"Breeding budgerigars is easy!" However, breeding good’uns is a different story all together. Put in context – any one can put a cock and hen into a breeding situation and produce chicks, and lots of them. The important factor, not necessarily linked to quantity, is whether any of them are of sufficient quality to a) do well on the show bench and b) take the fanciers stud forward onto the next stage of development.
Many fanciers, and we are no different, find themselves regularly breeding with three or four year old birds because they have not bred anything better in the intervening years. Alternatively, they have not had the courage to work with the youngsters produced from the good-looking parents because they have not shown visual improvements over their parents.
It has been said by innumerable breeders on more times than I would care to count that the best chicks come from the lesser brothers and sisters. If this were true it would then follow that the disappointing youngsters from the visually appealing parents have the same potential. What we are suggesting is that the quality is there, it is just genetically hidden from us. The logic then follows, that if this is true, the features that we as fanciers categorise as quality are recessive and it takes two doses of them to make them visible – something I doubt as both parents can possess features which are not passed on to their offspring. Alternatively, they could be dominant but need to be in a double-factor form to be seen – I think we can also rule this out, as we would all be able to control our results almost totally. So what is the solution to this mystery – answers on a post card please!
Consistent Winners
If you look at the exhibition side of the hobby over the years you will see that certain fanciers are consistent winners, a few are occasional winners and the rest, the majority, make up the numbers. Amongst the successful fanciers there are breeders and the buyers. While both categories seek to purchase birds, the breeders tend to look for features that they can inject into their lines. Whereas the buyers do not usually have lines and look to buy near complete birds – satisfied with a quick win, offering a number of years advertising potential.
The breeders that I have greatest admiration for are those that can produce winners year in and year out, and even after major setbacks or a few lean years can come back in at the top. They not only keep up but they stay ahead. It would be unfair to name names but I am sure you know who these people are in each of the countries around the world where budgerigars are exhibited. They seem to have the knack to predict the outcome of specific pairings. Knowing your own birds is a great help but I am sure that there is a kind of sixth sense that comes into play. An example of this comes from birds we sold a few years ago. They had several generations of our breeding in them and the buyer bought this particular pair because they appealed to him. They were related but not closely. The result was a CC winning Opaline Light Green and others that featured highly in the section run-down. Why did we sell those birds you may ask? I only wish I knew!
Web Watch
Take a look at these budgerigar programs:
The Pedigree Program - http://home.twcf.rr.com/budgiemania/index.html
Aviary Base Pro5 Computer Management System – www.aviarybase.co.uk
Birdrec v6.0 – www2.tpg.com.au/users/kyorke