It is an event not to be missed!

Guest Speaker – Brian Sweeting

Apart from the thousands of top quality birds benched for fanciers from all over the world to admire, there will be a seminar on the Saturday morning, with one of our top and successful fanciers Brian Sweeting as the guest speaker.

The seminar will kick off at 10.30 a.m.

Brian’s topic, through a power point presentation, will be “Make ‘em Breed”.

Tickets are £10 each and include entry to the seminar, light refreshments plus entry to the show on Saturday only. Those who attend the seminar will be invited to watch judging of the Best in Show and other major awards.

The Judges

While Brian is busy delivering his presentation there will be 15 judges busy judging their respective colours – they are:

• Alan Adams
• Ghalib Al-Nasser
• Jeff Attwood
• Lyn Bancroft
• Nigel Beevers
• Dave Collier (USA)
• Jerry Donovan
• Dave Herring (B.S. President)
• Colin Lamb
• Jim McGeehan
• Geoff Moore
• Norma Philips
• Tony Pope
• Cy Thorne
• Mick Widdowson

The section judging will be in the capable hands of the following:

• Dominic Avo
• Ron Payne
• Ray Steele
• Terry Tuxford (who will be invited next year to judge the colours)

85th Anniversary

To help celebrate the Society’s 85th Anniversary, each exhibitor benching 8 or more birds (excluding sales) will receive a suitably inscribed clock memento to mark this milestone occasion of the society.

Gala Dinner

The Saturday evening Gala Dinner will be returning to the Holiday Inn (formally the Moat House) and entertainment will be provided by Barry Cheese, a popular comedian.

Tickets at £25 each can be booked with Pete Hutchinson by sending him a SAE (stamped addressed envelope) and a cheque payable to “The Budgerigar Society” to:

• Pete Hutchinson, 125 Moss Lane, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK11 7XE
• Tel: +44 (0)1625 420269

Auction of Promises

On Sunday afternoon at 1.00 pm Geoff Capes, assisted by John Alcock, will be on the hammer with the ever popular Auction of Promises – with many quality birds promised from top leading fanciers together with many other superb items and promises.

This has been so popular over the years and it generates income towards staging the next show.

Tombola & Club Show Raffle

Throughout the weekend Norman & June Cox, helped by Jackie Fox, will want you to visit them at their great tombola stand with lots and lots of prizes to be won.

So go to them and have a go and be one of the winners!

Don’t forget also to participate in the Club Show Raffle while you are there.

Trophy Presentation

The finale will be when our President Dave Herring takes to the trophy stand to present the array of 91 trophies to their prospective winners. Will you be one of them?

There are a lot of incentives for exhibitors apart from competing at the highest level. The Jim Moffat Charitable Trust is allocating its usual £1,250 for the major winners divided as:

• £300 for Best in Show
• £150 for Best Any Age
• £250 for Best Young Bird
• £150 for Best Opposite Sex Any Age
• £250 for Best Opposite Sex Young Bird
• £150 for Best Junior

The Budgerigar Society will be presenting Georgian Crystal to the major winners and the Any Age section winners will each receive Georgian Crystal and £30 while £25, £20, £15 & £10 will go for 2nd – 5th Best.

The Young Bird section winners will each receive Georgian Crystal and £45 while £35, £30, £25 & £20 will go for 2nd – 5th Best.

The junior sections will get Sports Vouchers, a framed certificate and £20 for the winner and £10 & £5 for 2nd & 3rd Best.

Patronage

Patronage has been received from all 10 area societies and the show is also the club show of the following:

• Clearwing Budgerigar Breeders’ Association
• Crested Budgerigar Club
• Lutino & Albino Budgerigar Society
• Rare Variety & Colour Budgerigar Society
• Spangled Budgerigar Breeders’ Association
• Variegated Budgerigar Club

Trade Stands

Apart from all of the above there is an array of Trade Stands at the show for fanciers to be able to stock up with all their needs before the commencement of the breeding season; of course not forgetting the large number of birds that will be in the sales section.

Birds & Opening Times

Birds will be accepted on:

• Friday between 2.00 – 10.00 p.m.
• Saturday between 7.00 – 9.30 a.m.

The show will be open to the public on:

• Saturday between 3.00 – 6.30 p.m.
• Sunday between 9.30 a.m. – 4.00 p.m.

Admission to the show is £6 per person and a catalogue is £4.

Schedules

All members of the Budgerigar Society will have received their schedules already with the July / August issue of “The Budgerigar”.

Schedules may also be obtained from:

• The B.S. Office, Spring Gardens, Northampton NN1 1DR
• Tel: +44 (0)1604 624549

Schedules may also be downloaded from the Budgerigar Society’s website:

• www.budgerigarsociety.com

Closing Date for Entries

Closing date for entries is 21st September 2010 and these need to be sent to:

• Ronnie Simpson, 22 Homefield Avenue, Morley, Leeds, Yorkshire LS27 0DX

For other help contact the Show Manager Dave Hislop on +44 (0)1253 855894.

Visitor Information

For our overseas fanciers getting to Doncaster is easy.

By Air

• Local airport: “Robin Hood Airport” (only 10km away)
• Manchester airport (approx. 90km away)
• London airports (approx. 250km away)

By Train

• From Manchester International Airport to Doncaster
• From London Kings Cross station to Doncaster

By Sea

• via the port of Hull (approx. 42km away)
• via the port of Norwich (approx. 185km away)
• via the port of Dover (approx. 315km away)

By Road

• via the A1(M) motorway
• via the M18 motorway
• via the M1 motorway

There are a large number of accommodation facilities available in Doncaster ranging from Bed & Breakfast, Guest Houses or Hotels and a full list can be obtained from the Doncaster Tourist Information Centre.

See You There

Come to this wonderful show to join in the activities throughout the weekend, meet your fellow fanciers and just enjoy the amazing atmosphere among like-minded people!

Personally I would prefer “looking after the hens” in the first place as being a far more positive way of looking at this problem.

This is the second of a two part article – you can read part one here.

Additives

I am no great user of additives. For many years, I used probiotics every week, but I use them less frequently these days and there are no obvious difficulties.

I do sincerely believe that if it is necessary to use antibiotics at any time, a good probiotic however is essential to replace the good bacteria in the gut systems after treatment.

As far as a vitamin supplement is concerned, I would use a multivitamin solution such as “Abidec” (obtainable from most pharmacies). This will bring the birds into solid breeding condition just before pairing. Used in the water a couple of days per week will make a huge difference to the hens.

Spraying Your Birds

I do not use outside flights these days as I believe our larger hens do not benefit from the outside stresses that can occur.

I prefer large inside flights, but I do spray the birds regularly. Once those young birds start to molt, as I have said earlier, this gives great benefits as described. Certainly their condition improves drastically.

I often visit other birdrooms and see the birds on display. Almost every time I look into a flight I think, “These birds could do with a good spray”.

Birds that are not sprayed appear to have hard, dry feathers, in contrast to a sprayed bird which appears to exhibit a softer look.

Breeding Ages

For myself, young hens always breed better than over-year hens.

I remember the late Harry Bryan telling me to use hens as young as 5 months of age when they were fit and in condition. He said at the time that they breed well at that age, but might not do so later if left after the conventional age of 9-10 months minimum.

I tried it for several seasons with success, but when used later, those hens were spoiled and became almost useless in a second season.

Today I wait longer and let such young birds mature internally and take such care with them that they breed well in their second and third seasons. A lesson to be learned when buying. Ask when were they first used and at what age?

Preparing to Breed

All the good management I have discussed, but now the trick to use, when the birds approach breeding fitness, is done by increasing the artificial lighting hours and steadily increase the fully lit day to which the birds will respond.

A good spraying on selected hens will also help advance their fitness to breed. It works!

In the winter months you can increase the heat to say 50 degrees F (10 degrees Centigrade) which is sufficient for the birds and yourself .

Pair Selection

In my opinion it makes no difference if the pairs are placed into the breeding cages together immediately.

Some fanciers prefer to select the cocks and they go into the cages first, followed by the hens later.

Others do the reverse.

I am not fixed on any system, but I do like to see the pairs reacting when introduced. I then know they are fit for breeding.

There has to be a reaction of some sort. Some mate instantly, others may just “kiss” and others may be aggressive to one another. If there is no reaction at all I leave them for a few days and watch. If still nothing, I break them immediately and try them later.

Post Breeding Procedures

After breeding, your birds need rest, time to recover and re-build those muscles used during the breeding months.

I try to have two rounds from a pair, occasionally three. Feeding too many chicks by a pair is too stressful for the hens and my preference is four similar sized chicks to each box.

Two rounds of four is enough for most hens and good sized chicks will result.

Taking a third round from a hen is satisfactory, but I do not let such hens rear their chicks. If you do, then your hens are virtually useless the following season.

Taking down the Pairs

When I split up the birds, or what some call “taking down the pairs”, I like to put the hens immediately into a double breeding cage and this is the “Rest Cage” where they can build up their stamina again and particularly their muscle tones.

Taking them straight from the boxes and direct to the big flights gives them little chance to re-form their bodies for the next season.

Once they are well rested, then they go into the big flights and can withstand the competition and get full exercise along with top grade feeding.

The Over Year Hens

I leave the over year hens in the flights and tend not to show them.

I believe firmly they need months of rest before returning to another two rounds of breeding.

First time breeding hens (and they are often 8-10 months old) do not seem to know what to do when their first chick hatches.

A solution is to quickly put in a slightly older chick that has been fed and calling for more food and that stimulates the “novice hen” to feed both. Once she has the message, the older chick can be replaced in its original nest.

Egg Binding

I am fortunate in that I never seem to get a case of egg binding in my stud.

This is because of the preceding good husbandry that I practice.

They always have access to cuttlefish bone and oyster shell grit. I am not a fan either of calcium supplements as from what I have seen, the shells are so thick that it causes dead-in-shell because the chicks cannot fight their way out at 18 days.

Problems – Internal Layers – Prolapses and “No Interest”

The above are all serious problems, but again I say that if the hens are well prepared, they will avoid such matters and breed very well.

Good preparation avoids such problems.

Internal layers (hens that have the normal copious droppings but do not lay eggs) need to be replaced in the flights and put on standby. They are useless as breeders.

Hens that show no interest are different. You have to look at the bird and decide what the reason could be?

If she looks fit, she should breed, but if not put her back in the flight, watch her with others and it may be she has a liking for a certain cock bird and that is the reason? Think it through!

Buying Hens

This is never to be recommended, but we all have to do it sometimes especially those who are starting in the hobby.

Always try to buy young untried hens, the younger the better.

If they are young, perhaps bar-headed hens and unmolted, they then molt in your aviary and breed very well as they feel they have been born there. Hens always breed better in the aviary they have been born in.

Buying over year hens has to be a process of caution. Most are unreliable. You must trust your seller, check the design of his nesting boxes and if you have the same design, but still she will not breed – make a different design and the result can be amazing.

The Last Word

My last tip about hens that refuse to go to nest is simple.

Is the nest box open?

It has happened to all of us at some time or other.

Rarely do our birds let us down, but they will if you have not followed all this advice about your hens, so be warned.

Personally I would prefer “looking after the hens” in the first place as being a far more positive way of looking at this problem.

Caring for Your Hens

In my opinion, it is a matter of caring for your hens really well if you want success in the nest boxes.

You have to allow them to develop properly after they leave the nest as young chicks. Wean them slowly and allow them to molt in small flights where they are not stressed. Be patient and let them grow and build up muscle and never keep them in the stock cages too long, thinking you are preparing them for shows.

Remember never, never over show hens! Always think about showing the cocks and have a reluctance to benching your valuable hens, which are the key birds for your coming breeding season.

Hen management is not easy –it does not just happen without effort. And it`s not entirely about feeding lots of additives, but rather giving natural foods, good lighting, exercise, and heat during cold periods when necessary. We all want to produce top quality budgerigars in good numbers, so forget showing week in week out.

Care for those hens and they will reward you well.

The Weaning Process – Part 1

I always think about weaning the chicks from the moment they are about to learn how to feed for themselves.

At three weeks of age, I start to put pieces of soaked millet sprays in the appropriate nest boxes. This allows them to learn to feed much earlier than usual and once they leave the nest box, they know immediately what a millet spray is and feed straight away.

A sure sign is that they do not lose that weight they have acquired in the nest box quickly – a big advantage. Fast self feeding retains their weight. If they lose weight, their development is checked and they are quite simply knocked back for a long time.

Care and management is everything from the start of weaning.

I take chicks away from their parents earlier than most other breeders. I do this to reduce the chances of them being attacked by either of the parents. I use double breeding cages as weaning cages with about 8-10 birds in each section.

It is here that they will stay until they are almost three months old when the “bars” on their heads are starting to disappear and break. The first molt is making its appearance. It is now that I transfer them into a small inside flight.

The Weaning Process – Part 2

As I transfer these young babies, I check their flights and tails, removing any broken ones. They then get sprayed early in the day and then dry off in their new small flight, placing them on the perches as I do so.

I prefer inside flights and never longer than 8 feet (2.44 metres). Anything longer is too stressful for them.

They are then sprayed at least twice per week. Never a thorough soaking – just a light spray. This allows the water to assist the new feathering to grow through by keeping them soft and clean. It also encourages the birds to preen themselves by training them in this essential operation.

Obviously both hens and the cocks are treated identically at this point in their growth – it’s just good husbandry and aviary management.

It is the exception rather than the rule for me to run such young babies into show cages so early. I think it causes stress far too much and the only time I run a baby into a show cage is when I have a visitor in the birdroom and I want to show him something special.

My aviary is about producing breeding stock for the following season and not birds for the show bench.

Perhaps I have the emphasis wrong but showing never seems to improve my stud, but a successful breeding season, by contrast, takes me forward.

The Early Months

In the small inside flights the birds are molting steadily.

Keep up the spraying and never be reluctant to handle your birds at this time, running them through your hands so they are used to it. Check each bird as you do so for broken feathers and remove appropriately. This applies particularly to the tail feathers.

Massive flights tend to result in “wild” young birds that are unsteady when we do want to show a few or even start them breeding earlier than usual.

The modern post millennium budgerigars are bigger and more densely feathered than the birds of the past and are certainly more difficult to breed with – especially the hens of course.

Such big hens can be reluctant to fly from end to end in the big flights. It is not that they cannot fly at all, they just like to climb and perch rather than using their wings. I encourage such hens to perch by having perches closer to the floor area.

Many birdrooms have the lowest perches about 4 feet (1.2 metres) from the floor. Lower perches at least encourages these bigger hens to perch rather than gain too much weight on the floors.

Over Showing

Over showing seems to knock back your budgerigars.

It takes a lot out of a bird being out of its normal “home” and this is one reason that one-day shows in the UK have become more popular.

If the birds are really fit and well, the cocks can recover quickly, but the hens take far longer.

Show a hen several times in a show season, especially on consecutive weekends, and it is enough to jeopardise its breeding performance.

It is the experienced fanciers who show the cocks frequently. They protect their hens and only bench them at the top shows when necessary.

My Feeding Practices

This is really not the right place to discuss feeding, but its importance is obvious.

I do not believe that a simple mix of 50% canary and 50% millets is enough.

If you decide to feed what we call a 50 / 50 mix, it’s important to supplement it with a tonic seed containing a variety of other seeds including hemp and rapeseed, but I prefer a basic mixture that includes the seeds found in a tonic seed.

I am not a fan of feeding soaked oats, but I do feed them dry, or even unsoaked, as groats.

Softfood

I feed a quality commercial softfood throughout the year.

I use, what I believe to be the best that I can buy and then add hard boiled eggs and grated carrot.

Some breeders just feed this “extra” during the breeding season, but I feed it throughout the year on a daily basis.

Our heavier birds (and that of course includes the hens which are buff feathered) need more protein, and that begins with the eggs that are laid.

Hard boiled egg also improves the feather quality and colour of the finished articles.

Good sound feeding helps to build up the hens and combined with exercise, it gives muscle rather than just added weight which can be just fat.

Throughout the year, my birds also get an amount of spinach twice per week.

Part two of this article can be read here.

The show was held on 28th May to 3rd June 2010 in Rockhampton (Queensland) and was hosted by the Queensland North and Central Zone Budgerigar Council.

Below are the results from each of the 22 classes.

Each result features:

• Photographs of the top 3 birds
• Breeder(s) name(s) of the top 3 birds
• Judges comments on the class
• Judges comments on the top birds

To view the results of a particular class (2 page document in Adobe PDF), simply click on the selected class photo – the results will then display/download.

The 37th Annual Show will be held in Canberra and full details can viewed here on Budgerigar.co.uk .

I was in touch with Peter van Amelsvoort recently and we discussed the matter of feather problems that occur in budgerigars.

If they are pets or show birds, the problems are the same, but best avoided. Today, we have big birds, but with, in some cases, narrow primary flights which have not broadened sufficiently during their early growth in the nest.

The result could be seeing a lot of birds on the flight floors, but that is too big an assumption in most cases as so many birds these days actually like to spend time on the floor hunting around for scraps and bathing where possible, but they are all on the perches at night.

If you are to avoid narrow flighted birds, you have to have first class nutrition in the first place and quality feeding from the parents.

That does not always happen.

The alternative is to have such birds in stock cages all the time, but that is defeating matters.

What is needed is a selective approach to using only birds that can fly perfectly and gradually get the primaries wider vis-à-vis their overall size.

A suggestion is that we select wide and long feathers on the head region, but shorter feathers below the spot line on the wings and tails. Difficult, but not impossible.

This was the background to me approaching Daniel Lütolf in Switzerland for his thoughts.

My question to him was simply could these different feather structures be achieved in the one bird?

Daniel Lütolf

I agree that feather problems may be come a bigger problem than it already is.

I do not think that the canary or pigeon fanciers suffer very much with this area, but all the parents, grand-parents and so on of a bird about to be purchased have to be checked first before using them.

Attention must be paid to looking at all the primary, secondary and tail feathers when you are buying a bird and of course looking for developing cysts at the same time.

Strict rules and attention to see if a bird has any of these problems, has to take precedence over any other qualities a bird possesses. It’s the only way to rid a stud of such problems.

A breeder has to check all his birds individually for such features before he goes out buying new outcrosses and act accordingly. Commonsense tells you this.

It is not a secret that I buy in about 10 birds each year. The problem I have is where to buy the right birds in a quality sense, that also have no feather problems at all and are good flyers, however big they are.

Birds that are not fully complete can be used successfully provided there are no cysts at all including on the wing butts and up in the tail region.

When I get, say, 12 chicks from a pair and two top ones have a mild feather problem, I will note it but breed successfully with them. Normally the resulting chicks are fully feathered because they have received a better quality nutritional input from the parents, in particular from the hen. A borderline french moulter, for instance, will not necessarily breed the same problems. Nor will the next generation.

I do not like studs with small flights where the birds tend to just sit there and not fly frequently. Your question Jos, is a difficult one that we all face.

Somehow we have, as breeders, to find a balance between long feathers in the head region and much stronger feathers on the wings and body.

This is the big challenge, but few people really examine their birds carefully for these features before they go out to buy new stock with the same problems.

His name? That will appear later! It makes a change from the alleged “gluing in of tails” incident a few years ago.

Our story starts in 1984. An aviary fire at the rear of the fancier’s property killed all but 3 birds out of 300! He left the hobby for a while to deal with the damage – both to his home and his hobby – and only three years ago, returned to building his new aviary with determination, and in his own words, “to do it properly”. Only this time he decided to install an automatic watering system.

The construction of this piped watering system required PVC pipes which had to be primed and glued – the former being a red priming fluid that apparently is highly toxic and required the pipes, after jointing, to be thoroughly flushed.

However, our unlucky fancier did not flush them thoroughly enough!

After full installation, in the following morning, he found 60 dead budgerigars on the cage floors and another 12 died in the days following.

Luckily, the rest survived, but it took another 6 months of dedicated care before breeding resumed. The outcome and success – or otherwise – of these breeding birds will be interesting to know at a later stage.

Our fancier has now returned to manual watering, although he has installed a one inch poly pipe that has compression fittings in one area – that, of course, does not use glue of any description!

This fancier has been kind enough to tell the hobby worldwide of the hazards associated with such piped watering systems. He and his family live in Roger River in the North of Tasmania. He wishes to pay tribute to his fellow fanciers and club members who have been totally supportive throughout. That has to be great and commendable or another good fancier would have been lost.

Comment from Gerald Binks

I have regrettably been around long enough to recall when these piped systems first arrived on the scene internationally. My personal opinion is unchanged on their use for the following reasons:

1. They are real dust traps and make maintaining cleanliness a nightmare
2. They have to be flushed ,but you cannot be sure that bacteria are still living in the system
3. It is easy to get lazy, or forgetting when you last flushed out the system
4. In a warm climate, bacteria will multiply rapidly, unseen of course by the fancier
5. You cannot administer vitamins in solution, particularly a vitamin that has syrup base within which bacteria can grow alarmingly without you realising it

In my opinion the disadvantages far outweigh any advantages and the risks to our sensitive birds makes the piping system an absolute non starter.

The name of our kind fancier who still “attacks” his hobby so admirably is somewhat bizarre.

His name is Christopher Slaughter and I admire his tenacity tremendously.

Thank you for telling the hobby at large Chris. Well done and every good wish for the future. Nevertheless, I am still concerned about the one inch compression system for the reasons just explained. My advice is to remove it immediately.

It just might avoid “third” time unlucky!

Avian Polyomavirus (APV) or Budgerigar Fledging Disease

Avian Polyomavirus (APV) infection, otherwise known as Budgerigar Fledging Disease, is the primary cause of this symptom although other factors are often involved.

Budgerigar breeders recognise symptoms of APV in their birds as French Moult.

The term French Moult is a symptomatic description of a disease that may include APV, Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease virus (PBFDS) and other infections.

Preventing APV

Prevention is the only cure as there is no treatment for APV.

An understanding of the disease and other predisposing circumstances will help prevent the disease.

There are three important facets to this disease.

• Polyomavirus (APV) “Carrier” Bird
• Nutritional Stress during the Moult
• Poor Quill Strength

Polyomavirus (APV) “Carrier” Bird

APV is the most common disease of budgerigar studs. In my book “The Budgerigar”, I describe it as the most significant disease of budgerigars, as it often affects immunity thereby having a profound effect on the long-term health and reproductive ability of an infected budgerigar stud.

Infection with APV occurs primarily in young budgerigars between 0-20 days of age. Budgerigars that survive the acute infection will often drop their long feathers in the weaning cage, fail to develop their primary wing and tail feathers, or these may be deformed as the virus damages the feather follicle especially of these long feathers.

APV infection is life long although infection and disease are not synonymous. In fact the vast majority of APV infections are asymptomatic. In most instances the lost flight and tail feathers of weaning budgerigars are regrown soon after recovery from the acute infection. These birds however remain “carriers” of APV and are the most likely birds to lose their tails during the first adult moult.

Small outbreaks in adult birds have been reported but are rare. Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease virus (PBFDS) infection (that often occurs together with APV in budgerigars) is thought to be immuno-suppressive and may predispose adult birds to APV disease.

From my perspective, I consider APV to be a disease confined to young birds but which remains as a life long infection. Most infected birds remain symptomless “carriers” throughout their lives. Some individual “carrier” birds – mostly those possessing exhibition quality feather features – become re-infected with APV following a stressful event.

In my view the loss of tail feathers in adult birds is confined to birds already infected with APV i.e, “carrier” birds. Often these birds have not exhibited any prior symptoms associated with APV. However, in most of these birds there are symptoms of APV prior to the failure of the tail feathers to regrow although they are not obvious to most budgerigar breeders.

A close examination of affected birds often reveals a slow or delayed moult, low vitality, poor feather condition, missing flight feathers, frayed tail feathers, staining of the feathers above the nostrils, preen gland cysts and tumors, feather cysts and other signs of poor general health. Some birds may appear in very good condition but these birds often have lost feathers during the weaning period and regrown them soon after. They are in fact APV “carrier” birds.

Nutritional Stress during the Moult

A failure to regrow tail feathers is most likely to occur in APV “carrier” birds during their first adult moult. These birds are often physically large birds that also possess championship quality feather features.

The regrowth of the paired central tail feathers occurs towards the end of the moult at the same time as the long end flights. Any nutritional deficiency (i.e. stress) is more likely to appear at this time as these feathers are the largest in the body and because their regrowth also occurs towards the end of the moult. Dormant APV infections are likely to be activated in “carrier” birds at this time.

Poor Quill Strength

The quill strength of many championship quality budgerigars is poor. Poor quill strength may be a consequence of APV infection or poor genetic selection. Feather problems (e.g. feather cysts, bacterial follicle infections, feather abnormalities) and a failure to regrow tail feathers are more likely in birds with poor quill strength.

Feather cysts (i.e. retained curled up feathers are trapped beneath the skin) and other feather abnormalities may occur as a result of poor quill strength in the absence of APV infection.

“The Budgerigar” Book

Avian Polyomavirus (APV) infection and methods used to prevent it are covered in even greater detail in my book – “The Budgerigar”.

Note from Gerald S Binks: If you are serious about your hobby, I would urge you to obtain Dr Marshall’s book “The Budgerigar” which took 12 years to compile. Details of how to obtain a copy can be found below.

• Tails You Lose! – Part 1 of 2
• Dr Rob Marshall’s book – “The Budgerigar”

This original version, now edited for international appreciation, was written by Rod Skivington and is reproduced with his kind permission and acknowledgement to the The Budgerigar Council of Victoria Inc.

GSB

Introduction by GSB

This is the second of a two part profile of the Sheppard & Flanagan partnership – one of a group of important studs that now exist in Australia. Part one introducd Bruce Sheppard and Colin Flanagan and described how the partnership was formed. Part two gives an insight into the breeding methods employed by this highly successful duo, and asks them for their comments on the Australian show scene.

Well-designed Birdroom and Aviaries are essential

There are literally a hundred matters to consider when constructing a birdroom and aviary.

Bruce and Colin have gone down different paths here – Bruce has changed little of the birdroom over the last thirty years, whilst Colin has relocated many times due to work commitments and has been continually building new birdrooms and aviaries every time he relocated.

They both said the key considerations are:

• Face aviaries eastwards, so that birds can capture the morning sun daily
• Insulate the birdroom against both the summer heat and the winter cold
• Clear roof panels can be painted white to reflect the heat and still allow light in, this has significantly reduced the sun from heating up the birdroom
• It is essential that a birdroom has good ventilation
• Aviary floors must never be permitted to get wet, they must remain dry
• Aviary lofts are a great way to feed vegetable and citrus foods that are damp and will be discarded and fall outside and not mix with droppings, this is now a common design feature for all of their aviaries
• Take care in the birdroom layout to enure efficient daily routines, otherwise the routine will take time away from your birds and desire to improve the stud
• Fresh and clean drinking water must be convenient
• Cages and breeding boxes must be large and well ventilated
• Extending daylight utilising timers is essential for both the birds and the carer
• Provide a 24 hour night light (15W pilot lamp) allowing birds to find the breeding box if disturbed at night
• A radio that provides a constant background of noise so that other bumps in the night are less of a threat
• A well sealed birdroom will prevent mice from disrupting the breeding season and seed storage must be kept clear of fouling from mice etc.
• Hawks need to be kept from the outside wire, this can be easily achieved with shade cloth
• Vacuum aviaries weekly and clean birdroom floors daily to keep the dust down
• Water and seed daily

Feeding and Maintaining our Birds is critical

Feeding of quality budgerigars is a science according to Bruce and Colin, they both have a strong ethic in this area which has been developed over decades, and they expect that their programs will continue to develop as more is understood.

• Seed – Golden Cob Premium Budgie, daily
• A large variety of other seeds are provided on a regular basis
• Multi vitamins are a regular additive
• Softfood is not fed
• A wide range of vegetables and fruits are fed on a regular basis, offering something daily
• Clean water daily or more often in the summer months, Bruce prefers large drinkers in the loft, while Colin prefers large glass bowls on the floor

The Breeding Season

Management of the pairs during breeding season is very important if you are to maximise your opportunities and in turn produce more and more each season.

• Bruce and Colin refer to themselves as traditional breeders, that is they pair up on the Queens Birthday weekend in June, take two rounds, and in turn empty and clean out the birdroom by the Christmas break
• Checking pairs twice a day is a minimum during the Breeding season
• Establishing foster pairs early, when you recognise some pairs are not feeding well enough, or too many chicks in the same nest the same age, or more than 4 chicks per pair, you need to start moving chicks to save them don’t hesitate
• A strong culture of accurate record keeping is essential
• You must repeat the same pairing each year if they continue to breed you great chicks or even a National winner each time, it may seem simple enough, but many breeders feel they can do better and change the pair!
• Trim feathers from both the Cock and Hen and if need be then in between rounds is equally important
• One difference between the two establishments is that Colin does not wean his youngsters from the parents “until the babies are almost ready to breed”, but Bruce takes the babies away “almost before they can fly” as he believes that this assists in a reduction of possible scalping incidents in the breeding cage and rarely loses a chick because it has been weaned too young

The Real Priorities in Building a Competitive Budgerigar

• Right back from the days of importation it was clear that the main feature of this stud was going to be strength of shoulder, and this key feature remains the highest priority for the partnership today
• The bird must fill the cage and literally be a hand full
• Mask and spot are very important and again need to be presented on the wide shoulders to catch their eye
• Birds must be truly representative of their respective variety
• If you want to improve your specialist variety, always put your best Normals into this line to breed splits. Only use a split to recessive when the split is better than the recessive. Never use inferior normals to breed splits
• Bruce & Colin consider that flecking has it’s place in the stud, and ticked birds are often shown when birds of the same quality but clean are not available, so flecking is very acceptable and can in fact be an advantage if managed well
• It is important to be ruthless with hens that do not perform, the hen is so important for the number of and size of eggs, fertility and feeding, you need to be able to trust the hen that you are about to put with your best Cock Bird. You also need to trust her with fledgling chicks while you are at work during the day

The Australian National Budgerigar Council Inc. (A.N.B.C) National Show

Q: Why has Victoria dominated the Nationals for many years?

Both New South Wales (NSW) and South Queensland have been within a class of winning on many occasions, it would not take much for either of these two states to have won in recent years.

At his point, however, it is worth mentioning that the introduction of the “champion” status in Victoria some 10 years ago has stimulated many exhibitors to strive for the highest membership status. To remain in the champion section you win 30 points each year to maintain a presence otherwise you drop back into the open section.

Getting into the champion section is a bit like improving your golf handicap, while staying there becomes very personal indeed. Consequently there are many more birds on the bench, the birds have improved and less people have exited the fancy because of these new challenges.

Q: Are there too many varieties at the Nationals?

Victoria expanded the shield competition for a number of reasons but one of these reasons is not well understood.

By increasing the number of specialist variety classes, so too, you increase the number of first places on offer. Winners are grinners, more people have more opportunity, more membership points and more people are happy!

So, increase the fancy, increase the number of winners and increase the number of grinners. Therefore, increasing the number of classes at the Nationals would follow the same philosophy.

Q: Do overseas judges add to the National competition?

Overseas judges are good for the fancy in Australia, particularly when they add value through feedback whilst visiting and judging at our shows.

By commenting on the comparison of the quality of birds benched in the UK versus Australia, we can get good feedback on where we are deficient to the UK birds or where we compare favourably.

For example at a recent National, comments were made about some of our lesser varieties (i.e. Blackeye and Clearwing) being “true to the standard” for these varieties. Where the actual variety was almost lost to the UK.

Also, the winning Fallow at the WA National was stated as being “the best Fallow I have ever judged” from a UK judge.

Q: What benefit do you see in having an optional third bird benched per zone at the National competition?

This would increase the spectacle but most importantly allow exhibitors, who often manage to get a bird into the zone team only to see it left as the reserve bird on the day, to feel a sense of achievement.

Points, like at the Victorian Shield competition, would only be allocated to the first two birds from each zone, but, instead of having the bird left in the holding cage, you may still be the 3rd best bird in Australia for your particular variety.

Even with the smaller zones, imagine the boost in confidence and pleasure one would get when just having a bird in the National.

Regardless of which zone, often this extra bird is from a beginner or intermediate exhibitor and this would enhance their profile and assist in generating further interest from their fellow club members to strive for success in future years.

The Victoria Scene

Q: The Adult Shield

The Sheppard & Flanagan Partnership does not show in the Budgerigar Council of Victoria Inc. (BCV) Adult Bird Shield to enable other Mountain District members the opportunity to get more birds into the Shield competition.

This allows them to obtain Exhibitor Points where they may not be able to do so when the Partnership has 3 birds in the team.

Another reason is that showing should be a focus for your “current breeding stock” and past seasons’ birds (i.e. Young birds and Unbroken Caps).

Q: Exhibitor Points?

Current points to enter and retain Champion status should be increased to reduce the ease of obtaining Champion status through one or two birds.

Points required should be increased to 100 or 120 points per three year period as the number of points available now compared to when Exhibitor Points were introduced is substantially higher.

One option may be to also increase the number of points available by giving points down to 6th place at the Shield competitions and / or giving points for Best Opposite Sex at Diploma Shows.

Other Comments

Q: 1st September Ring Issue

The Sheppard & Flanagan Partnership sees no reason to change their “traditional” approach and will continue to pair birds up on the Queen’s Birthday weekend, even with the change to the ring issue.

Just because the rings arrive on 1st September, does not mean you have to put a ring onto a chick on that day!

Remember, you don’t have to change anything if you don’t want to.

A whispered comment was heard that the ANBC almost got the ring issue right … it should have been two months earlier … i.e. 1st July! Then the full circle would be complete (for those that are too young to remember, many, many years ago our rings were issued on 1st July each year.)

Q: Judging

It is often difficult for judges to judge certain varieties when they have never bred the particular variety, particularly when it comes to some of the lesser varieties.

If you have not experienced the results of breeding certain features or varietal characteristics then it is difficult to comment on these factors on the exhibition specimen.

Q: Dwindling Membership Numbers

It was interesting that some experiences from their early days in the fancy, that have vanished in more recent years, may have attributed to our falling membership numbers.

There is no real formal education programme to learn varieties, husbandry or how to improve quality through breeding programs (i.e. Line breeding, etc).

Many new members also want “instant successes” without doing “the hard yards” and achieving success through a number of years of work.

Mentor programs or aviary visits incorporating some sort of training programs may be of assistance.

Also, the target “new member” is no longer the teenager or youngster – due to modern electronic and technological completion – but should be the young family or older generation who no longer have kids to look after but yearn for a hobby to keep them occupied.

• Introduction: What, Why When?
• Correct Use of Medicines
• Wise Use of Medicines
• Choosing a Medicine
• Preventative Medicines
• Curative Medicines
• Medicine Cocktails

Introduction: What, Why When?

• Medicines: What are they?

  Medicines are chemicals that are used to treat or prevent diseases.

  Some are given routinely to treat, control and prevent parasites including worms, coccidiosis, lice, and mites. These medicines are necessary to keep budgerigars healthy and have no undue side-effects or harmful effects on enduring immunity.

  There are other medicines – such as antibiotics and anti-canker treatments – that must be used cautiously and not on a regular basis as their incorrect or repetitive use may harm the natural immunity of budgerigars especially when they are used incorrectly. When used wisely, however, antibiotics and anti-canker medicines may be used to enhance health whilst having no harmful effect on immunity.

• Medicines: Why use them?

  Budgerigars are particularly susceptible to environmental diseases that may cause catastrophic losses and illnesses that affect their wellness and ability to breed.

  Medicines are needed to cure and prevent these diseases such as coccidiosis, worms, lice and mites.

  Sometimes long courses of antibiotic medicines are necessary to improve breeding results when Psittacosis is the cause of this problem. Antibiotic medicines may also be necessary to save the lives during outbreaks of disease or when environmental conditions favour an outbreak or illness.

• Medicines: When to use them?

  In order for budgerigars to remain healthy some kind of health plan is necessary.

  The simplest plan includes routine treatments against worms, lice, mites and coccidiosis.

  Some studs prefer to avoid medicines at all costs and use a system of health management that lets nature take its course and over time only the “strongest” birds survive by the end of each year. They breed from these birds to produce offspring that they feel will be naturally resistant to diseases. Over a period of time these breeders hope to develop highly resistant families of birds without using medicines.

  Unfortunately, this system has flaws because of the sudden and catastrophic effects that some diseases have on budgerigars. As well, because there is a continual flow of new breeding stock into studs, there is a constant fear that a dangerous new disease will enter to which it has no previous immunity.

  In order to manage diseases, budgerigar breeders should give routine treatments against worms, lice, mites, coccidiosis but avoid antibiotics or anti-canker treatments unless these diseases have been previously diagnosed in the stud.

Correct Use of Medicines

• It is commonly accepted that medicines will become necessary at some time.

  The type and amount of medicine used varies from stud to stud and a correct choice is essential if the overall health and vitality of the various budgerigar families are to be retained.

  A veterinarian with bird skills must first choose an appropriate medicine and programme. The observation skills of the budgerigar breeder are then needed to determine the best time to administer medicines.

  The golden rule of medicines is to use them only when required, as inappropriate use will break down good levels of acquired immunity within the stud.

  At times, it is difficult to know when the birds really do need medicines because the symptoms of illness are often hidden. The correct identification of an illness is the only way to select the correct medicine to administer to the flock.

  Veterinary testing or the response of a sick bird to a treatment trial, are the best ways to identify the illness and a need for medicines.

Wise Use of Medicines

• The wise use of medicines plays a most important part in developing a strong natural resistance against disease in young birds by protecting the immune systems of susceptible birds from potentially irreversible damage.

  For example, the effective control of Streptococcus or Megabacteria infections requires a plan of action involving the correct use of medicines, good stud management and an informed breeding strategy. However, the use of medicines alone, without good management or breeding strategy, will fail to eliminate either of these diseases from the stud.

  Medications should be used as little as possible in a healthy budgerigar flock.

  The common aim should be the production of healthy and robust budgerigars by natural means and without compromising immunity. In this way, budgerigars are able to become naturally resistant against infection as young birds and require less medicine treatments in later life during periods of stress.

  It is difficult to maintain continuing health in the young bird flights without using some form of medication even in flocks with strong immunity. It is widely accepted that medicines must be used to protect young birds from environmental diseases and the common parasitic diseases such as Coccidiosis, worms, lice and mites.

  Products such as “Quik-Gel” may also be used to promote and strengthen natural immunity.

  Medicines used for budgerigars have been well researched, and although it is possible to improve breeding performance by the strategic administration of medicines when disease problems exist in a stud, it must be remembered that they are of no help and are in fact dangerous for a stud that is healthy.

  When there are breeding problems, the correct choice of medicine is vital if breeding performance is to be improved.

  First and foremost, the exact disease process must be identified.

  Secondly, early recognition is essential if treatment is to eliminate an infection before a loss of health occurs.

Choosing a Medicine

• Microscopic examination of the droppings is the best method of determining if and when medicines should be used.

  Droppings may be submitted to specialist veterinarians for examination or breeders may wish to learn the technique themselves.

  Once an illness has been correctly identified, a treatment plan can be developed to effectively overcome the disease. This may or may not involve the use of medicines and breeders should consult an avian veterinarian for assistance in selecting the most appropriate medicine and treatment strategy.

Preventative Medicines

• Healthy budgerigars are at considerable health risk when breeding, during weaning and in the young bird flights and may be protected from stress and environmental diseases by the prudent use of medicines.

  Medicines used in this manner are referred to as preventative medicines.

  Administration of a preventative medicine protects immunity and natural resistance.

  Consult an avian veterinarian for assistance in selecting the most appropriate medicine and prevention strategy.

Curative Medicines

• Curative medicines are required to treat a disease outbreak.

  Repeatedly poor breeding results may indicate a need for a curative medicine with the choice of medicine being determined by the nature of the illness.

  Curative medicines, by their very name, imply a dose of medicament strong enough to destroy the disease involved.

  Curative medicines are administered outside critical times of breeding and often as part of a pre-breeding season health programme.

  The treatment interval (duration of treatment) is longer than for preventative medicines. Preventative medicines are administered in an ongoing or intermittent fashion. Curative medicines are administered continuously from 3 days to 45 days, depending on the diseases and types of medicine involved.

Medicine Cocktails

• Combinations of medicines mixed together into a cocktail may be needed during disease outbreaks, as secondary infections are common in budgerigar illnesses.

  For example, “Megamix” is mixed with many antibiotics to prevent secondary infections. “Baytril” and “Carlox” may be mixed together with “Megamix” during a coccidiosis outbreak as secondary Ecoli and other bacterial infections become particularly troublesome for the survival of infected birds.

  An understanding of those medicines that can be safely mixed together is paramount to correctly treating and protecting budgerigars against disease.

  As a general rule, if a mixture of medicines remains clear in drinking water, then the medicines are compatible. This rule however, should be followed with some hesitation, and whenever unsure about the compatibility of different medicines, it is best to contact an avian veterinarian.

Dr Rob’s Products

To order the products mentioned in this article, please use the links on the Dr Robert Marshall page.

So, where your personal budgerigar stud is concerned, ask yourself, when your birds are getting to look really ready to start breeding, is the Ring Issue date more important than grabbing that moment to begin your personal season? Personally, I grab the moment these days and “get a round in” from perhaps a third of the stud and get results on the perch early with whatever rings I have to hand. I then have a cushion under me if the birds paired later, to meet the following years’ ring issue date, fail in breeding condition to meet such a specific date. Many breeders work to whatever the established issue date happens to be – often with poor results or worse. Breeding fitness first is vital!

As experienced breeders will know, our birds need first class daily attention and a feeding technique that supports high fertility and hatchability. However, a few added words of advice. Many breeders have large outside flights but small inside flights for roosting and feeding. Sometimes these inner flights are too small and the birds are cramped. As a result they become stressed, but we do not realise it. Birds need roosting space for each individual because otherwise the more robust birds pressurise those who are less aggressive and shy. Overnight can be especially stressful and dead birds can be found the following morning for no apparent reason.

In flights and stock cages, budgerigars need to chew. Fruit tree and Silver Birch branches are ideal and I know Eucalyptus branches are popular in warmer countries. Seeding grasses can be selected as well, but be careful that your local farmer has not sprayed his crops if you are choosing grasses close by. I have also found that if you visit an aquarium shop, you will find mis-shapen pieces of wood which have holes everywhere (for fish tanks) which last forever. A number of these piled high give added interest and if you scatter softfood throughout, as I do, they provide endless active searching through nooks and crannies. These all keep the stock very active and this is so important when we try to breed with these large heavily built hens that are so common these days, who otherwise just sit there all day.

To summarise. Keep your birds active. You are the provider and it is your job to see to it as part of your avian husbandry. The results may then pay off so that you can pair your birds at anytime of your choosing with finer results all round.