"I believe that if you purchase a bird that you can afford (irrespective of actual price), and it breeds successfully and enhances your stud, then this is a bargain."
I was very pleased to spend a day with the Budgerigar World Correspondent for Japan, Akira Ozaki recently. Akira, was in Holland on business and took the opportunity to spend a couple of days in England before flying home to Tokyo. During his time with us we visited a few of our local budgerigar people all of whom made him most welcome in their homes and aviaries. I know it’s been said before but this indeed is a wonderful hobby, where people open their doors to strangers because of this single common link. Yvonne and I have had fanciers from all over the world sitting at our dinner table but this was certainly a first for us.
A television programme about crocodiles caught my attention. Being a reptile, the crocodile lays eggs similar to our birds. The thing that interested me was the programme narrator, who said it was the incubation temperature, which determined whether the young crocs were male or female. My thought was, "I wonder if there is any read across to birds?" I was particularly intrigued because of the 200 chicks reared this year I only had 65 hens, which any breeder will tell you is not good. Also, a few other breeders have also told me that they too have bred many more cocks than hens this year. Does anybody know the answer?
Continuing with questions and also running the risk of opening up the Yellowface debate once again, I was puzzled by the breeding results achieved by Christine Angus-Smith from a particular pair of Whitewings. These were perfectly normal looking Whitewings but in the first round a Yellowface Dilute was reared. Clearly these birds were both split dilutes, but where did the Yellowface come from? I suggested the obvious, like a fostered egg or perhaps the hen had been previously fertilised by an earlier mate either in the flight or in a former pairing. However, both of these suggestions were ruled out when two similar such youngsters turned up in the second round. Answers to the usual address please.
Bargains and Bargains
At this time of year there is generally plenty of Budgerigars available for purchase. These are adults that have been bred with during the previous season and tend to be birds over two years of age. Then there are the birds that were flown over from last season – often late breds. Finally we have the first sort from the recently completed season. Each category of bird can bring bargains to the purchaser but how do you define a bargain? Personally, I believe that if you purchase a bird that you can afford (irrespective of actual price), and it breeds successfully and enhances your stud, then this is a bargain.
When it comes to pricing sales birds there seems to be a number of techniques employed. The first and the one that I tend to use, is a price list. If someone is interested in buying budgerigars from me, then on inspection of the sales birds I give them a price list, which I have written into a hardback book. This shows a record of price and if sold who it was sold to and the actual price paid – yes, the prices are negotiable especially when more than one bird is purchased. The second method I have seen used is one of grading the birds into perhaps three grades with a holding cage for each category. These would be say, £20, £30 and £50. It is my guess that in this situation, as the better birds get sold then the £30 birds migrate to the next higher cage as do the lowest prices birds.
Finally, we have the "on the hoof" method. In this instance all the sales birds are housed together and as a potential buyer spots a bird he likes the look of, the seller quotes a price on the spur of the moment, or apparently so. Similar to this is the seller who catches up a series of potential sales, puts each into a show cage and then writes the price on a slip of paper and places this on each cage.
When it comes to buying and selling a number of criticisms are levelled at the hobby from within the hobby from time to time. These include claims that fanciers are asking inflated prices for their stock. However, in these instances the buyer can always say no. Secondly, there are concerned newcomers to the hobby who feel that unscrupulous Champions have taken advantage of them. This is a difficult area and hopefully has a very, very small occurrence rate. I can only advise these people try to find a more experienced person to go with them on their spending expeditions. Finally, we hear claims that fanciers vary their price to suit either status and/or the pocket of their customers. In a way this makes good business sense but for the assurance of the hobby, only when the top prices are stated and then reduced. However, irrespective of this, so long as the purchase meets my earlier definition of a bargain why should we worry.