I like looking through old files, which relate to the hobby of some years ago and it is interesting to compare the position then with that of today.
For instance take the subject of exhibitors and show entries. You will often hear people nowadays complaining about the drop in entries. They compare the number of B.S. members (currently around 5,000) with that of the 1998 Club Show exhibitors which was 361, who showed 4754 birds. The same comparison is made at shows throughout the land - the bulk of the membership does not show their birds and in most cases, the number of exhibitors is declining.
However, just take a look at the position in the mid-1950’s. That was the era when the Budgerigar Society here in the U.K. was riding the crest of the waves. They enjoyed membership in the region of 20,000. Yet, when the Club Show was held in 1952 it could only muster 650 entries, the lowest number on record. The figure climbed up to 3,000 but fell to 2,500 in 1959. If you divide the number of entries by ten you get a rough indication of the number of exhibitors. The Club Show has enjoyed its best shows whilst at Doncaster in spite of the complaints about declining membership.
The question I am now putting to readers is this: Have we been concentrating too much on the exhibitor to the detriment of the fancy in general?
It is clear that the majority of those who are or have been members of the B. S. or other societies, have no interest in showing their birds, yet we occupy most of our time arranging club meetings where you discuss the exhibition bird, show rules, politics, etc. - topics of little or no interest to the ordinary member. Could this be the real cause of the decline in membership and the fact that newcomers leave the hobby just after two or three years?
People are interested in birds. You have only to look at the enquiries, which come out of the Internet. They are there in their thousands, but just a few seem to show interest in exhibition birds. Does this access to modern technology indicate we should do something about considering changing direction to cater for the non-exhibitor? I have already mentioned in this column that we have to consider making our club meetings more of a social occasion and not a political arena. People need fun out of their hobby and I believe that the fun is going out of our hobby and it threatens to become dominated by exhibitors and politicians.
The exhibition bird is of course the ultimate aim, but it should be brought in easy stages to newcomers and not forced down their necks from day one. Those who are new to the hobby should not be encouraged to buy exhibition birds as their first purchases. They should be looking at birds which breed and not the show bird, which needs today a great deal of skill.
The cost is also another factor. A newcomer could be easily frightened if he was told how much a champion has spent on his aviary and birds. It is difficult to explain to some people that the well-laid-out birdroom has usually taken years to materialise and costly birds have usually been bought by selling off surplus.
I cannot see the point in encouraging newcomers to spend tens, maybe hundreds of pounds on show birds. That type of bird should be for the keen breeder and exhibitor. The feather merchant buys such birds for a different reason. It is the basis for wealth at the foot of the rainbow.
However, having said all of this, what do readers believe? Is the fancy suffering because we are concentrating too much on the show side and not enough on making it a fun hobby?
I receive quite a number of phone calls requesting information about feeding greens and vegetables to budgerigars.
Throughout the years I have kept budgerigars I have always fed a variety of greens such as chickweed and seeding grasses. The birds evidently enjoy what I give and I am always on the lookout for additional material.
I give the occasional dandelion roots and all. I am a bit wary of this plant because I think it is a laxative, but in small quantities I think it is beneficial. Parsley is also readily eaten and the birds simply love corn on the cob which I am now growing for the first time in my garden.
Lettuce, of course, is another green, but I hesitate in giving my birds the ones sold in shops because I read some years ago that every lettuce has been treated with chemicals twenty-six times from the seed to the shop.
Carrots are widely used, but here again you have a vegetable, which gets a great deal of chemical treatment. I am told you should cut off the bottom end of the carrot before feeding it to your birds because the chemicals seem to last for some time in that area.
You should also peel any apples being given to your birds. The skin gets a lot of chemical treatment including a type of varnish to make them glossy and a bright or deep red.
I have also been told that oats are not a food to be stored, especially during the summer months. One month’s supply should be adequate because they are so attractive to moths. I have visited aviaries where moth larvae were clearly visible under the container lids.
© Gwyn Evans 1999
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