerigars, and I read every word.

If I had learned my subjects as keenly at school I could have been the Chief Executive of a blue chip company by the time I was twenty one!

As it was, I was supplementing my income by doing a paper round for the local newsagent, upon whose shelves I came upon a publication called “Cage Birds”, which became my mentor’s voice.

Equipped with my new knowledge and a cobbled-together shed, my life as a breeder and exhibitor of budgerigars began. And the learning process is a life’s work. Like many, I had neither benefit of an experienced mentor nor virtually unlimited resources to encourage and enable me to breed world class birds.

Having started from that place, I have a particular passion to develop support networks that will enable this season’s pet owner to become next year’s top-class breeder.

Identifying Good Information

Information has never been more widely available and the Internet is an extremely important source.

It does not need to be said, however, that identifying reliable, informed advice and opinion is a skill by itself.

There is good stuff out there, based on learning, experience and quantifiable evidence and there is less trustworthy stuff that ranges from the purely anecdotal to the downright bad.

Of course, we have to guard against reading opinion as fact, for those two things can be very different.

Potentially, the various on-line forums are capable of being a valuable source of information and support, because they enable us to “meet” and share information with breeders from a wide range of backgrounds and abilities.

One example is “Budgerigars.co.uk” – with a history that dates back to April 1999, this well-established site is the source of a vast amount of information and its interactive forum, established in July 2006, currently gets over 60,000 visitors per month from over 100 different countries. The budgerigar breeder community is now truly global.

Changing Times

We have seen massive changes in the hobby as it evolved and adapted to enable survival in the 21st century.

Yet despite the eugenics and bird-room technologies, and the high-end competitiveness that has attracted interest from businessmen and entrepreneurs (who would seek to make a profit or even a livelihood out of the hobby), budgerigars are still budgerigars – and for most breeders the interest, the joys, the rewards are the birds themselves.

Some things have never changed. The fact that we all start somewhere is self-evident but for a young person with his pocket-money budgies, the world of the top breeders and the world-class show can look a pretty daunting place.

It is also self-evident that without new blood the hobby will eventually die out and that, in my opinion, would be very sad.

Keeping the Hobby Alive

How do we attract new people into the hobby? How do we support their start up? How do we encourage beginners to stick at it and enjoy what they do? How do we encourage and enable them to move, if that is their ambition, from pet-owner to champion breeder?

Promoting the hobby is not something that necessarily requires a degree in marketing techniques.

Promotion begins with word-of-mouth communication – come on, you must remember it? Old fashioned talking about it!

Either as an individual to your mates and neighbours, or in association with your local club, you can help spread the word, generate interest and share your enthusiasm by taking presentations to community forums who are always looking for guest speakers; examples might include schools and colleges, elderly care residences, women’s, church or hobby groups. (Don’t be offended if they ask you to provide your personal details as we all have a duty to protect the vulnerable in our society.)

Talk to the local press. Let them know when your meetings are and invite them to your shows. They may ask for features to provide a background, which provide extra publicity.

Have an open day. Run a free course at the local college – it could be just a one-off couple of hours, or something that can be developed to run over a few weeks.

See if you can have a stand at any local events and arrange to staff it with your most approachable members.

Arrange visits to clubs outside your area and invite them back to yours.

Most importantly, make sure that any new faces are made to feel properly welcome.

There are lots of ways of spreading the word. Ask your club colleagues for their ideas. Of course, if you do happen to have a degree in marketing, it couldn’t hurt!

Breeders Benefit

There is an important spin-off here for existing breeders, by the way, and that has to do with how we generate and maintain a market for our surplus birds, which may not be good enough to exhibit but may be the accessible, affordable starting point for new owners.

Similarly, you can forge links with local pet shops and veterinary surgeries that may hold a list of local breeders, both of which can point potential buyers in your direction.

Supplying birds and equipment to new starters either at low or no cost is a win / win situation, as you increase the size of your network and the beginner does not have to invest his life savings in something that he may find is not for him after all.

Mentoring

At the General Council Budgerigar Society meeting in February 2011, the Budgerigar Society approved a proposal I had submitted for an idea that would establish a list of those members who would be interested in becoming mentors to support beginners.

The list would be made available through the Budgerigar Society web site.

Mentoring can include aspects of guidance, help, advice and teaching, dependent upon the resources of the mentor and the needs of the mentee. It might be one-to-one in person or based on friendly chats over the phone or internet.

For the beginner the mentoring system is a genuine opportunity to feel supported and a part of something.

For the mentor there is the chance to share your knowledge and experience and to know that you are genuinely helping.

Any BS member who is interested can contact the society secretary including your details.

As a member, you can encourage all Area Societies to adopt the mentoring scheme by following the example set by The Northern Budgerigar Society, who brought the proposal to its members and agreed to take it up through the democratic voting system at their meeting.

If the idea were taken up by the World Budgerigar Organisation, people elsewhere in the world could access accurate information that had not become distorted through translation.

Spread the Word

If you care about the future of the hobby, you have a part to play in securing it; as an individual, at local club level and through the Budgerigar Society.

Share your ideas instead of jealously guarding your acquired wisdom.

If you are one of the lucky ones who is time and resource-rich, think back to your first days and have some compassion for the tentative first steps of the new starter, as one disparaging remark can cause his/her interest to be stillborn.

Spread the word – on the street, on the forums and on the social networks.

Below are a few of Barrie’s birds – click on an image to enlarge it.

Others, and that includes champions, cannot achieve that level for a variety of reasons, so that their “super” birds have obviously not had the attention so necessary – and even occasionally, such fanciers have taken their entries straight from the breeding cage, de-spotted and that is that!

That is no way to proceed – and the chances of being rejected by the judges on the day is heightened greatly, if for no other excuse, for appearing in poor condition.

So, how does the professional approach the task of preparing the team, often for many consecutive weeks?

Should hens be shown and how many times should they be benched – for instance, on an annual basis?

These and other suggestions are discussed below….

Catching The Team

This is not the time to discuss the “Ideal Budgerigar”, which is anyway different in all countries by and large.

The breeder knows which are his/her best birds and it is up to him/her to make decisions reading which cocks and hens he/she selects will be included in the possibles and probables that could, for the show season, be hooked out of the flights, including current year birds.

You will ask “How many days before the first show should the team be re-sited in the stock cages?” The answer is three weeks and they should be fed additionally on lots of soaked oats to put on weight in that time. “A big one will always beat a little one” is a common saying.

Hens should be very carefully considered for show – in a typical season we do not advise that they are shown more than three times each for reasons of their importance for breeding.

The Hallams

In UK in the 1980′s, a Lancashire couple, Sylvia and Gordon Hallam and their son Peter Hallam, had the “knack” in bucket loads. Their show teams were prepared so well, that their birds, which even if slightly inferior to better birds, were still placed ahead of such superior exhibits. Not necessarily winning the class, but you take the point being made. So what exactly were their techniques? We will itemise them.

The Hallams owned a printing works. So both with their adults and especially their young possibles, they were taken in show cages, by car, on a regular basis to their firm, where they were left for a few hours before another car journey home. Obviously, this process accustomed them swiftly to avoiding travel nerves – often seen as a green discharge from the vent which is not enteritis, but plain nerves on a first outing. It tells you that before, say, a national show, this should be the practice to follow and perhaps common sense if your potential “Best in Show” is to have a great chance.

Young birds are often highly fractious and scatty. They need special attention. “With what?”, you ask?

The answer is hot water and glycerine!

Fill your sprayer with very hot water and add 5mls of plain glycerine to it. Adjust the nozzle to a fine spray and test it is not too hot on your hand — we are not responsible if you scald yourself ! Better you than your birds! Then, fully armed, spray the birds really heavily the first time in a morning to the point they look like drowned rats. They have the day to recover their normal look as well as having their underdown feathers dry by the evening.

By then you will see the first results. Calmer birds, better feathers on their bodies – any tails still ragged and spots need attention later. Nevertheless a big change — but a few will still be scatty. This process is then continued, but a bit less dense each day until you see a sheen appearing on them. As the days progress, the birds become calm and you can always add a clip on show cage for them to receive extra steadiness, if not placed there permanently.

Other ideas include a lot of handling with the young birds. Place them in a “dummy” show cage – two per cage — overnight. That helps, and when it comes to the big day they are accustomed to change and familiar with the show cage restrictions and perches.

Two Weeks Later

Now come the tricky parts.

Some will not be fully feathered for this first event of the season. Examine the flights and tails and see their growth situation. Short primaries or missing ones and only one tail fully down, and he /she is left for a later event. Broken shafts should have been pulled earlier, bearing in mind that a primary flight takes four weeks to re-grow and a tail eight weeks. Spots also take four weeks to re-appear, but can be quicker if you spray the spot shafts regularly and keep them soft.

Cracked Shafts and De-spotting

Suddenly you spot a cracked tail feather on a top bird.

Catch it up and examine the shaft carefully. Is it actually bent, chewed a bit or cracked right through?

If it’s the last item — pull out the stump, but if the other tail feather is intact – still show the bird.

Many judges miss spotting there is only one tail!

If both are cracked only, get a lighted cigarette and hold it very close to the damage. You will see the tail straighten fast and all is back to normal. The same happens if you dip the shaft(s) in boiling water.

Whatever you do – do not use glue! That will result in a ban on showing, as bad as painting spots and finally losing permanent credibility. Such actions result in another species of bird involvement. The “albatross around the neck syndrome”! Same with plucking out flecking. It is banned and if spotted you will be in trouble.

De–Spotting

This is an art that needs good eyesight and practice – but is dead easy in experienced hands.

In short, you are aiming to reveal the six main spots clearly without the myriad of the, sometimes, masses of minor small spots and underspots which are paler than the majors.

A quality pair of bull-nosed, flat-faced tweezers have to be bought for this purpose. Pointed tweezers, as used by the “fairer sex”, are useless as you often take out the centre of the offending feather instead of taking it out completely in one movement. No harm is done, unless you are too fast and out comes a major spot — then you are dead for the show.

Now a word of warning on this subject. When de-spotting, do not leave it to the last minute and attack the complete job in one go. Close to the skin of each major spot are the empty feather follicles of the surplus spots you have removed. The area directly around that big important spot gets bruised. You then spray the bird and the water makes that big spot heavy – and out it falls within minutes or hours. Spread the process over several days and this will not happen.

Judging Sticks

Obviously all judges use judging sticks, or now becoming popular, a two inch (5cm) broad “paddle” which is placed through the middle bars to allow and encourage a nervous bird to perch for a second or two – so it can be assessed for placing. If not, then a judge risks the bird getting tired after a few hours and it perches and looks “out of this world”, with predictable comments from the exhibition viewers.

The Day of the Show

By this time, you should have stopped the last final fine spraying three days earlier and the final team look fabulous.

Cage up. Add the correct labels as supplied from the show secretary – please note the word “correct”. Do not reverse a young bird light green label entry, with an adult entry of the same colour. It is a trap that happens so often when in a hurry.

Now double check all is correct and then cross check each label corresponds to the entry form copy you have made.

Finally

Once the birds are taken and benched, it is up to the judges.

You have done all you can – your team is in sparkling white cages – or should be – and in a few hours you will nervously see how you have done.

In nearly all cases you do better than you think you would and have, in your early days, pushed out other birds further down the line because you have prepared yours so well.

You might not win the first time, but you may the next week.

Make a note of the judges – some very good, others have not a clue because they have not bred such a quality in their own aviaries and really do not know how to be decisive in their actions.

There are some brilliant judges around of course who know exactly what they are seeing “To the millimetre”.
They are up with the quality being bred and the times. They move fast initially and make swift judgements and then get them in a rough order before dealing with the finer points and minor place adjustments. A last check and it is “job done”.

Others can stand there, faced with, say, fifteen light green cocks and look bemused and start to sweat – especially at national level.

One actually, years ago, reached for the whisky hip flask at the UK Budgerigar Society World Championship.

Such judges are rare, but if, at national level, one of these “amateurs” is appointed from a national list of “qualified judges” – then I find that unforgivable to those exhibitors who have strived all year to win this or that class.

Make a note of those who have no ability.

Lastly, you will lose more than you win but whatever you do, if you have not won, make it your first job to congratulate the winner. Your personal prestige will then soar — even if you are not aware of it. We cannot all win!

Good luck and one day everyone will shake your hand. It’s a great feeling.

Q1: Which contemporary breeder is the best in your opinion and could you please explain the reasons why you think his or her birds are better than the rest?

GSB:

I have just been across to Jo Mannes’ aviary to buy in outcrosses. There is little doubt that in modern times he has led the hobby in Europe as a skilled breeder and is totally focused on his work, with his wife’s help.

I have allowed myself to spend a great deal of time founding the Budgerigar World Magazine; showing how an exhibition should be presented; writing continuously (including books); as well as trying to breed quality budgerigars.

That was a mistake! I should have focused entirely on the birds – but it is my nature to help everybody, so I do not regret it.

Jo has a lot of dark factors around, but the top birds are super, as always, and importantly – balanced and without any signs of long flighted characteristics which are creeping into many studs. Judges must be aware of this and keep their eyes open.

Q2: In the UK whose studs do you admire? Also have you got your eye on any up and coming fanciers / partnerships with regard to a possible future at the very top?

GSB:

There are perhaps less than ten breeders, maybe just five, who possess the right birds for modern budgerigar improvement. I have my eye on them, but cannot be drawn on naming them.

Q3: The modern exhibition budgerigar seems to be changing rapidly, especially over the past 5 years. Which breeders do you think take the credit for this and in your opinion how has this been achieved?

GSB:

Jo Mannes, Daniel Lütolf and Les Martin are but three in the last few years, but there are others in Europe that I have not seen, so I cannot give a complete answer.

Q4: During your time in the fancy, which birds have been ahead of their time and have taken the hobby to a whole new level??

GSB:

One has to go back to Ken Farmer of Luton who took what is still today, “The English Budgerigar”.

That is featured in my book, The Challenge.

Joe Collyer in Surrey was the next. He bred a nest of Grey greens and a grey – far ahead of their time, but poor by today’s standards – these are also in The Challenge.

Harry Bryan and Maurice Finey were the next two to advance the quality dramatically and then Jo Mannes came along, followed by Daniel Lütolf and now Les Martin.

There are others who have seriously contributed, but only these have made massive jumps in quality in their time and Les Martin continues that process.