Hyogo region of Japan

His first contact with budgerigars was while he was in junior-high school, when he was introduced to a hand tamed budgerigar named “Shiro” (Japanese for White).

This stimulated his interest in birds in general and he kept Love-birds, Cockatiels, Parakeets, Bengalese, Java sparrows, Zebra finches, Canaries etc.

English Budgerigars

While at college he discovered show-type Budgerigars, which were called “English Budgerigars” in Japan and this lead him into the hobby that he is passionate about today.

As Nobuyoshi says:

I started to breed English-type Show Budgerigars in 1978.

In those days, here in Japan, the studs of show-budgerigars were mainly from UK champion breeders – Roberts, Secombes, Ormerod, Moffat and Binks plus others.

In 1979, the first birds from Harry Bryan were introduced into Japan.

I was very interested in these quality birds and have bred the Bryan bloodline for almost 30 years.

However, as time went by, quality Harry Bryan birds were no longer available and so Nobuyoshi decided to breed Bryan bloodlines on a “closed colony” basis to intensify his stock.

Jo Mannes and Nobuyoshi Takenaka

Jo Mannes Budgerigars

More recently, Nobuyoshi has sought to get new blood to improve the quality of his birds and once again this has come from outside of Japan.

His search ended up with a meeting with Jo Mannes from Germany – and he has now visited Jo on four occasions: in February, April & August 2007, and September 2008.

During these visits he acquired a total of 60 quality birds.

Nobuyoshi says:

At the beginning of my search, I planned to introduce new blood into my Bryan bloodline.

However, following the visits to Jo Mannes and seeing real live birds from him, I decided it would take an enormous effort to rebuild my existing stud by crossing them with the Jo Mannes birds.

I tried to cross Bryan with Mannes in a few pairs, but they were not successful.

Nobuyoshi changed his plans and since 2008 has concentrated on building a stud of high class budgerigars based on 100% Jo Mannes bloodlines.

Nobuyoshi now keeps more than 200 Jo Mannes bloodline budgerigars in his birdroom.

Photographs

All photographs below were kindly supplied to us by Nobuyoshi Takenaka.

Click on any image to enlarge it.

Best in Show 2011

A

B

C

D

E

2011 Baby (1)

2011 Baby (2)

2011 Baby (3)

2011 Baby (4)

2011 Baby (5)

2011 Baby (6)

2011 Baby (7)

Breeding Cages

Flights

Trophies

  ]]> http://www.budgerigar.co.uk/a-japanese-birdroom/feed/ 0 http://www.budgerigar.co.uk/learning-from-past-experience-part-two/ http://www.budgerigar.co.uk/learning-from-past-experience-part-two/#comments Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:26:26 +0000 Terry Tuxford http://www.budgerigar.co.uk/?p=6364 I recently discovered an interview that Gerald made with Fred Sherman sometime in the mid-1980′s.

I would estimate the interview to be some ten to twelve thousand words in length and I thought it would be such a waste to let it sit gathering dust.

So with this in mind I have collated the interview into segments.

This is part two – part one may be read here.

I hope you enjoy it.

Feeding, Cod Liver Oil and Showing

By Fred Sherman (deceased)

The next thing I would like to talk about is feeding, and this is really relative to my coming to the UK in 1986, I want to talk about cod liver oil.

I have a very good friend in Johannesburg, Peter Needham. I used to visit Peter often in the early days when I was a novice, really because we were novices together and I have never seen so many French Moulters in my life.

He had cages and cages of French Moulters and when Gerald Binks came out to Rhodesia and South Africa for the first time in 1979 he put Peter on to a feed containing cod liver oil. The ratio was half a teaspoon per 12 pounds of seed and most of Peter’s troubles went away. He bred very few French Moulters and I did the same thing and I didn’t breed many French Moulters either.

I went along with Gerald’s suggestion and fed, exactly that ratio. Then I went on leave, and I never used to go on leave, especially during the breeding season, but my daughter graduated from the University in South Africa so I had to go down leaving the birds with my chap who looked after the birds when I was away.

This guy was totally illiterate, he could not read nor write, but he was a hell of a good worker, so he could never do anything with the birds except feed them. He could change the seed but unfortunately I left him to mix the cod liver oil. When I came back from a week down in South Africa, I noticed that the levels of cod liver oil in the bottle had gone right down, and I have never seen so much French Moult in my life. So that was overdosing and I have never used it since.

I tried to save the youngsters, pulled their flights out, and put them in Dettol, but eventually I got rid of about 56 youngsters.

As an interesting little aside to that, there was a very good breeder in Harare. He bred some very good birds, and there is a lake up there known as Lake Kariba. It is a big man-made lake and they stock it with little sardines (which are similar to the whitebait you get in the UK) created as a protein filler for the black people in the country. This chap fed fish meal to his birds and he never got French Moult.

So what does it tell us? He is filling his birds full of fish meal and we give them cod liver oil and get French Moult. I think it is just a personal thing but it gave me such a fright I stopped using it.

The other thing about feeding in southern Africa is it is not easy to get hold of bird seed. We used to grow canary seed in Rhodesia but they don’t any more, they grow it in South Africa. Seed is not easy to get hold of, so when you hear about seed you buy it and sometimes you have to buy a whole lot of seed you don’t really need.

Basically, we feed a mixture of millet and canary seed, usually two thirds canary seed and one third millet. Some chaps go 50-50 but it is a matter of individual preference. The nice thing about living in the UK is that you can get whatever seed you want. You just phone up somebody and they deliver it.

Nest Box Talk

I had an experience in Rhodesia many years ago. I sold some birds to a chap who could never get the hens to breed, so there was a story going round that: “I sold him hens that wouldn’t breed and when I catch them up I do something to them.”

What that was supposed to be I do not know! He just couldn’t breed with the hens and then one day he was visiting and I had just bought some new breeding boxes and the old ones were lying on the floor. He was busy building a new aviary and said do you want these? I said if you want them take them – I think there were about ten.

He took them to Bulawayo put them up and my hens bred in those boxes. He had had the hens for two years and I believe it is something to do with the environment and I think if you are buying hens from somebody and they won’t breed, try using the same type of nest box. It certainly worked for this chap. The nest boxes I use are the double boxes, a box within a box about 8″ by 5″ (20 by 13cm) about 8″ (20cm) high.

A little bit about the Fancy in South Africa and Zimbabwe. It is not strong in terms of members but I think people are quite dedicated there. They work very hard and all put their shoulders to the wheel when there is a show.

We have meetings on Sunday mornings rather than the evening and these are at various fanciers’ houses where we have sandwiches and snacks and a bit of a get together. They bring their wives and we have a guest speaker or a lecture and also little table shows. We have the opportunity of seeing the chap’s aviary and looking at his birds.

I think the spirit that is created is good, and of course we have different weather there, but often we have a barbeque and make a day of it. Maybe we have lectures in the morning and a barbeque, then a small table show in the afternoon. We also use that as an opportunity to train judges, and put up classes of birds and get the young chaps in and get them to judge. Even the beginners and novice – we get them judging and get them going right from the beginning. It comes in very useful.

Shows

The shows here are not frequent. There are about four a year in Zimbabwe, six or eight in South Africa.

I tend to go to the South African shows, but we can’t show in Zimbabwe because of the political situation. It is unfortunate because I think it would be good for both countries if we were to show. There are some very good birds in South Africa and there are also some very good ones in Zimbabwe.

We have four sections of exhibitor in South Africa – Junior, Novice, Intermediate and Champion.

The junior section is for under 16′s. If you are over 16 you go into the Novice and then have to score points with your breeder birds in exhibition for promotion through the sections. You have to score 400 points to move from Novice to Intermediate – and remember, only breeder birds score points for you.

The points are 5 for a first, 3 for the second, 2 for the third in class plus so many for a colour award and others for best breeder in section.

It is reckoned it takes four years, although some guys do it in two. So you have to score 400 points even if it takes you forever. Then you become an Intermediate and you have to score 200 points in these classes for promotion to champion.

I think it is quite a good system because it means fanciers have to show and show breeder birds. Records of each fancier’s points are made and are published in every monthly newsletter and after each show so everybody’s points are there to be seen.

In terms of maintaining status, you only go down if you stop showing; you don’t go out because you don’t win, you stay a Champion. However, if you don’t show for two years, you go back to Intermediate and have to score the points again.

Dr Alf Robertson

When overseas, I am often asked about my experiences with Dr. Robertson.

Dr. Robertson became a bit of a legend and was a very good person. What I liked most about Alf Robertson, apart from his birds, was talking to him because he had the ability of applying his medical knowledge to budgerigars – and that to me was very fascinating.

As far as his birds were concerned, he was another man who inbred extensively and almost exclusively. His light greens and grey-greens were really superb. At one time I thought they were a little bit short in the body, but he got hold of some long flights and these were true long flights. I saw one cock, I didn’t see the other one. It had three long tail feathers, nine primary flights, and was overall about 10-inches (25cm) and tremendously long feathers. I saw an opaline grey that he bred out of this and really it was quite an outstanding bird, one of the nicest birds I had ever seen.

These long flights sorted out the shortness of the body. Alf Robertson was clever because some guy didn’t know what he had when he had these long flights, Alf saw them and used them.

I told Alf that I thought he ought to go to England, and I told him to go and the see other birds. However he was very parochial, very much the king in South Africa, in fact, he was undisputed budgerigar king.

I don’t think he was quite as fanatical as Harry Bryan was, but almost. He did not have the drive to win, he just waited to breed good birds and did not care about showing – he got switched off by shows.

I would estimate the interview to be some ten to twelve thousand words in length and I thought it would be such a waste to let it sit gathering dust.

So with this in mind I have collated the interview into segments.

This is part one – part two may be read here.

I hope you enjoy it.

The Differences Between Breeding Budgerigars In Africa And The UK

By Fred Sherman (deceased)

I grew up on a farm in Rhodesia (now called Zimbabwe). My father was a tobacco farmer and also a breeder of livestock – he bred pedigree Jersey cows and pedigree Ayrshire cattle. He also kept African love birds and budgerigars and colony bred them. I suppose as a young boy I used to help him with these birds and that started my interest.

I was very interested in genetics – probably from school – and the very first book I bought on budgies was not how to feed, breed or keep them, but “Budgerigar Matings and Colour Expectations”. The second book I bought was “Genetics for Budgerigar Breeders” and so my interest was more in the genetics. I saw in budgies a good opportunity to experiment with genetics and the principles of Mendelism. Consequently for many years I fooled around with colours. In fact I never bred Budgerigars in small boxes, I used to breed them in small flights, similar to Doug Sadler but not as elaborate. I was only interested in colours and in fact, I didn’t even know what a show budgie was.

I joined the Budgerigar Society in South Africa merely to get rings and this was known as the Central African Avicultural Society. I had no interest in exhibition birds and I never went to any meetings. In fact, as mentioned I grew up on a farm and while I was still at school I was a member of the club. So I had joined very young.

Coerced Into Show Birds

In the late sixties I moved to Salisbury which was then the capital of Rhodesia and I was coerced I think, into getting involved with show birds. I still had these pet types, and I got interested in showing birds. I think that was in 1968 or 1969 and so I started breeding for show purposes.

When I decided to go all out to do well as a breeder of exhibition budgerigars, I was then spending a lot of time in the United Kingdom. Those of you who remember history, it was at the time that sanctions were applied against Rhodesia and I was running around a lot trying to find products and selling things, so my business travels brought me to England. I realised if I wanted to improve my birds I would have to buy birds in England and strangely enough the first pair of birds I bought were a pair of clearwings from Tom North.

I think it was the colour that interested me, and the fact that I was breeding colours. I saw a Whitewing mauve and I couldn’t believe there was anything like it could exist. So I bought a pair and took them back to Rhodesia and I bred with them and showed them. I did that for a few years and then I finally I met Brian Byles and he was good enough to let me have some birds which was the foundation of my budgerigars. I bought five birds from Brian, two of them were brothers, and the other two were related to the two brothers – they were all cocks.

I then went to South Africa and Dr Robertson, with whom I had got quite friendly. He put me on to a fellow by the name of John van Niekerk who had some birds from Alf Ormerod. I managed to get some hens from John Anitas. One hen was bred from an Ormerod pair which, having become friendly with Brian and looking at the records I discovered I had a hen that was related to one of the birds I had from Brian. This got my mind thinking about in-breeding and breeding closely together, and I took the decision then, having had a chat with my Dad, who was a stockman breeding cattle.

I decided with him that we would apply the in-breeding technique. I will be quite honest with you since then and that was 1972 or 1973, other than those five birds from Brian and a few hens from South Africa, I have had another cock bird from Brian, a Yellowface hen from Ernie Sigston, a Skyblue from Reg Crossman and some birds from Gerald Binks and those are the only birds I have bought in and all my birds today are totally inbred.

I Had No Option

I started with those five cocks and I have had a few from Gerald – maybe six – but that is it over all these years. I had to inbreed, I had no option and I found it interesting to listen to fanciers in the UK during my visits, who would say: “I don’t like to go too close” or “I wonder if it’s practical to line breed with budgies?”

My interpretation of in-breeding and line breeding I liken to what my Dad did with cattle. He had a foundation sire and he put lots of cows to that bull and he developed a strain. With birds of course that is difficult and I really doubt whether it is practical to line breed in a true sense with budgerigars, but I stand to be corrected. Also with line breeding you can go close, very often, the good thing with cattle is you have records that you work on, not like with budgies that somebody judges you have two judges and they don’t both see the bird alike, but with cattle there is the butter fat content of the milk, the quantity of the milk, all these things are recorded and they are all facts that you can work on.

I remember on the farm where we had a particularly good cow and the bull would be put back to the cows calves and granddaughters and so to say “Don’t go too close in line breeding”, don’t believe it. You go father to daughter, father to granddaughter in line breeding the same as you do with in-breeding. Really it is a little controversial, but that is the way I see it. So I have been inbreeding very closely. I do admit that some pairings are better than others. I don’t think it is anything to do with being close, or not being close. I was talking to Jeff Attwood and he was concerned about fertility when you inbreed, but I don’t believe I could have bred all those birds if fertility is a problem.

I can tell you a little story about a grey hen I bred. I have never seen such a big hen, she really was magnificent. It wasn’t a show bird, just a great big stock hen but one, almost from the time she moulted out, you think is going to be a problem. A big buff hen and I paired her to a cock – I don’t even remember how close it was related, and I have a habit of marking my eggs with a felt pen, because I think you get better results, you throw out the clear ones and make them keep laying, and on the first round the eighth eggs was fertile and she laid ten eggs in total. The eighth egg hatched – I was actually at the time breeding some Lacewings, so I put some fertile lacewing eggs with them, so I could identify the chicks, the chick finally hatched and survived, and fortunately for me it was a cock.

Paired To His Mother

The second round, the same thing, the eighth egg was fertile, she laid ten eggs, but that chick died, so I had one chick out of that hen which was a cock and I only had one option which was to pair the cock to his mother. She laid ten eggs, every egg was full. The second round she laid another ten eggs, and I put five of those eggs under the Yellowface Skyblue and she smashed them so there it was I got twenty full eggs out of that hen when I paired her back to her son. I don’t think that fertility is only a problem. I believe that our fertility problems are with the buff birds, the big ones.

If you take pet budgerigars and put father to daughter and inbreed them continually they would all be fertile. I have actually seen that happen where these fellows breed with these little birds, and they just keep on being fertile. I don’t think anybody can prove or disprove it, but I believe that fertility is a fault that you should breed out with inbreeding. I think with inbreeding you can only put together the good things, you can’t breed good budgies out of rubbish. So if you start with good stock and you inbreed and you weed out the bad features then you must weed out infertility as a bad feature, just like you weed out a bird that has some other physical feature you don’t like.

I was forced into inbreeding because I didn’t have access to birds. I would go on record as saying that the only way you can improve your stock is by in-breeding – unless you have a bit of money and access to good birds so that you can buy outcrosses. Now in a country like Rhodesia or South Africa, even if you have money, it doesn’t matter because you can’t find the birds, but if you are in a country like England where there are a lot of birds available, I believe you could be very successful outcrossing all the time if you can buy the right bird.

There was a very famous fancier in England who said he never inbred but also admitted that he bought birds. He said to me once if you see a good one, buy it, no matter what it costs, so if you have that policy you must breed good birds. If you are skilful, and he was very skilful, and you can buy a cock bird and pair it to a good hen, you will breed good birds, but if you are isolated and you haven’t got that ability there is no way you can improve your stock without in-breeding.

Bill, a long established fancier, died on 12th September 2011 after a long illness and time in hospital with breathing problems. He was 88 years of age.

Bill came from a pigeon racing family for generations and he initially started in pigeons as well, but after army service he started with budgerigars when he joined the London & Southern Counties Budgerigar Society in 1946 followed by the Budgerigar Society in 1951. He became an honorary life member of both.

When Bill started his hobby in 1946 he was living in the Ilford area and soon after promoted himself to champion status and became a well sought after judge.

He had a wonderful stud of Light Greens during the seventies when he was in partnership with Fred Wright; however, before that he had two previous partnerships with Don Hart and then with Ralph Wickens.

The partnership with Fred took them to a very high level winning many major awards including BIS with a young Light Green cock at the London & Southern Counties BS show in 1972.

The strength of the stud was evident at the 1973 Budgerigar Society Club Show when their Light Greens won a large class and also 2nd, 4th, 5th & 7th in the class.

After the dissolution of that partnership, Bill showed on his own for a short while, and then went into his fourth partnership with Ron Sellen during the 1990s till Ron passed away.

As mentioned, Bill was a life member of both the Budgerigar Society. and London & Southern Counties Budgerigar Society and in 1993 the London & Southern Counties Budgerigar Society honoured him by making him President.

Bill will always be remembered for his great knowledge in budgerigars and the strength of the stud that he carried over so many years until he gave them up few years ago because of his health.

Our deepest sympathy is extended to his wife Anne, son Michael, his 2 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were close and in my budgerigar career I have much to thank him, not only for his friendship, but for his help on so many occasions.

Introduction

Fred Sherman was instantly likeable with a charisma that few possess.

A top fancier in every sense, but also having had a marvellous career in business, Fred passed away on the 29th December 2011 at his home in George, South Africa, which is located in the South African Cape region.

Fred and his wife Ailene, first came into the life of my wife and I, some 34 years ago. He arrived initially on his own at “Tanglewood”. I opened the door and as with all fanciers who met him, took an instant liking to this charming man. When his wife, Ailene, appeared a year later, again the bond with the four of us proved long lasting.

One of the major episodes for Joyce and I was Fred opening a massive door to South Africa for us. It was he who was the driving force to invite me to judge there and tour round aviaries in both Zimbabwe and South Africa – and for those who have never had that opportunity, Africa certainly grips you.

We were certainly gripped by this wonderful continent and have never ceased to appreciate Fred’s kindness and the considerable hospitality shown to us by all those we met.

Before the political unrest in Zimbabwe, our first visit occurred when it was still Rhodesia and its capital, Salisbury. Fred being the man he is, arranged for me to be on Rhodesian TV as there was a composite show being held in Salisbury called, “Mainly for Men”, with all sorts of displays to fit this title, including birds – a wonderful advertisement for the budgerigar hobby.

Leading Businessman

Fred began life in business at the age of 16 working in one of South Africa’s largest companies in a very junior capacity, but soon made his presence felt by having a passion for his work from day one.

His personal drive and ambition were to eventually lead to him being Managing Director of the Zimbabwe Associated Company.

Fred, on one occasion, was asked to host Robert Mugabe to lunch such was Fred’s position in Zimbabwe.

He then spent four years in the UK as chairman of his company, so having bought a home in Virginia Water we were able to share our hobby and friendship. This was a great help to us both as we covered both studs between us when either was away. He built a truly superb aviary with no expense spared.

On return to the company in South Africa, Fred was to find himself appointed to the main board.

Quite a rise having started as a lad of 16 years old and it shows what can be achieved by dedication and hard work.

In Retirement

In retirement in Johannesburg, he again renewed his attacking process with budgerigars and re-started, his UK Stud having been sold to Australia.

Budgerigars were imported by him from the UK to Johannesburg on completion of another smart aviary and of course Fred knew exactly what to expect – having the experience of breeding before when located in Zimbabwe.

I recall speaking later to Jorge Depina, the top Brazilian fancier known to many of us. Jorge is one of the great travelers in the budgerigar hobby and visited Fred three years later. I recall Jorge telling me that the birds Fred had by then, were to use his words:

“The finest adult birds, and young birds, that I have seen anywhere.”

Such was the skill of the breeder.

Nature Intervenes

A problem with a hip joint with wear and tear, turned very nasty after the new replacement connection became infected. The hip had to be re-opened and dealt with again and eventually re-joined again, only for the same infection to return once more.

Each time Fred was confined to bed for 3 months.

Finally, he decided enough was enough and he had his leg swinging freely after that, but could still drive very well.

He put the infection down to being bitten years before by, I think, a spider.

This situation, of course, left him with no alternative but to give up his passion for Show Budgerigars, being unable to stand at the same time as ringing chicks for example. Nevertheless, he was fit and well and that remained until he moved to George a few years ago. In recent times he unfortunately had further health problems.

Conclusion

Fred Sherman was a fine judge with a first class eye for quality to the millimetre. Few have that ability.

A regular lecturer, he was always good to listen to and collect ideas to apply to one’s own stud and with his business background had strong ideas on how clubs and societies should be organised.

As with all societies, be it budgerigars or golf clubs, changes for the better are sometimes rejected – something I know personally about in the UK.

However, that is life and Fred was aware of the phrase – “If you continue to organise a hobby in the way it has always been done, you will continue to get the results you have always had”. So true, all over the world.

Fred Sherman has been a great asset to our hobby.

He loved it and loved breeding a super bird as well as being a very good showman.

As it says in The Challenge – “A man who doesn’t lose his mind over something, has no mind to lose.”

Finally, on behalf of all fanciers worldwide, I send our deepest sympathy to Ailene and her children and grandchildren.

My abiding memory of Fred Sherman will always be of a fine South African gentleman which I am sure all who met him will endorse to the full.

We will miss you greatly Fred.

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

He shows in partnership with Les Chadwick, another long term fancier.

They both live in the North East of England.

An interview by Barrie Shutt

BS – When did you start up in the hobby Bruce?

Bruce Ross:

It seems a long time ago when I used to take my children to the local park in Redcar in the early 1970′s to see the birds in the aviary.

I was very taken by the budgies flying about chattering and I was bitten by the budgie bug.

Since then, although I took time out for a couple of years in the 1990′s, I have always been involved at some level.

BS – Tell us how you became a committee man

Bruce Ross:

It was shortly after I purchased the Cage Birds magazine and found out that there was a society in Redcar.

It was 1974 and the secretary at that time was Dave Kempen who I had been in the same class with at the local primary school.

Less than a year later, Dave went to work abroad. The secretary’s role needed to be filled and my background in administration prepared me in some measure to take over.

It was a case of jumping in at the deep end, but I enjoyed it – we even ran our first open show.

At the same time, I also joined the Budgerigar Society (BS), Yorkshire Budgerigar Society (YBS) and the Northern Budgerigar Society (NBS) and I am still a member.

To this day I am Assistant Secretary, Publicity officer and Web Master of the Northern Budgerigar Area Society.

BS – Sadly Redcar eventually disbanded, which surprised me as the North East had such a large influx of breeders in those days, did it not Bruce?

Bruce Ross:

It is always sad to see the small societies close, but with some of the other members from Redcar I joined up with the Teesside BS, which was located close by, in Middlesbrough.

They welcomed my skills and experience on the committee.

Since then I have held, I think, every committee position. Just recently, I stood down as secretary but this year I hold the office of president.

BS – It is clear that you are very proud of that, Bruce

Bruce Ross:

It was a very great honour.

I was doubly honoured, because as well as being president at Teesside, I was also presented the Golden Bird Award for work with the NBS.

I am proud to be associated with a group of such a hard working group members who go the extra mile to keep the hobby alive and the region strong.

BS – I could not help but notice that you’ve moved on from your old brownie camera

Bruce Ross:

Progress!

A few years ago I bought a camcorder with which I took footage of the local shows and members’ bird rooms.

With the permission and backing of the members, I then make presentations to local societies and act as a panel member with colleagues from NBS when needed.

I enjoy this part of the hobby.

It is a great way to show off the calibre of our members’ birds, and also to get to know the members better.

BS – A few words to sum up then, Bruce

Bruce Ross:

Since starting in the early 1970′s I have made some lifelong friends and it is great to be able to meet up with them at the club show and the local shows.

Behind any contented budgie man there must be a good woman and my wife has always been there for me to suffer my ups and downs. I am so grateful to her – she even puts up with me treading seed into the house!

A Note from GSB

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