When I visited the Yorkshire B.S. Open Show recently, one of the first questions I was asked was "Have you been to see the Jo Mannes birds this year?"
As a matter of fact I have and I must comment that I came from there just as puzzled as ever. On each occasion I have visited the Mannes stud I have been amazed with the proof before my very eyes that Jo Mannes is still as capable as ever of producing top class birds and seems to get no problems in producing the numbers.
Despite cutting down on his breeding pairs this year, Jo Mannes has still been able to produce around seven hundred chicks. As we all know, he entertains visitors from around the world and they nearly all come to admire and if at all possible, to buy what we refer to as ‘The Mannes Bird’.
I have seen his record books and they are written proof of the world-wide demand for his quality birds. It seems that in whichever country you have budgerigars you have breeders who have been to the Mannes aviary.
I am aware that certain English breeders don’t seem to like the Mannes birds and a couple have told me that in no uncertain terms. I am entitled to my own opinion and I feel they would certainly not refuse a Mannes bird if they were offered one. It is possible that their criticism of the Mannes bird is just something to cover up their jealousy and the fact that Jo Mannes has scooped the bird market from right under their feet. Whatever the reason I have yet to see the complainants producing birds, which have the Mannes head, shoulder and feather quality. Give me the choice of their birds and those produced by Jo Mannes and I know which I would take.
Jo Mannes told me during our chat that he intended pairing up earlier this year because his birds were coming on condition nowadays far earlier than what happened in previous years. I now know that he had quite a number of chicks during the first weeks of October and this also seems to be the way many well-known breeders are taking. The policy of pairing up in December has changed and it is become quite a disaster area for many. I have of course referred to this on several occasions and am quite convinced that my birds come into breeding condition late October and then late March/April.
The Mannes stud is really big with hundreds of birds and if you like wide brows with out-standing head quality then here is the stud that will take your breath away. I have always come away from Jo Mannes puzzled how he manages to produce such birds year after year. But he does it despite the fact he supplies so many breeders with outcrosses. And speaking about outcrosses, I only remember Jo Mannes telling me once in the number of years I have known him that he had an outcross in his flight (it was from Scot-land) and it was unused. With such a large number of birds Jo Mannes is apparently self-sufficient and has no need for out-crosses. If he does go out for an outcross you can bet your life that the supplier will soon be as well known as Mannes!!
I have met several breeders who have out-standing memories for birds, but never yet come up against one like Jo Mannes. I have said it before that he must have a computer inside his head to remember all those birds he has bred and I (and I know of others as well) who have tried to catch him out about the history of such-and-such a bird and he has completely made a fool of us by giving us the correct details. It is really uncanny how he can remember his stock and I am quite convinced that here lies the big secret of his success. He remembers well back the birds that he used to breed with. He is like a school teacher who has been at a small school for many years. That school teacher, once he meets a new pupil can probably remember the pupils’ parents, grand-parents or, possibly, its great-grand parents. I know of such school teachers and you can bet your life that they will remember if the family were tall, small or fat! I live in a small community and I can easily remember local families and their special characteristics. Substitute the pupils for birds and the teacher for Jo Mannes and maybe you have the answer to the Mannes success story.
I know of a few other budgerigar breeders who have this remarkable memory for birds and one happens to be the most successful on the U.K. show scene this year. Frank Silva has won most of the honours at the 1999 Open Shows and here again you have a man with a unique memory for his stock. He bred just over a thousand chicks this year and he does not need his records to trace their ancestry.
During the years I have been in the hobby I have taken literally, thousands of pictures of Budgerigars. I feel therefore that I am justified in commenting on this specialised field.
Recently my attention was drawn to the fact that certain Societies, when printing show results in their publications, included photographs of the winning birds. Where things go wrong is when the photographs printed are not of the bird photographed at the show, but taken by the owner at some other time and place elsewhere.
I think a bird wins on the day. Some other day it could look better and to print a picture taken then is really sharp practise. I admit the facilities at a show are not admirable for photography, but that is when the bird wins and it is there and then a winner should be photographed.
© Gwyn Evans 1999
Use Back Button On Your Browser To Return To Article List