All fanciers brighten up at the prospect of starting another breeding season. As the year's show results, both good and bad, start to fade, the mind begins to concentrate on what pairings can be made in order to improve the standard of ones' stud still further. I know several "nutty" types who keep pencil and paper beside their beds so that flashes of inspiration which wakes them can be instantly noted before they drop off to sleep again. However, let us discuss such details later on. In October, and for those who are breeding in the period from December until May, there are three matters to consider regarding pre-breeding season preparation.
What should I have done by now?
What should I be doing at present?
What can I do between now and "lift-off"?
Most importantly, you should have already purchased any stock you intend to use to upgrade your stud. If not, then you should act quickly to try and get such new introductions on to your own "individual" feeding system before the season starts. Obviously the earlier one can do this the better, particularly when hens are purchased. If at all possible one doesn't buy hens - you breed them, since buying them is both expensive and a risky business especially at Champion level. The longer such birds are on your system before breeding the better your successes with them will be. Today such purchases can be very expensive. I had a novice fancier phone me complaining that he had phoned two champions with surprising results. One had replied "You spent £50 with me last year, why do you want to spend the same amount again? You ought to be spending £75 or more on a new bird this year if you want to progress". The second had answered, "Well, I've only got six birds available and they are several hundred pounds each. If you would like one of those you are welcome to see them".
My friend on the phone, from what he was saying, was appalled, and I think expected me to agree that these other Champions were totally in the wrong. However, I explained that in my view, had he spent £50 on a bird last year the first champion was being constructive, assuming that the customer had bred reasonably successfully from his purchase. Values are continually changing and to pay the same amount is standing still a little, rather than progressing, especially if you are buying from the same Champion each year. Our friend's second choice and the reply that he received, may also have been well meant. The Champion could well have had only six birds to offer and they were probably very good ones. Nevertheless I would criticise the seller for offering a relative newcomer such high quality birds and stating such prices to him before he had hardly begun to walk in the fancy, let alone run.
Champions must guard against the temptation to quote high prices to Beginners or Novices, even if they have plenty of money to splash around. Money is one thing, experience is something else and I personally would far rather nurse such Novices than frighten them off. Once a keen fancier feels he is right out of the race financially, he may feel he can never beat the Champion and he leaves the hobby for good. Certainly, money does help - but may I use an analogy with the game of golf, "Because a millionaire is able to buy a set of the finest custom-built golf clubs and all the trappings to go with them, it will not make a scrap of difference to him if he hasn't the skill to use them correctly".
The same applies to this hobby of ours. We have seen such efforts over the past thirty years with budgerigars and the wealthy man sometimes does well for a while with his adult purchases, but the progeny - oh dear, oh dear. No, the Novices and Beginners must never be put off by such competition. Learn your trade first, buy skillfully and eventually you will smash that ball "Down the middle" and take the top awards of the hobby which are available to anyone.
Needless to say, your aviary should be completely redecorated, nest boxes repaired, the roof inspected and gutters cleared out. If possible lay on mains water if you haven't already done so. The effort and expense is well worth it and to have water available in the birdroom is essential if you want to keep the health of your stock at peak. I have never regretted one moment, the effort of burying a pipe over 30 inches deep (to avoid frost) and to lay on the mains water to our aviary. On the electricity front, your aviary must have night lighting, or dimming; sudden noises in the darkness cause hens to leave the nesting boxes very quickly. If they are unable to find their way back once they have calmed down, eggs are chilled and chicks die from exposure. A night light is a must, but it should be neither too bright nor too dark. The correct level can be gauged easily. Turn out the main lights and you shouldn't be able to see until 10 seconds have passed, by which time your eyes will have adjusted to the available light. Coloured 15 watt Pygmy bulbs without a resistance, are too bright. I find the best results are obtained with 60 watt pearl bulbs controlled by a dimmer.
If you had nest box problems last year, they should have been checked over. Are they the right design and did they irritate both the breeding hens and you? Are they sited correctly facing away from the direct light? Were eggs smashed periodically and whose fault was it - your fault or the hens? Attention to this area could dramatically improve the next season.
Next, ask yourself if your aviary is noisy enough? If it isn't noisy it will be even quieter by the time breeding starts and nothing could be worse for the breeding pairs. They like the aviary very noisy with a deafening "dawn chorus" that only becomes quiet towards the very end of the day. A "dead" aviary rarely produces large quantities of chicks. Many fanciers oversell and "keep the best". In doing so, they make a big mistake and within a few months wake up to where they went wrong.
Let us turn to feeding. In these days of seed analyses, it would be simple to switch over fully to the new recommended mixtures of millets and canary seeds before the breeding season. I have no quarrel with some of the latest findings which broadly state that we should be feeding a greater percentage of millets over canary seed. The findings appear soundly based and certainly there seem to be differences in some of the varieties of canary seed we get these days. I was talking to Harry Bryan, in early September, about the observation that "budgerigars shuck the millets perfectly leaving just husks and very little dust in the trays, whereas the canary is "ground" rather than swallowed". His reply was fascinating and I got a practical lesson at the same time. "Come over to the seed bin", he said. He lifted the lid and inside were several bags of seed from different sources. He then thrust his hand into one bag of canary seed and proceeded to chew about a teaspoonful. With grains stuck all over his mouth, he wanted me to do the same.
There were the pair of us eating canary seed and I thought "If only my wife could see me now - her worst suspicions would be confirmed!" However it was all serious and sound reasoning. He said, "Now, chew some grains between your teeth", I did so. "Do you notice anything?" I shut my eyes and concentrated on chewing one or two grains between my teeth, "Yes", I replied, "they have a softish centre when the pressure is applied," "O.K., now try this bag". The process was repeated. "Now what do you notice?", he asked. Again, I concentrated and this time there was a totally different sensation. These grains were harder and once through the kernel the "heart" of the seed shattered. "Now then", he said, "what I think is happening in some areas of the World is that the seeds are kiln-dried perhaps too much, so when our birds crack it, it just shatters and falls back in the trays.
Why the difference, between canary and millets I don't know, but I do know the birds can eat well and digest well on the softer grains and can almost starve if they only have the hard grains offered to them." I was fascinated by this line of thinking and it struck me there was another lesson out of the "BE OBSERVANT" book that I recommend. The reasoning might well be wrong, but on the other hand it made good sense. Is this why the mixtures, with the higher percentage of millets in them, cause our birds to fill their crops all day instead of just at night? Food for thought! Anyway what I would say to all fanciers at this stage is do not rush and change your system suddenly.
Try some of the new seed mixes by all means, but do it under controlled conditions. Put a quarter of the stud, at the most, over to it and put say four breeding pairs on such a mixture leaving the remainder on your existing programme. If there are significant differences for the better, then and only then, is the time to be radical, so tread with care for a while.
It is light which controls the condition of our birds as we approach the breeding season. As the morning and evening daylight hours reduce; alter your time switches so that the lights stay on until 2200 hours. We find this assists greatly towards getting the birds fit for the months ahead.
Shows go on well into the year in the United Kingdom. Do be careful not to keep the show team caged too long in the stock cages. To get the weight on the show team is important but, you have to get it off again before pairing and this takes three weeks in the flights. Here is a good tip. Do not pair up the best birds first. They may have had a hard show season. They need a very good rest between the last show and the start of breeding. I wonder, is this why many of the super birds do not breed well in some studs?
If you are an early December breeder, may I remind you that, in general, the birds in the U.K. are at peak in mid-November until mid-December. They are then on their downward slide into mid-January after which their fitness starts to improve once again. It is essential to pair the stud "as a whole" during the peak periods and to avoid the bottom of the trough. January is to be avoided as a month to commence breeding with a large number of pairs. In other parts of the World the peaks and troughs will be different, but the same principal will apply.
On the point of heating, do remember this is a must if your birds are breeding during January, February and March, (our coldest period in the U.K.). The aviary temperature must not drop lower than 50 degrees F (10 degrees C) at any time. "Black" tubular heating is the best and safest.
You should increase the summer "tick over" vitamin extras. We increase the cod-liver oil intake (not everyone's cup of tea) along with proportional increases in "Abidec" and "Cytacon". We have found that having developed a successful system, resulting from making every mistake that is possible, the right balance has been established and we stick to it irrespective of what others are doing. We are also of the opinion that unless the stock is brought to a high peak of fitness, which also means 100% nutritionally fit, it is impossible to avoid a degree of French Moult if you are breeding any number of large exhibition and "buff" budgerigars unless your feeding technique and work programme is intensive and systematic.