It is now the first week in March and I am just about ready to pair my birds up in earnest. The birds have been through a very heavy moult this year, possibly the heaviest I can recall but once they have their new feathers they come into condition and they can be paired up.
Some very well known breeders are on record saying they can pair up between 36 and 50 pairs in a day. We can all do that if we close our eyes and grab the nearest birds to hand. I think, with so much at stake, that selecting breeding pairs is the most important event in the year. A wrong decision could mean the end for you in the fancy.
I must admit that I am constantly pairing up in my mind. I see say a hen I like and then I look out for a mate. Somehow I get a feeling about selecting breeding pairs. Don’t ask me to explain further, be-cause I can’t. It’s just that I feel that’s the hen for that cock bird, or visa-versa. I do of course check their breeding. Some times I have selected in my mind, a brother and sister, so that’s out. If you are really keen on your birds you should be able to recognise breeding birds and by looking at the birds in the flight I seem to be pairing up all the time. I don’t keep a big stud and that makes it easier to know your birds.
Many breeders have of course paired their whole stud up months ago in an attempt to get youngsters ready to be rung on January 1st. Some (just a few, I believe) get results which satisfy them, but when considering the position as a whole it seems that most are disappointed. They are all aware of the problems, but accept the challenge and many fall flat on their faces.
When fanciers phone me (honestly, many do) and the question of breeding results arise, I find myself asking the same questions time and time again in an attempt to find a common factor which could be responsible for poor breeding results.
One thing is of course accepted, they have all paired up towards the end of the year. That is common factor number one. Some blame the weather, but that affects their fellow fanciers living nearby and they could be having satisfactory results. They might not be using the same seed, so rule that out. They have different tap water in different parts of the country, so rule that one out as well. Some, in my mind over-use additives. They either double the dose in an attempt to get quicker results, or just use all the new products as they come available on the market. Would you accept the same procedure with your own family? I doubt it.
If we are prepared to accept that none of the above examples have common links, then what else could there be? It is quite clear that many of those who get disastrous breeding results are keen exhibitors who pair up early. They are in the main those who try to breed today’s wide-brow, wide shouldered buffy birds and in their attempts to produce such birds they buy outcrosses from those sources who lead the field. Unfortunately they come unstuck. They do not know the extent of inbreeding in the birds they have bought and they keep the bought-in birds close. For a season they might get good results, but when it comes to the third season with pairing still in the bought-in consignment, they are in trouble. Inbreeding takes its toll.
Next I believe the breeder is at fault. He is anxious to get those early chicks so that they are rung on January 1st. At the back of the mind is another reason. Unwanted chicks are big enough to sell when people tour the country in summer. Ridiculous I hear you say. No! I don’t think so! Those who breed to sell aim for a selling season. Those two last words are not mine but have been used time and time again in articles by feather merchants.
So what does that breeder do? He plays around with light. He has programmed the time the light comes on and when it goes off increasing the daylight hours to hoodwink the birds that Spring and Summer has arrived. This is unnatural. I know of quite a number of breeders who have fixed periods for on and off throughout the year and do not vary the timing. They get excellent results. I think extending daylight hours is stressful and certainly raises the question of how many hours the birds need in darkness. In some rooms, the birds get no darkness at all because they have to put up with bright night lights so that hens can find their way back to their nests. Could this extending the daylight hours and forgetting the hours of darkness have some effect on our breeding birds? What do you think?
At the last BS Show in Doncaster a Budgerigar World representative noticed a new product on one of the stands. It was a rodent deterrent!
He was assured that this product was not only useful in deterring cats and dogs from a given area, but could be used successfully inside an aviary. What it does is to transmit a powerful ultrasonic sound that is not audible to humans and interestingly, birds. But how could this be tested, because few (if any) fanciers will readily admit that they have mice or rats in their birdroom.
As it happened, during the course of his travels, the Budgerigar World representative came across a fancier who had unwelcome visitors in the form of a mouse or two. Here was the ideal situation and the pest deterrent was suggested. It was plugged into the mains via a 12 volt adapter (supplied) and switched on. According to what the BW representative has been told the mice have simply vanished and the birdroom is pest free,
So, here seems to be an answer to those who have a problem. Those interested can contact the supplier, Dazzler U.K. at 43 Northcote Road, London, SW11 1YY. It is called Pestaway Super Rodent Deterrent.
© Gwyn Evans 1999
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