The 'Budgerigar Program' Makes Record Keeping Easy

By Terry A Tuxford

The provision and maintenance of breeding and pedigree records within the hobby is an essential ingredient and as much pleasure as possible should also be derived from this element. However, some record keeping systems can involve significant effort in their upkeep and can become quite a chore. The problem is that tedious work is often done poorly or not done at all - a bit mistake when it come to budgerigar breeding, or any other form of livestock for that matter.

For simplicity and accuracy, the answer is to use a computer. Many homes now have one of these machines and they certainly make the job of record keeping a cinch.

So we have our computer and where do we go from here? There are two solutions to this problem. The first is to attempt to write your own pedigree programme using one of the proprietary data base packages such as Microsoft Access. For one, Access and other similar programmes themselves are not cheap and secondly, without significant experience and a great deal of planning, I doubt whether the results would be adequate.

The preferred option is to purchase a piece of software that has been written for the job in hand. There are a number of these programmes on the market today and all have their strengths and weaknesses but in my opinion, having tried many of these, the Budgerigar Programme is by far the easiest to use and the most comprehensive. Additionally, it is a very stable programme that is not easy to crash. Others I have tried fall over at the slightest input error, data is lost and only with some effort can they be made to run again.

Whichever programme is selected, the biggest job is to input the historical data at the outset to give you the foundation for your future computerised record keeping. I have now carried out this three times and know just how irksome it can be, but it must be done. I would suggest that you take an inventory of all the birds in your aviary and plan to put these on the system. The starting point should be as far back in their ancestry as you wish to go. I chose four generations. With the Pedigree Programme, if you wish to add earlier data later this is easily done.

Once this initial input is complete, on-going maintenance is a 'piece of cake'. New birds can be added either automatically through the Breeding Record section of the Budgerigar Program or if they are purchases they can be added manually.

As mentioned, the Budgerigar Program is very comprehensive. All manner of reports can be run, ranging from simple inventory listings by sex, variety and colour through to preferred pairings and common ancestry. The Budgerigar Program calculates inheritance levels, provides breeding records and generates pedigree charts. Each of these may be viewed on the screen or printed. Other extremely useful features include the provision to score each bird against the "Ideal" in the various areas such as Colour, Size, Deportment, Mask and Spots etc. In theory, this would allow the fancier to do his pair selection without actually looking at the birds themselves - not something I think I would recommend. Feather type is also included as a separate category against each bird.

The Budgerigar Program is easily customised so that on each pedigree printed for instance, there are your specific details including name, address and telephone number.

The Budgerigar Program is an essential tool for the Budgerigar fancier and one that I would highly recommend. It is well thought out, has a great look and feel to it and is extremely intuitive in its use and provides excellent value for money.

If you are thinking of putting your Budgerigar records onto computer, the Budgerigar Program is the one to choose.

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