We All Have An Opinion
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but it is surprising how few people express their views in print. Having spoken to a significant number of grass roots fanciers at and since the Club Show, the majority are sick to death of the dictatorial tone of those more verbose fanciers who write on subjects such as the ring issue date, showing bought birds, the criticism of judges and the knocking of the BS. The people I spoke to are the backbone of the hobby and just want to get on with doing what they enjoy doing most and that is the management, breeding and if they so desire the exhibiting of their birds.
The reason why these subjects get very little feedback, I would suggest is because the average fancier no longer bothers to read articles of this nature. Unfortunately, the downside of this is that the hobby will at best, stand still at the point where it is today with no opportunity for improvement. At worse it will start to regress and the rot will really set in. It is a question of getting the balance right. The sad fact is that controversy sells newspapers and controversy stems from one person doing something to another that is not acceptable in society. However, in our hobby we all keep our birds because we want to and if we don't want to - we can stop.
With topics such as showing bought birds and ring issue date the solution is simple. There is provision within the constitution of the BS for rule changes. If there are enough like-minded fanciers out there, why not get together and do something about it.
I would like to invite British fanciers to write to me answering the following questions.
1. Irrespective of the effect on the show season, should the ring issue date be changed and if so, to when?
2. What impact do you believe the showing of bought birds has on the hobby and should it be allowed to continue?
Personally, I do have opinions, but like all good journalists, I'm keeping them to myself.
Breeding Season Notions
I know I've said this before but certain disappointments cannot be catered for by experience. Take for example birds that attack their chicks once they have left the nest box. At one time, when I set up my breeding cages, I always placed a protective platform in each and every cage. Taking note of the real occurrences, chicks were seldom attacked and so the majority of platforms served no purpose. Today, when I prepare for breeding I don't place any protection in a cage until it is proven to be necessary. The way I approach the problem, and succeed most times, is when the first chicks are about to leave the nest box I remove say two of them myself and place them on the cage floor. I do this when I first enter the birdroom and then carry on with my chores, while at the same time keeping and eye on the reaction of the parents to their babies.
If I believe that the youngsters are in danger I then place protection in the cage for them. At the end of the first round I end up with perhaps 10% of my cages containing chick protectors. This also tells me which cages I have to be particularly vigilant with in the second round. The thing that always gets me is when birds are model parents in the first round but in the second, turn into killers.
In an attempt to give something back to the hobby, I have been breeding a few Slate budgerigars. They are a sex linked variety that were thought to be all but extinct when the late Cyril Rogers acquired two pairs from Holland and reintroduced them to this country. My experience with the variety is that they breed much better when they are 3 or 4 years old. It may be coincidence but these pet sized birds had poor fertility when they were younger but now breed very well indeed in their advancing years. Another observation made was Slate young that were fostered by much larger exhibition stock were much bigger than the Slates reared by their own parents and conversely, any youngsters that were fostered by Slate parents turned out to be smaller than their siblings, which had been 'home reared'.