Mrs Berry states that her brother, who works for the local county health department, received these photos from a colleague while he was traveling in the area of The Billabong Roadhouse – located between Geraldton and Carnarvon in Western Australia.

They were taken when he spotted a flock of thousands of budgerigars on the wing, flying around a dam nearby.

He stopped and no sooner had he done so than good numbers descended on his car and also entered the car with the doors having been left open. The group of people with him also found the birds were landing on them as well!

It is interesting to realise they had no fear at all of humans in this case.

One has therefore to speculate why this was so.

What were they looking for? Was the dam dry and they were after water from anywhere – who knows?

Australian Wild Budgerigars

Australian Wild Budgerigars

Australian Wild Budgerigars

Australian Wild Budgerigars

Nevertheless, my thanks for these photos for the pleasure of our enthusiasts, but forgive me if I allow myself a bit of license by saying:

They could use a bit more width and buffalo effect or they might get out through our standard cage fronts.

That aside, a delight to see such photos in all seriousness.

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

 

 

 

 

For example, I had no idea that among the now 140+ countries that access this site (for news and information on exhibition budgerigars) is Russia!

Imagine my surprise then, when I as contacted by Tania from Russia (she declines to reveal her surname being a relative novice by comparison to the fancier she wishes me to feature). Tania has asked me to feature her fellow Russian breeder, Svetlana Folomeeva.

Svetlana Folomeeva

Like myself, Svetlana Folomeeva became interested in our international hobby at the age of 12.

Visiting an exhibition at Karlsruhe in Germany, she witnessed super birds for the first time and became totally bitten by the challenge to breed quality budgerigars.

Her first buying venture was to buy birds in the Czech Republic (Czechia). These were modest birds so she branched out and has now visited many of the top European fanciers, among them Jo Mannes, Daniel Lütolf, Rein Dul, Florian Bock, Gyerkon Tibor and Willi Dokter. She now possesses a stud of some 150 birds!

I asked Svetlana to tell me where her main interests lay – where colour is concerned – and it proved to be broad ranging. Normals, Spangles, Yellow-faces and Red Eyes were the main favourites, but Opalines, Texas Clearbodies and Lacewings were present as well.

Breeding in Russia

I then asked how Russian breeders gained experience initially. It appears the Internet is a massive help and no doubt the Google Translation Service on this website proves of considerable assistance.

Next was the matter of foods that are available and the essential vitamins and minerals. What was the quality and availability? Again, I was surprised as there are good seed brands around, one of the best being sold under the name of “Rio”. That said, vitamins etc. are difficult to obtain as well as relevant disinfectants, both being in short supply. So these are obtained from within the EU and imported by individuals for themselves and their fellow fanciers.

Lastly the notorious Russian winters. How do they cope in such low temperatures? Yet again, no problems. All aviaries are fully equipped with heating to sustain breeding and general comfort.

A Seminar

The Moscow Budgerigar Society is called the “Apogee”.

There are currently just 14 breeders who have registered so far since 2011, so it is a young society which will undoubtedly grow.

Perhaps they will carry out some marketing to the public at large? Certainly they are spreading the word that they exist and that the challenging hobby of breeding exhibition budgerigars is now in existence in their vast country.

Three years ago, this go-ahead group, including Svetlana, organised their first seminar and invited Gyerkon Tibor to attend. Svetlana herself reciprocated by representing the Russian breeders at the Budapest Convention Meeting, where she met many well known international breeders and judges, including Ghalib Al-Nasser, the WBO Secretary.

Feeding Techniques

Because of the newness of the hobby in Russia, all outcrosses are bought in Europe – without exception.

When it comes to the seed and vitamin suppliers referred to, “Versele-Laga” features strongly as a favourite source (from a branch in Germany).

In addition to the basics, the Russian birds are fed with sprouted seeds, wheat, oats, barley, clover, lucerne, sunflower, corn, buckwheat, thistle, flax and safflower. A very broad range to say the least, but they cover collectively most of the vitamins etc. that the birds need to sustain the size and fecundity.

Welcome & Thank You

May I, on behalf of all fanciers worldwide, publicly welcome The Apogee Russian Budgerigar Society to the international fold.

Added to that is our appreciation to Tania for approaching Svetlana Folomeeva for an interview for this website.

It is a great opening for breeders outside Russia to learn of the existence of this society and may it go from strength to strength in the coming years.

Appeal

Is the breeding of exhibition budgerigars a newly growing interest in your country? If the answer is yes, then please contact us at Budgerigar.co.uk and let fanciers worldwide know of your existence.

Photographs

All photographs below of Svetlana’s aviary and birds were taken by (TBA) & kindly supplied to us by Tania.

Click on any image to enlarge it.

The aviary

The aviary

Young bird

Young bird

Young bird

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

The show took place in the market town of St. Georgen am Ybbsfelde in Amstetten (a district in north east Austria).

Approximately 280 birds were benched.

Results

The major results were as follows:

• Best in Show – Ladislav Groda
• Best Young Bird in Show – Karl Eben
• Best Opposite Sex Young Bird – Mario Bizour
• Best Opposite Sex Any Age – Jiri Rejha

Judges

The judge was:

• Tibor Gyerkó (Hungary)

Photographs

All photographs below were taken by (TBA) & kindly supplied to us by Terry Tuxford.

Click on any image to enlarge it.

Best in Show
Ladislav Groda

Best Young Bird in Show
Karl Eben

Best Any Age Opposite Sex
Jiri Rejha

Best Young Bird Opposite Sex
Mario Bizour

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.

The show took place at the Dome in Doncaster (in South Yorkshire, in northern England).

Results

The major results were as follows:

• Best in Show – L Martin
• Best Young Bird in Show – D G Bowley
• Best Any Age in Show – L Martin
• Best Opposite Sex Young Bird in Show – G Ludlow
• Best Opposite Sex Any Age in Show – G & A Moore

The full results can be viewed here (PDF): 2011 BS World Show – Full Results

Record Equaling Achievement

This is the second year in a row that Les Martin (from Studham, Bedfordshire, England) has won Best in Show, and in doing so he has equaled the record first set by Freakley & Ainley in 2008.

Freakley & Ainley won back to back Budgerigar Society World Championships – first in 2007 with their Sky Blue cock and again in 2008 with their Dominant Pied Grey Green cock (the first of its variety to win the world show)

Les Martin won Best Budgerigar in Show in 2010 with his massive, superb quality, Grey Green and this year won with his Normal Skyblue – so much admired when it had a spot down in 2008.

Congratulations Les on this achievement.

Judges

The judges were:

• John Alcock
• Dominic Avo
• Roger Carr
• Jac Cuyton
• Philip Dye
• Dave Hislop
• Robbie Keeber
• John Lees
• Joe Nevin
• Ron Payne
• Jim Rogerson
• Raymond Rogerson
• Ray Steele
• Terry Tuxford

Photographs

The photographs below were kindly supplied to us by: Terry Tuxford

Click on an image to enlarge it.

Best in Show
Les Martin

Best Young Bird in Show
D G Bowley

Best Young Bird Opposite Sex
G Ludlow

Best Any Age Opposite Sex
G & A Moore

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

By far the greatest wealth of knowledge in this hobby is stored in the minds of our senior breeders and exhibitors who have been doing this year in, year out, often for 30, 40, 50 years or more. These folks have enough knowledge stored away to write a multitude of books on our favorite subject but the problem is, with a few notable exceptions, most of them are quiet unassuming people who only share their knowledge one-on-one when they really get to know you.

Too often we see folks who have only been in the hobby a few years setting themselves up as authorities only to lead many folks who follow their lead down a path of disappointment and frustration.

Your challenge, if you really want to learn the hobby, is to seek out one or more of these “old time” fountains of information and use them as your mentors, and in the process act like a sponge to soak up as many of these gems of knowledge as you can.

I count myself extremely lucky that in the 50 plus years since I started keeping budgies there have been several outstanding guys who were my mentors to help guide me along the way.

Bill Petzke

I grew up in a family in Victoria, Australia where my grandmother and several uncles bred and exhibited budgies. Bill Petzke, my favorite uncle, was my first real mentor. As a youngster I loved spending school holidays at Uncle Bill’s farm because we ended up in his aviary for hours every day.

Bill was the one who instilled in me a real love for the budgerigar and a fascination for all the varieties and colors they could produce.

He was the first to teach me that, while we are trying to develop a bird that is physically far removed from the wild budgie, if we followed nature as closely as possible they would breed successfully and in numbers, This is the basis for many practices I still use today.

While many breeders set up their birds to ring / band for the early shows, Bill set up his birds throughout the year when the birds showed they were ready. I remember him pointing out signs the hens and cocks would exhibit when they were ready to breed. The cocks rapping their beaks on a perch, dilating pupils, and fighting other cocks that came near them. The hens laying flat on the perch, vibrating their wings, gnawing everything in sight, and calling to the cocks.

Bill experimented with different styles of nest boxes, always trying to come as close as possible to the holes the wild birds used. They were all shapes and sizes but had several things in common. They all had one large entry hole and no vent holes for extra air, just like a knot hole in a tree or rotten log. He sprayed the inside walls of the nest and placed soaked blotting paper under the nest concave block to keep humidity as high as possible “just like in that rotten log” as he would often say.

He also fed a much wider variety of feed than was common in those times. The regular seed mix was the staple diet, but he also fed plenty of seeding grasses, willow and eucalyptus branches, fruit and vegetables, and dishes of supplements that were used for growing calves, pigs and chickens he had on the farm. Although his birds lacked the head qualities we see today, I still recall his birds were frequently much larger than others we saw on the show bench, possibly as a result of the supplements he was feeding.

Frank Gardner

Frank Gardner, Melbourne, Australia was the leading “Budgie Man” of the era in the years after I graduated from college and started up with budgerigars again. My father, who did not know one end of a budgie from another, bought my first pair of budgies from Frank in 1959 while off on a business trip. At the time Dad had no idea who Frank was or what he was buying, but that Skyblue cock and Cinnamon Mauve hen produced several nests of cobalts that won awards at shows and got me hooked on the exhibition side of the hobby.

It was years later, after I had finished college, that Dad went with me to visit Frank and we finally learned where my first pair came from. The lesson from that experience…”You can be lucky and produce winners even if you don’t know where they came from or what you are doing”.

Frank was the first to explain the concept of line breeding within families to improve the overall quality of your stock.

He was also a stickler for sticking as close as possible to nature when it came to nest boxes and when to breed. He would frequently remind me that in nature the birds breed in spring and autumn (Fall) and after heavy rains when they know there will be plenty of feed for the chicks.

Above all else Frank instilled in me that breeding budgerigars is not a race. It is a journey that requires knowledge, patience and a little luck. I can still hear him say:

“If you buy these two birds and pair them together, and next year do this, the following year do that… In 3 or 4 years with a little luck you will be in the cards (winning) at the local shows.”

Note: In 3 or 4 years… if you are lucky! We need someone like Frank to mentor the beginners today. So many today go out, buy a few good pairs, throw them together, and expect to produce birds that win the following year. With a LOT of luck you may, but it will be the exception to the rule. It takes years to develop a line of winning birds no matter what you can afford to start with.

Eric Monks

Eric Monks of Lower Hutt was retired by the time I moved to New Zealand in 1974 and spent most of each day with his budgies.

Eric’s first love was the Cinnamon Opaline and he worked hard to keep them clean. Flecking was not the problem it is today, but Eric culled birds when the V in the saddle was not clean or the body color started to fade.

Eric fed a basic seed mix, with the emphasis on canary for the higher protein, seeding grasses and vegetables. He was the first I saw to introduce animal protein in the form of chicken carcasses left after a family meal… and he also fed dishes of mealworms in the flights when they were available.

He loved shows and spent hours preparing his birds, starting a month before a scheduled show date. His birds were always well presented and he openly admitted that his showmanship and preparation often won awards over better quality birds that were a little rough on the day. One of his buddies was a pigeon breeder who spayed his birds with water that had a little Listerine and Witch Hazel added and Eric did likewise, This is what I still use to prepare birds for show today.

Only birds that were entered weeks before the show could make it to the judging bench, so he always started with several for each class and put them back in the flight if they dropped tails, flights or spots, or started to moult.

Eric was the first to instill the idea of mentoring new folks who joined the hobby and he helped many get started with a few pairs.

Alf Ormerod

I started writing to Alf in England when I was living in New Zealand. I found it surprising that someone doing so well in the hobby would spend the time to write long letters on all aspects of breeding to a young guy thousands of miles away who he had never met.

Most of his letters related to breeding and matings, with heavy emphasis on line breeding. He felt strongly that the lesser birds from a strong family would often produce quality when paired together. I have heard comments from other English breeders over the years that they would visit Alf before breeding season and leave feeling he had lost his touch because the quality was gone… but if they returned several months later the baby flights had more than their share of stormers… and this apparently happened year after year.

He had a real interest in improving varieties. I remember in 1983 when he and Harry Bryan brought in their first spangles from Europe. They were not show quality initially, but both Alf & Harry bred them to their very best birds and within a year Harry won two Best In Shows with a Yellowface Sky Spangle cock that caused quite a sensation. In 1984, Alf sent me two of the youngsters (one with a B73 ring) so we could introduce them to USA.

In 1984, I visited Alf & Doris and during that meeting discussed flecking that had become a problem with opalines. I had bred a super young grey green opaline that had a huge golf ball head, but it was too flecked to show. They both immediately explained how to breed opaline to opaline within the family and the flecking would gradually move back over the crown and disappear down through the saddle. I assumed they were joking but later tried it… and to my surprise it worked, and in three generations I had some clean opalines that won consistently.

Harold Trethaway

When I first moved to USA in 1977, I found it a challenge to find anyone involved in the hobby, but fortunately when I did I was living within an hour of Harold Trethaway of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. Harold was not your “usual” budgie guy.

In the US, many breeders keep their birds inside because of the extremes of temperature, hot as Hades in summer, and well below freezing in winter. Not Harold. He had two sheds up the hill behind his house. No heating and no air conditioning to keep it cool in summer. Yet Harold bred year around as the birds came into condition and he was a consistent winner at the North East shows.

In the summer it was so humid in the breeding shed you would break into a sweat while he showed you the youngsters and pairs he had just put up. The nest boxes were actually damp inside but his fertility and hatchability was excellent, and although I recall seeing birds panting from the heat, I do not remember any parents or young dying as a result.

Winter was the opposite extreme. It was quite a challenge to make it up the hill after a snow fall. The breeding shed had a little insulation in the form of plastic sheeting over the flights, but you still needed to be rugged up if you planned to stay for long. Again the breeding pairs and chicks seemed to thrive, although I remember the hens would not spend much time out of the nest when feeding.

The second shed was aptly called “The Ice Chest”, wire mesh over the windows and no insulation at all. First trip up in the morning Harold would break the ice in the water dish and pour in some warm water and within minutes all the birds were down at it for a drink. I often marvelled that the birds in this shed survived any winter months but they certainly were hardened to it.

Despite some of his unorthodox methods Harold taught me that budgies can survive and breed in extreme temperatures if you have fit, healthy and hardy stock.

Harold kept amazing records in notebooks for each year and within a few minutes could give you the pedigree of any bird in his flights back several generations. He spent hours checking pedigrees when he was pairing up for the next breeding season. In the 80′s, I bred a light green clearwing from a pair of Trethaway birds. Harold could not believe it initially, but started going back through his pedigree notebooks. Several days later he called to say he traced both parents back to an Ormerod cock he had purchased from Ken and Libby Tefft in Rhode Island, and when he called Alf he was told that bird had been split for clearwing in the one season he worked with them. Amazing what pedigrees can tell you.

Don Langell

Don Langell of Boxford, Massachussetts was nicknamed “The King” of budgie breeders in USA. The King had by far the biggest impact on my knowledge of the budgerigar and my success on the show bench.

I was fortunate during the 80s and 90s to have a job that enabled me to travel to New England several times each year and I always adjusted the schedule, so I would spend a day or two with Don and Jean at Boxford.

During these visits, countless hours were spent in his birdroom and talking birds around the kitchen table. Don was a master breeder and once he got to know you, every trip to the birdroom was a learning experience. Always ready to give advice and discuss his management practices and breeding techniques, Don would often challenge you to check your knowledge or to test if you really understood why he did certain things with and for his birds…. and there always was a reason for everything.

More than anyone else, Don was instrumental in developing my eye to see specific features in a bird. He did this by having me catch up birds and evaluate them for specific reasons. Much related to the various families he bred, but could also be used with budgies in general.

You knew you had made his inner circle when he would leave the keys so you could access the birdroom before he was home from his job at the bank.. but there was always a test in store… catch up 5 pairs you would breed together and explain why you would mate them that way… place the youngsters you thought would develop into the best show birds or stock birds in show cages and discuss your reasoning (and write the band numbers of any you thought would be outstanding on a wall so you could check the bird again during future visits).

Don had several families of birds in his aviary, the most prized being his “Black Band” family that produced the majority of his Best in Show winners. Another test was to catch birds from the main flight you thought were from the “black band” line and tell him what features you saw that were dominant. Initially this was a tough assignment and if I picked one or two correctly, I was happy. As years passed it became easier and easier as you saw specific “black band” features or even mannerisms. Even today, years later, I will often walk into an aviary or check a show cage and pick out a bird or two with “Langell blood”, to the surprise of the owner.

Another key ingredient to the puzzle I learned from Don was to spend plenty of time observing your birds. Don spent countless hours in his birdroom, often sitting in a rocking chair while he puffed on a cigar and watched the birds for signs they were getting ready to come into breeding condition.

He bred year round when the birds were ready to work and paid little attention to the calendar.
He often reminded me of my Uncle Bill Petzke years earlier,while watching for the cocks to start fighting, rapping the perch with their beak, and calling to hens in a distinctive tone that is more shrill and different to normal chatter. The hens would be calling too, laying flat on the perch while pulling their feathers tight till they had a “snakey look” as Don put it, and gnawing any piece of wood in sight. When the appropriate pairs showed these signs, into the breeding cage they went. I am certain this was a major reason why he had such high fertility year after year.

Nest boxes were another pet subject with Don that again brought back memories of my Uncle Bill back when I was a teenager. Don’s nest boxes were a box-inside-a-box design which was somewhat radical in the 80s, but quite common today. They hung on the front of the cage so the entry area was shaded so the hen felt secure. A handful of pine or cedar shavings was added to the nest to help stimulate the hen into breeding condition when she cleaned most of it out. The nest had the usual entry hole but no vent holes to allow extra air circulation. The outer box was varnished (for appearance) but the inner box was always uncoated wood so it could absorb moisture and keep the humidity level inside the nest high. After eggs were laid Don would cover the eggs in the concave with his hand and lightly spray water on the walls of the box to further increase humidity during his twice daily inspection. He would also mist both parents when they were out of the nest so they would transfer additional moisture to the eggs when started sitting again.

Gary & Kathy Hicken

On returning to the hobby (in 2009) it was quite a challenge to get reasonable quality start-up breeding stock. Fortunately several friends, who had been in the hobby when I left, were able to help out with a few pairs. With USA being so large and serious breeders in far off cities, most of the birds were sent in sight unseen. Fortunately the guys did well by me and shipped in some fine birds that have bred well during the first two seasons.

One aviary I have been able to visit is Gary and Kathy Hicken at Logan, a suburb of Salt Lake City in Utah. Gary has been showing budgies since 1975 and is a judge in high demand.

The Hicken’s have developed their own line of birds over the years and today have arguably the best stud of birds in the US frequently dominating the top bench where ever they show.

They have selectively imported every 3-4 years to maintain vitality and bring in or develop certain features they want in their stud. Breeders like Fred Wright, Molkentein and DeBeers are common in the pedigrees of their birds today. In the past year they added birds from the Lastella stud which had been influenced by imports from Daniel Lütolf a few years back.

Once again there is a lot to be learned by spending time with breeders like the Hickens and picking their brains. Kathy handles much of the feeding and day to day management of the birds while Gary, who is always busy with his duties as local Chief of Police, takes care of most pairings and the breeding season.

A few things stand out apart from Kathy’s regular schedule. They always buy the best quality feed available and buy in relatively small quantities so it never sits too long or goes stale. The birds are fed soaked seed and greens/veggies each morning.

The entire aviary is misted with a “fogger” every morning with a solution of water and disinfectant, and birds are misted too.

Gary strongly believes his best birds consistently produce his best youngsters so his breeding team is also his show team. To get full advantage of his very best cocks he runs the best five with 4-5 hens during the breeding season. Chicks are fostered soon after they hatch, the original hens gets to rest a while, and a new hen is then introduced into the same cage where the cock is waiting.

To keep numbers in check, Gary is constantly culling throughout the year. He limits the maximum number of cocks and hens, so if he wants to add one of the young cocks to the breeding/show team for next year he cuts one of the older cocks and it heads to the sales flight. This ensures he always has his optimum number of both sexes and that overall quality is always on the improve.

New Ideas & Techniques

As you can see, even after 50 plus years in the hobby, there are always new ideas and techniques to consider introducing into the day to day management of your stud.

Absorb all you hear, then select those that make sense in your situation and give them a try.

You will be amazed what you can learn from these mentors with years of experience in the hobby.

This article was kindly supplied to Budgerigar.co.uk by Barrie Shutt

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