It must be over thirty years since I read a paragraph written by a leading Budgerigar Breeder and author in which he claimed that if he went out of the hobby and re-started, he could produce birds that would win on the show bench within seven years. Maybe he could have done just that, but when he added that his stock would be bought from pet shops I had doubts as to the correctness of his statement.
If I happen to notice a pet shop during my travels I will pop in and look around. I will certainly look at the birds on offer and each time will be puzzled why people are prepared to spend £15 for such miserable looking creatures. You might be lucky and spot a better bird but the chances are that it is either old or has its ring cut off.
From what I am told breeders are offered around £5 (maybe less, but seldom more) for birds sold to a pet shop. It is even claimed these days that British breeders are finding it difficult to find a pet shop interested in their surplus because they get their supplies from the Continent. (I would like to hear what some of our European breeder friends have to say on this claim).
I can remember Harry Bryan telling me that if he spotted a useful bird in a pet shop he would buy it and he claimed that on occasions such a purchase produced an outstanding specimen for him. The truth is that Harry Bryan was no ordinary breeder. He was gifted with an eye for a bird and to top that he could recognise the bird that would be successful in the breeding pen. Harry would really go for a bird, which caught his eye and throughout the years I knew him he continuously bought in birds. I know of no other who had that gift for spotting a bird with hidden qualities.
I also believe he had, apart from being a gifted stockman, got to know Lady Luck and her charms were bestowed upon him quite liberally. In breeding budgerigars (and of course other livestock) you must have a lot of luck and this seems to be the answer why some breeders are more successful than others.
I know of many breeders who have spent unmentionable amounts of money on birds. It seems that the more they spend the less they win. And why is that? Surely you cannot blame the bought-in birds (or can you?) because they usually come from top studs with winning records. The original breeder seems to be able to produce outstanding young year after year, but when a buyer comes in and ultimately pairs his choice of birds up he produces absolutely nothing worth looking at. Why is that?
I think there must be a lot of answers. Firstly, he might have made the wrong choice and the birds he selected when pairing up simply did not match genetically. They could look as the perfect balance, but Lady Luck turned away and did not guide him towards the genetic link necessary to produce show birds.
You can also say that the price hoodwinks many because they feel the more they pay, the better the bird. You can argue that you pay for quality, but where does quality start and finish? In my mind the word ‘quality’ is confusing. What exactly does it imply when you are in a birdroom seeking ‘better quality’ than what you have at home? Are you looking at birds, which are evidently show specimens? They have that eye-appeal but that does not mean they can produce their quality in the breeding pen. You need a sixth sense (and a lot of Lady Luck’s charm) when selecting breeding birds. The only guide is being told the background of a bird, which could help you in your selection.
A good budgerigar breeder usually knows his birds and that is where the secret of their success on the show bench really lies. If you know your birds (and by that I mean knowing their background really well) you have that feeling that such-and-such a cock bird will go with such-and- such a hen. It all comes back to knowing your birds and the experience gained when pairing up the ones you know, over the years.
Yes, we must admit we have seen new names winning top honours at B.S. shows during the past ten years, but where have they gone? It seems the winners are here today and gone tomorrow. Why? Is it that they have sold too many? Could it be that they are getting poor breeding seasons?
Maybe their first year with their new purchases produced excellent results but unfortunately the following years were dismal. Probably they did not have the background experience of the original breeder who knew that such a bird from one nest should be paired up with a bird from a totally different family to keep them on the winning line. And they could have had no luck. I honestly believe that luck plays a major part in our hobby. Without it you will get nowhere. Experience plays a really big part, I must admit, but even with experience, you still need luck to succeed. I can name a number of winning studs which at one time were on everyone’s lips which are never heard about these days. They have paired up in the usual manner. They have done nothing different with their feeding and management, yet their birds do not breed. Why?
One thing I have noticed and that is the tendency to pair up exhibition-type birds. If you consider today’s exhibition bird it is so different to that of ten years ago. It is big headed, bulky and coarse feathered. Could that be a clue to it being a non-breeder? This type of bird has probably been in-bred and that could be another factor.
Those successful breeders I have visited breed the numbers and it is eye-opening to see some of their pairings. They are by no means exhibition birds. The hens are usually small and hardly worth a glance to the serious exhibitioner. Yet they breed winners. But try and tell that to a person who is trying to buy stock. They want to buy the winners and not their relations. Does Lady Luck feel the same I wonder?
© Gwyn Evans 1999
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