When I was a child it was only on very rare occasions we received something to prevent us catching one illness or another. If we did catch a cold we were usually given a cup of hot milk and packed off to bed. If that failed, then a bottle of medicine from the chemist (who prepared it in bulk, dishing out the same red coloured concoction to everybody) was the only remedy.
Nowadays you can buy something, which is claimed to prevent you getting most illnesses. Some claim you get the sickness lighter, others simply do not work. The same is the case with Budgerigars. There was a time when we had next to nothing to build up their stamina against sickness.
The only things that comes readily to mind is Phillips Yeast and Seven Seas Cod Liver Oil. Neither product was used by the fancy 100% but those who did add the products to their seed would probably still be doing that today.
But in recent years the whole spectrum has changed and you are now encouraged to add this, or add that to make your budgerigars healthier and fitter for breeding. You are advised not to feed grasses, fruit and vegetables to your birds because they might have been treated by some chemical or another, which would harm your stud. It is suggested you treat your whole stud with antibiotics prior to breeding. Some do. Some do not.
I have no idea where this will end, but from my part I feel depriving the birds of natural foods is wrong. My birds love greens and they get all the chickweed I can gather. I give them vegetables and they love the occasional apple. They get carrots and lettuce and if those are grown in my own garden, they get the roots and the soil with it. My birds get into the soil quicker than they attack the greens.
Some people say this is wrong, and sooner or later the birds will become the victims of those chemicals used by the growers weeks before. They could be right Ñ but if they are, can they tell me why they are prepared to feed all these foods, termed ‘healthy’, to their own children? Have they stopped feeding salads and switched to meat. I simply don’t believe it.
I think breeders should use their common sense and if they decide that the foods they give their children is safe, and then it should be O.K. for their birds. If you know that some product is heavily treated with chemicals you will not feed it to your children. The same should be the case with your birds.
I am also very unhappy with some breeders who use antibiotics indiscriminately. I know of people who treat their birds regularly with Terramycin and they claim it prevents their birds getting Òsomething or anotherÓ. I am very wary of products ending with the letters ‘mycin’ because antibiotics are there to combat viruses and used unnecessary become ineffective when there is a real need for them. If you have sickness in your stud, then consult a vet and let him prescribe what is necessary.
It is obvious that your birds, being caged up, must lack something wild birds have access to. Vitamins play their part here and careful study of those vitamins recommended to your babies and children would be advantageous. This should be a guide to under-standing more about the products advertised by bird supplement providers. Those firms have researched the needs of our birds but circumstances in one aviary could be different to an-other so your birds could need something different to birds in another part of the country.
I feel certain it must have been a very difficult decision for Peter Sanderson to make - that of selling up his birds.
Peter has been on the budgerigar scene here in the U.K. for as long as I can remember. He has been the backbone of the fancy in Yorkshire and the Budgerigar Society for decades. He is one of those people who has always been there. If you needed advice - call Peter; if you needed help - call Peter. There was no job he feared and no job he would not tackle and complete.
The B.S. owes Peter Sanderson more than it does to hardly any other member. He shouldered the organising and problems of the B.S. Club Show for years and if that was not enough, he did the same for the Budgerigar World show.
Unfortunately, Peter’s health has not been good for some time, but despite all the problems he has always been there at shows across the land, be it as a judge, organiser, hard worker, or just a spectator. Peter has always been a keen exhibitor and his wins on the show bench are something he treasured.
Despite giving up the birds, Peter and Brenda, it is nice to hear, will still be in the fancy. Good luck to both of them.
© Gwyn Evans 1999
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