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

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

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

“Bred for Head, Winning with Type”

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

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

2010

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

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

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

The Earthquake

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

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

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

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

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

I turned to Fay and said:

“That is the end of our budgie hobby”

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

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

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

No power for 24 hours.

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

Daylight Breaks

Come daylight we were up and taking stock.

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

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

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

The results were:

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

There was very little chirping.

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

Post Earthquake

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

The results were:

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

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

The results were:

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

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

The results were:

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

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

The results were:

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

2010

Total results for 2010:

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

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

We have had extremely good fertility this season.

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

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

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

How Did This Happen?

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

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

What have we done differently?

Some Possible Theories…

• Firstly

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

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

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

• Secondly

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

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

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

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

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

  Approximately 3 litres of canary seed in total.

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

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

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

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

• Thirdly

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

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

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

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

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

Postscript

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

An Accidental Fancier

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

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

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

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

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

New Found Knowledge

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

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

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

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

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

Identifying Good Information

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

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

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

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

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

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

Changing Times

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

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

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

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

Keeping the Hobby Alive

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Breeders Benefit

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

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

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

Mentoring

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Spread the Word

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

Share your ideas instead of jealously guarding your acquired wisdom.

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

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

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

I also know that some breeders just do not think it possible to do this easily with the larger birds we have today by comparison to those bred in the past. I beg to differ, when one takes a stud of birds as a whole.

I am not talking about individual birds which just refuse to breed at any price. I am discussing the total number of birds bred on the perches at the end of a complete breeding season.

This however has to be related to the actual number of pairings that have taken place. It is not good enough to say you have bred, say, 100 chicks and divide by 10 breeding cages, to get an average figure per pair produced. To be accurate you have to divide the total chicks by the actual number of pairings that you have made. This gives you the full reality of the success or failure of a season.

Evolving a System

It is of vital importance, particularly post the Millennium, that one has to create a system of breeding big budgerigars along with all the other desirable exhibition features.

A big budgerigar will always beat a smaller one given other similar character features when judged.

The old phrase is that you are better trying to breed “rats” by comparison to “mice”.

Some fanciers will only buy the bigger-framed birds and there is a lot of merit in that, but that said the value of a bird is primarily related to the qualities of the head overall from the base of the mask upward.

It is no use having a big bird with very poor head features.

Breeders generally, in my experience, develop their own techniques and believe they have found a “secret” to do well and breed birds of quality year in, year out.

It has been known that some who have struck lucky and bred a nest from some outcrosses, that turn out to be really outstanding, describe themselves as geniuses as livestock breeders – that is until a few more seasons have past and the full realisation that they are no such thing brings them crashing down.

We are all “playing” with different systems, inbreeding, outcrossing and so on, in the hope that super winners emerge. Great when one does, but sustaining it, is, dare I say it, “The Challenge”.

Establishing a strong feeding system has to be coupled with your breeding system. this. One cannot succeed without the other.

Selective Breeding

Selective breeding has resulted in the development of the budgerigar from the 1840′s to what we see on the bench today in certain colour forms.

This is mainly in the grey, grey greens, light greens and skyblues as a generalisation.

In photographs seen on websites, as well as in books and magazines, we can see a super quality bird, but cannot assess its size overall. It may look a wonder bird but may be very much a medium sized bird.

An analogy is that you cannot gauge how big or small a person is on TV. Nobody realises, for instance, how big was Les Martin’s Best in Show at the UK Budgerigar Society – both as a breeder in 2009 and as an adult in 2010.

My own Grey Green cock BA23 43 86, which won against a field of 4500 entries was very similar in size, but not with the directional feather that has developed in the past 7-8 years. To achieve such size, or power, as I prefer to call it, one has to have a perfect feeding system that works. Without it you are sunk as you can breed that potential super bird, but if it is badly fed it simply falls back into the pack.

To Beginners & Novices

The finest advice, especially to the beginner, is to do next to nothing in the first year once you have decided that this is the hobby for you.

Why? Simply because you have not the experience to design the right aviary and buy the right stock to start with immediately.

A year can be a long time when you are keen to get going, but believe me by reading, listening to lectures, going round as many aviaries as you can and developing the “eye” for quality and the prices for quality birds, this approach will give you a head start and save you a great deal of unnecessary expense in the long term.

Learn the basics first. It is a technique that you have to learn and where assessing quality on a budgerigar is concerned, some never learn it. Many so called judges prove that from time to time.

When you have done your apprenticeship, buy big birds if you can, but be wary of buying hens that are not only big but thick around the vent area – this is usually a sign of previous attempts to breed with them. They can be trouble.

All breeders should have a pedigree system. Amazingly very few fanciers ask for a pedigree and certainly sellers don’t offer them unless asked, because they can take up a great deal of time to complete unless they have a computerised system that can faithfully be completed all the time.

Better to start a system from the beginning and insist on obtaining a pedigree, even if only two generations back. If you do not have a system you cannot know what you are doing and neither can any subsequent buyer have any confidence in purchasing stock from you.

The Feeding Book

All fanciers should have a “Feeding Book”. You have to record your feeding system down to the minutest details. If you have a poor season you can look back at how your stud was fed in the previous season and conversely if you have a super season, you again look back and stick to that technique.

If you have a copy of “The Challenge” and you are in trouble, may I recommend the two chapters on “Feeding” to you.

At first glance they look complex, but study them in depth and you should be able to see what your diet lacks or where you have force fed too many vitamins and other faults. It’s all there if you take the time and trouble to digest the contents to achieve better and final good results.

One easily created fault is that it is so easy to forget buying this or that product that is part of your system and it is only when you look at your Feeding Record book that it reveals the mistake(s).

Lastly, record any changes that you make in the diet when you do them – not later as they get forgotten.

Feeding Technique Advice

If you are a raw beginner, you will have been around aviaries in that first year and listened to the feeding advice from very experienced breeders who have been breeding budgerigars for years.

Do not necessarily expect all of them to reveal everything they do!

Some may leave out an item which is a “key” factor in their technique. Others will be fully open.

The breeders you are looking for are those who have, say, 40 pairs of cages which are nearly full of chicks, year in year out.

Now here is the important point. Keep your eyes wide open. Look at exactly what is being fed in each cage and also what has been consumed and look for the leftovers that are still in evidence. What minerals and vitamins are going in, both in solid and solution via the drinkers? What packets are on display and what bottles are present?

The seed mixtures everyone looks at as though that is the main clue. Unfortunately it is only part of the whole input and frankly I feel that, provided you have a high percentage of canary seed, which has the highest protein content, all the other conventional seeds we use are just the fillers to the diet – but they have to be there.

Reproduction – what you put in you get out

Ask yourself these questions:

1. Are your birds looking as though they are active and keen to breed?
2. Are you hens calm and relaxed and good incubators?
3. Do some hens scream their head off when you open the boxes and scatter the eggs? If so make a note to not use them again.
4. Is feather plucking a problem indicating the hens are nervous?
5. Do the hens emerge from the boxes when slightly disturbed or not?
6. Is the fertility good or spasmodic? Are the cocks too young and lacking experience?
7. Are the hens basically all feeding well apart from the odd pair that produce scrawny retarded chicks that eventually die?

Such questions are limitless, but are all basically geared to: “what am I doing wrong?”

In 99 per cent of cases it is your husbandry and lack of attention that is at fault. You are the provider and in full charge of your livestock. If you are not prepared to put in the effort – why bother being in the hobby at all?

If things go wrong, it’s your fault, not the birds – apart from the standard irritations they dish out in this or that nest.

I have personally made many mistakes over the years and have tried to learn in the process, but when I make the same error twice, I really get angry with myself!

Check the Temperature

When your birds are breeding in the Northern hemisphere a temperature setting should be 10 degrees Centigrade (50 degrees Fahrenheit) from experience.

Lower than that and eggs get chilled very quickly when a hen is off the eggs for any reason for a period. It takes time for them to excrete, mate and fill up their crops and addled eggs can appear later on quite easily.

In warmer countries, breeding is far easier, as Reinhard Molkentin in South Africa confirms having previously experienced breeding in Germany.

Of course heating charges get worse year by year and you can run up big bills, but you have to balance your affordability against the results you are getting.

In conclusion, remember that the first round chicks are not always fed as well with the rich crop milk required – especially from young hens. Their crop milk does not flow as well until the second or subsequent rounds when the chicks are much fuller in the hand when still in the nest at four or five weeks of age.

It is these latter rounds that are frequently the rounds that produce those “Rat Sized” birds!

One of these in the hand gives great pleasure and makes the efforts and overhead expenses worthwhile.

Happy Breeding!

As readers may already be aware, I am trying to establish if the loss of tail feathers can be attributed to nutrition, feather mite infestation, lice or another unknown cause.

For additional background information on tail feather loss, please read the following articles previously published on this website:

• Tails You Lose – Part 1
• Tails You Lose – Part 2

Naturally, I am on record that the problem is closely related to the longest feathers in the body (being connected to all the feathers involved) not receiving the FULLEST nutrition at the vital moment. It can, of course, also be regarded as a borderline French Moult syndrome as well.

Mites in Young Birds

Upon examination of one of my young budgerigars (5-6 weeks old), I noticed dense numbers of feather mites. Could this mean that young chicks were being infected by the mites from the parents?

I did now start to wonder if these feather mites, which accumulate in all our budgerigars, could be a contributory factor.

The mites could be coming at the “wrong time” – i.e. just as young birds were trying to grow tails feathers to their fullest extent.

All guesswork really, but to me, it was thought provoking.

Feather Mites

These were the steps I took to examine the feather mites:

• Use an optician’s eye glass (I found that x8 magnification was ideal)
• Remove some tail feathers from adults and the 6 week old chicks
• Hold each feather up to a strong light source
• Look at the main vein of the centre shaft
• Your should see groups of feather mites accumulated between each sub feather

So what exactly are feather mites?

They are but one group of “bugs” called arachnids. They feed on feathers themselves.

Have you noticed transverse damage across tail feathers? This is caused by the feather mites.

Do we want them there? The answer is no!

So, the big question is: how to get rid of them – or at least to reduce them radically so that they are a minor problem?

Seeking Expert Advice

First of all I contacted Dr Rob Marshall.

Here is his opinion on tail losses (which basically goes back to my earlier thoughts on nutrition as the cause):

There are nutritional, genetic and disease factors in the symptoms you describe.

Nutritionally, the paired central tail feathers are the largest feathers in the body. Together with the end flights they take the longest time to grow and the protein required and the energy requirements to regrow these feathers is substantial (if the tail and flights have dropped).

There is a greater likelihood for this condition to occur in susceptible birds when the energy, protein and mineral content of the diet is lacking, or out of balance.

Energy is the most common deficiency in these bigger buff-feathered birds as they are less able to maintain their body temperature – because their buff feathers are less efficient at insulating them from changing temperatures.

The vitality of such birds is often compromised so that they require more food to remain healthy.

Healthy birds eat less.

So my thoughts now were twofold.

1. Ask Dr Rob Marshall as to what actions he would advise given what he has said
2. In the meantime, attack the mite factor

Further Questions to Dr Rob Marshall

Here are the additional questions I addressed to Dr Marshall (replies later):

1. What should a breeder do to ensure a high energy output and protein input to avoid the problem in the first place?
2. What action can be taken to clean / disinfect the follicles after the damage appears?
3. What will stimulate re-growth in tail losses?

Attacking The Mite Factor

I decided to attack the feather mite factor (as well as any other forms of arachnids that could be around e.g. red mites, fodder mites, air sac mites and burrowing mites that cause scaly face).

I wondered whether there was a cure that could kill off at least 90% of them – on some form of a course at certain times in the season?

If so, how to achieve this with a big stud of 200 plus birds or even five times that number?

The only available product (that I am aware of) is of course Ivermectin Solution.

This is fine for gently rubbing into the neck area of a bird (with surgical gloves on please or it goes into your skin as well) but dealing with bird numbers is a problem.

Help was therefore needed so I started making enquiries.

The Abbate Technique

I received an illuminating letter from Reji Luke – a passionate breeder in India. Mr Luke believes that low nutrition is the basis for tail-less problems. He stated that, in his opinion, amino acids required for growth are used for body mass build-up during the initial stages of the chick’s growth.

Mr Luke’s letter proved most illuminating – especially on the matter of ridding feather mites on birds in big numbers.

Mr Luke credits much of his studies to G.A. Abbate (Snr), a cage bird breeder based in North America.

Apparently, Mr Abbate was reading about the use of Ivermectin on cows.

It struck him that could it be used for our birds – but in what quantity and medium and what dosage and for how long?

After many experiments and a lot of time, he managed to establish a safe and highly effective process for use on a large stud twice per year.

His technique is now used all over North America and in many other countries.

Here it is:

IMPORTANT Preliminary Notes

• Use “Ivermectin 1% Injectable Solution” – this is widely available, but we suggest you obtain it via your veterinary surgeon. (Note: Don’t worry about the word “injectable” as we will be giving it orally !)
• Never exceed the dosage (see below) – An overdose can kill your birds so accuracy is vital. All external parasites and many types of intestinal worms can be removed in this way.
• Perform this technique every 6 months when the stud is NOT breeding.

Stage 1

• In the evening, just before the birds roost, remove all the sources of water available to the stud. The next morning the birds are thirsty.
• Vigorously shake the Ivermectin bottle.
• Using a syringe, add the Ivermectin to a standard plastic / glass jug of drinking water using the most appropriate dosage below:
  Metric Dosage
  • 1 cc / 1 ml of Ivermectin to 0.95 litre of water
  British Imperial Liquid Dosage
  • 1 cc / 1 ml of Ivermectin to 1.7 pints of water
  U.S. Liquid Dosage
  • 1 cc / 1 ml of Ivermectin to 32 fl oz / 1 quart of water

Stage 2

• Vigorously mix the water treated with the Ivermectin before placing it before the birds in a clean pre-sterilised container.
• Leave the mixture before the birds EITHER until they drink all of it OR until the next day.

Stage 3

• Exactly 2 weeks later, repeat stages 1 & 2
• That’s it – job finished !

Binks Follow-Up

As the feather mite feeds on dead feather, how are they killed off?

The only way I can suggest is to use a bath of the aforementioned mixture as well as the drinking water so that many birds will splash around in it at a depth of about an inch and wet their feathers.

Also, when timing it for the first session, choose a period when there is a big moult approaching – with both both your young birds and adults shedding feathers in great quantities.

Once treated, clean out all cages and flights of all the rubbish seed and droppings and the feathers in particular, so that cross infection does not repeat itself.

Your mature breeding stock can then be bred in the knowledge that the chances of mite-infested adults contaminating their chicks is now unlikely.

I have treated my stud using the aforementioned techniques – and the stud looks great!

Since the treatment, close examination of the feathers has seen a dramatic reduction in damage and the new feather growth seems very free of feather mites (and presumably any other mites or even lice that can be on birds).

With a small stud, spraying around the vent feathers can be done of course, but most fanciers have bigger numbers and this is a sure way to deal with matters provided you are systematic with the timing.

I am indebted to Reji Luke for steering me in this direction.

Further Binks Question

Now, think about this! In a non-treated aviary (knowing that the parents can infect their young with mites in the nest), does their presence cause the chicks to be “pulled back” nutritionally, resulting in one possible cause of French moult and / or the loss of the tails?

I do not yet know the answer, but I will be investigating further and the information will be published on this website.

Challenge Certificates – Colour line up

Young Bird

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Light Green , Dark Green , Skyblue , Dark Blue, Grey Green, Grey, Opaline Green, Opaline Grey Green, Opaline Blue, Opaline Grey, Cinnamon Green, Cinnamon Blue, Opaline Cinnamon Green, Opaline Cinnamon Blue, Lutino, Albino, Yellow-wing, White-wing, Crest, Spangle Green, Spangle Blue, Dominant Pied, Recessive Pied, Yellow Face, Rare, Any Other Colour

Challenge Certificates – Colour line up

Any Age

Click on any of these links to skip directly to a particular colour:

Light Green , Dark Green , Skyblue , Dark Blue , Grey Green , Grey , Opaline Green , Opaline Grey Green , Opaline Blue , Opaline Grey , Cinnamon Green , Cinnamon Blue , Opaline Cinnamon Green , Opaline Cinnamon Blue , Lutino , Albino , Yellow Wing , White Wing , Crest , Spangle Green , Spangle Blue , Dominant Pied , Recessive Pied , Yellow Face , Rare , Any Other Colour

Which Ideal Budgerigar?

Mr Evans referred to the beautiful, well shaped and proportioned bird looking like the Ideal Budgerigar.

My initial question is: “to which Ideal is he referring?”

Is it the one published by the Budgerigar Society in the 1980s, or the most recent one published with its “buffalo effect” – very well illustrated in the second edition of The Challenge book, with the modern frontal view, by Roy Aplin?

Feather Engineering

Mr Evans said the modern bird is about feather and, of course, he is correct.

It is called “feather engineering”.

The body has not changed greatly since the 1980s but the length and shape of the feathers has changed radically as well as their direction.

The judges, especially those who do not breed these buffalo faced types, have to struggle, but nevertheless they have to move with the times or look silly.

An Ideal has to be ahead of what is currently being bred so that we can strive to improve to that standard.

Some features are always being surpassed but others are not. Some features are being overdone so that the beauty of the budgerigar is lost – but those extremes can be reduced fairly easily.

Therefore a lot of small features have to be worked with to achieve what is desired, to bring the breeder complete satisfaction.

Catch Up

Mr Evans is right in saying we are going too far in some cases, but this is the fault of breeders who simply follow the herd without deep thought and cannot see the small changes that the skilled breeders are doing.

In other words they are on “catch-up” continually.

When I returned to the hobby six years ago, after a ten year break, the first thing I noticed was the extra length of feather and the lack of body and shortness of body on birds.

Straightaway, I thought of the combination of the more yellow / medium feathered birds of the 1980s and 1990s, with a bigger body than the birds I was looking at, at that time.

What we are looking for today, is a combination of directional feather along with tiny features that only experience will reveal in our studs.

The Jigsaw Puzzle

Yes, of course we still have what I term as “bags of salt” draped round the perches, but has nobody noticed that this awful stance is disappearing?

Be very attentive at shows and look closely at all the birds and you will see these changes.

Building an Ideal is like completing a jigsaw puzzle and most of the difficulties are finding where the smallest pieces exist to be able to complete the picture.

The Missing Pieces

When we recall the bird breeding in the past, to the times when breeders were approaching “The Ideal” of the day, they acted in the same way.

In those days, you could find the tiny pieces in a lot of aviaries if you were focused on those missing pieces and they were there if you hunted for them.

You worked with the purchases. You did not buy your way to the top, but bred them to beat the opposition.

The late Harry Bryan was THE man of the period to spot those missing fragments and he was the classic breeder who worked with each of them to produce his next winner.

So focus on what you think your birds are missing but strive at it to create a new Ideal that is ahead of its time.

The standards that are drawn and written are a guide only and can be interpreted in different ways by each breeder. Be an individual and create a world class bird in your own way.

That is the way to breed top class exhibition budgerigars.

Please be aware, that some of these may be unique to Australia or available in other parts of the world under a different name.

Pro-biotic

Plain yoghurt (warm) is a good source of introducing gut flora (good bacteria or intestinal microbial balance) for newly hatched birds, birds that may be ill and/or not eating well.

The yogurt will “reboot” or “balance” their “good” stomach flora.

You can buy pro-biotic in powder form that is water soluble, one being “Probac Soluble” from The Australian Pigeon Company, and it is recommended that it should be given to the bird for 2 days after any antibiotic treatment.A pro-biotic can be used during periods of stress or generally as a ‘pick me up’.

DO NOT over use anti-biotics as they can (in some cases) do more harm than good.

I treated a number of budgerigars over a long period of time with anti-biotics plus “sterilised” the aviary to the point that the birds became “ill” and lost condition. A sample of faeces was kept prior to this process taking place. These faeces were crop fed as a “slurry” to one of the birds and within days it was bordering on full health – it basically helped to get the gut flora back to normal.

Some people like to have spotless aviaries / breeding cages. It is better to leave the birds faeces in the aviary / breeding cage (within reason and as long as not in the weather enabling it to get wet) as the faeces is a source of Vitamin B12 after a period of time.

Iodine

Iodine in the water creates a number of positives:

• it kills any bad bugs (organisms) that may be in the water
• helps warm the blood – great for winter
• (potentially) a more prolific breeding season as it helps the thyroid gland to remain ‘healthy’. The thyroid gland regulates many metabolic processes, including growth and energy use.

Treatment is 8 drops (1 drop = 0.05 ml.) of Iodine Tincture per litre of water 3-4 times a week (continual days). Disinfecting or purification time is around 15 to 30 minutes depending on water temperature.

Vitamins, Calcium & Grits

Natural sunlight produces Vitamin D and is required to assist the absorption of calcium along with other benefits.

A Vetafarm product “Soluvite D Breeder” is a water soluble formula with a variable of vitamins that are suitable for all species of birds. Liquid calcium can be added to this mix in the form of “CalcivitePlus” or “Calcivet” or similar products. This “blend” can be used to help prevent splayed legs, soft shelled eggs.

Mount Gambier water is full of lime and should be a suitable source of calcium to the birds. Some time ago, during the breeding season, I decided to change my water source from Mount Gambier water to rain water.

Within a week numbers of eggs were being produced with soft shells! What had I done?

A complete removal of the very thing they needed for egg production had been removed. A quick reversion to Mount Gambier water had things back on track in a short period of time.

If you are feeding more than 20% oil seed, then “CalcivitePlus” or similar might be needed, as this high intake of oil seed may interfere with the calcium intake of the bird.

Calcium Gluconate made up to 1.375 mg per ml of ‘water for injection’ is a good source of calcium. Inject around ½ ml to the chest muscle (budgerigar size).

Grit is great to give to the birds it helps them to grind up their seed, like teeth, the grit stays in the gizzard until it breaks down. Beach sand and shell grit are often used but they ‘dissolve’ a lot quicker due to the acids within the crop. Beach sand is of benefit as it contains salts and a variable of minerals.

Soft dolomite and/or limestone are also good for the birds as a source of calcium and will assist in beak ‘maintenance’.

Cuttlefish is high in calcium but it is more of a toy, the birds just break it up and leave it on the floor – they may get a small amount of calcium from it.

Be very careful where you get your Cuttlefish from as it is a great sponge and can absorb toxins that may harm or potentially kill your birds. I also suggest that if the Cuttlefish is powdery to touch, it should be thrown out. There is no substance in the Cuttlefish for one, and I fear some bacterial or other action has caused this breakdown and if the bird does have some intake I would not be certain of the end result for the bird.

Charcoal is a good toxin absorber and I feed this to the birds readily.

Silverbeet is a source of iron and Vitamin A and will help with cell production, the growth and repair of tissues and excellent for skin, bone, egg and feather health. Not enough Vitamin A can result in poor feather production.

Sprouted Seeds

Sprouted seeds are more valuable for the birds. They are rich in digestible energy, bio-available vitamins, minerals, amino acids and proteins noting that these are necessary for a germinating plant to grow.

Chavan and Kadam (1989) concluded that –

“The desirable nutritional changes that occur during sprouting are mainly due to the breakdown of complex compounds into a more simple form, transformation into essential constituents and breakdown of nutritionally undesirable constituents.”

Gum Branches

Fresh gum branches, including leaves are a good source of ‘sugar’ – and I should mention in particular for psittacines. I prefer to use sugar gum, but now find it hard to access.

The cambium (a layer of cells) produces sap conducting tissues:

• Xylem – carries water and dissolves minerals from the roots through the stem and leaves
• Phloem – carries the nutrients to all parts of the plant

This is a ‘natural’ for the birds but is best presented freshly cut to enable the birds to access the positives from within.

Medications I Keep on Hand

Doxyvet

“Doxyvet” or any Doxycycline water soluble product that is manufactured for birds is the first treatment that I give any new birds once they arrive at my establishment, for 7 days in the warmer climate and 10 days in the moist climate noting that some birds will take the ‘moisture from the air’ in lieu of drinking. Some birds can go for many days without a drink.

This product is also used for the treatment of Chlamydia or Psittacosis, a vet will diagnose this and then a 45 day treatment is required. Humans can get quite ill from Psittacosis and if you are having continual flu-like
symptoms, it is wise to inform your doctor that you keep birds so a simple blood test can be taken to assess if it is present within your system.

Ronivet-S

“Ronivet-S” to treat Canker (Trichomoniasis). I thought this issue was more of a Queensland problem because of the humidity.

Wrong! I had an outbreak last year that impacted my aviary, the birds were from Queensland, had been quarantined and were paired up and had chicks. The issue was with the chicks.

Luckily a local vet was vigilant and identified the problem and the loss was one bird. One bird too many. Now I treat every 3 months as recommended by the vet and on the label.

Emtryl

“Emtryl” is another product that treats Trichomoniasis but I would suggest use with caution.

It has been suggested that this product renders the cocks infertile for a number of weeks as well as being dangerous to use in hot weather as too large a consumption may kill the birds.

Use in winter or if it must be used during summer make sure it is a very weak dose – noting again that 4 treatments a year would be recommended.

I am talking budgerigars here and am not sure about other species.

Baycox

“Baycox” is used to treat Coccidiosis. Treat for 2 days and every 4 weeks if an ongoing issue. Aviaries that have dirt floors are more at risk of picking up this infection as it has the perfect environment to live in. The Oocysts can lay ‘dormant’ for years and with the right conditions, another outbreak.

One thing to remember with all of medicinal treatments is to NOT feed soft or green foods. The treatment should be the only source of ‘liquid’ available.

F10sc

“F10sc” is a veterinary disinfectant that kills off certain Gram+ and Gram- bacteria, yeast, fungi, mould, viruses including Newcastle Disease and avian influenza I have read. A very important addition to any establishment.

Moxidectin

“Moxidectin” wormer is a product manufactured for birds as is Combantrin for humans.

Fanciers use sheep and cattle products with great risk. Get the dose wrong and the end result can be disastrous.

Would you take a sheep or cattle product yourself in lieu of for example Combantrin? I suggest not.

Linco-Spectin

“Linco-Spectin” Anti-biotic Injectable Solution has probably saved more birds for me than any other product.

The correct dose injected into the keel muscle is the best way to administer.

Tricin – eye ointment

“Tricin – eye ointment” also used for ear problems in animals.

Tricin – Triple Anti-biotic Powder

“Tricin – Triple Antibiotic Powder” treats wounds that have infection from Gram+ or Gram- bacteria.

Avian Insect Liquidator

“Avian Insect Liquidator” or “AIL” a residual insecticide that is able to be sprayed onto the birds and lasts around 6 weeks.

I use in the nest boxes, on the perches and have great success with this product.

Before Treatment

Before treating any of my birds with a water soluble medication, be it preventative or a treatment, I remove the water container the afternoon prior to the treatment and give the ‘water’ as late as possible in the morning (late morning to early afternoon) so they ‘hit’ the container readily.

I DO NOT USE bottles to drip feed water. This is in my opinion a disaster waiting to happen. Open bowls only gives access to the birds to share the drinker plus minimises the risk of transfer of disease from one bird to another.

Caution

These are products that I use on my birds as required and take no responsibility for any other person using these products for whatever reason.

Let’s look at three other elements that play their part in successful budgerigar breeding.

3 – Money

You are going to have to spend money and you won’t make any!

It is a hobby for most of us and if you get good at it you will be lucky to cover your costs. But who made any money out of a hobby? Some people spend a lot of money on their hobby and are never any good. They then give up because they don’t combine it with hard work and patience.

Good birds cost money

“You don’t breed rats from mice” as the late Harry Bryan used to say.

However, once you start to breed some good birds which people have seen at shows (and you can show their breeding from your records), opportunities will arise for you to do swaps.

People will also give or loan you birds on the understanding that you give them something back. You can do the same for them and you will on occasion be disappointed with what you are offered back, but others you will learn to trust and they will only trust you if you are generous back.

Trust Your Instinct

Finally, if you are sufficiently passionate, learn to trust your instinct and pursue what you fancy.

If on an aviary visit you see a bird you fancy go for it and persist. After all, it is no different from what you did when you met your partner. Don’t just drift into it and think you have got to buy it because that is what you came for.

In either case it ends not only in tears but also a waste of time and, of course, the all important money.

Let’s look at three other elements that play their part in successful budgerigar breeding.

2 – Father Time

Don’t kid yourself that you can buy time. You will need a lot of it.

The problem for the majority of new fanciers (or those coming back to the hobby around retirement) is that it is running out. Don’t believe that you can succeed without spending a lot of time with your birds.

If you have a partner and they can’t be persuaded that it is better than spending time elsewhere, then you had better not get started. At least with budgerigars, they will know where you are!

Getting Started

On getting started, don’t hang about. Knock up something modest in a shed or what ever. Get some birds and see if they are really what you want to do and you are prepared to give them the commitment.

My recommendation, if you can find a breeder who has decent birds, is to buy two or three pairs of his “rubbish” as long as they are young and healthy, and, importantly, are colours that you like.

Start breeding them. Colours are important. Remember pet shops don’t like the drabs, the Cinnamon Grey Greens and their like so you won’t be able to get rid of the surplus. Remember to get breeding records and chart where every bird comes from.

Breed them and keep all the hens. Go to shows and get an idea of what you like and what seems to be the type that wins. If you have hens you think are decent and you know their ancestry you can identify other sources of related birds, if you can’t get birds you like from your original source at a price you can afford. Once you have reasonable hens you can always buy decent cocks.

Remember, the more time you can spend with your birds, and indeed in other aviaries, the better you will know their habits and needs and the better will be your understanding and feel for the type of birds that you like and want to breed. Following your instinct for your birds is essential and only kept active by constant exposure to the source of your passion.

Planning Your Birdroom

Use your initial time in planning your birdroom.

The only tips that I can offer are:

1. Don’t make it too big but consider how you might be able to expand it
2. Make sure that you have easy access to all areas, so that your cages are not too high or too low, your access doors wide enough
3. Identify easy clean surfaces. Try to avoid paint. Use hard coated plastic surfaces they will save you hours of cleaning time
4. Ensure that you can get electricity to the birdroom. The only way to get rid of feather dust, a major problem with modern birds, is by electric fans.
5. Make provision for washing facilities in the birdroom. It will save you a vast amount of time. I write from bitter experience
6. Seriously consider an outside flight. This is a personal must for me as I feel my birds are healthier for it and enjoy flying as a small flock. It also helps to counter misguided criticism that we give them an unnatural life
7. Get a decent computer program for your records

Part three of this article can be read here.