Members Show October 2008

All in all we had a very good day, with everyone helping at some stage for which I would like to thank you all again. Thanks to our Chairperson for providing & donating all refreshments and to Gerald for not charging any expenses.

Maurice Roberts - September 2008

He said he was very fortunate to be involved with Geoff Attwood and Mrs Moss in his early days and was often called upon to drive her to shows. Listening to and talking to them both gave him great insight into keeping birds.

Maurice then asked the beginners in the audience for items to be discussed and the subjects that people put forward were French moult, going light and basic genetics, which were discussed throughout the evening.

Maurice went on to talk about his birds, especially the pied that he had won with at the Truro show (which benched over 900 birds and is the second largest show in the country now), beating some of the top names. He talked about foundation stock and the fact that people do not need to pay a fortune for birds when they can get the brothers and sisters of a good bloodline to produce quality birds. He cited a case of Hale and Davis from Wales, who won the BS Club Show with a sky blue that had been bred from lesser birds but all related to those of Jo Mannes.

He said he has a variety of different mixtures of soft food and said not to be frightened to give the birds a change, i.e. carrot, beetroot, buckwheat and mung beans, mixed in with egg food (Witte Molen). Maurice said he prefers to use Versa Laga seeds and grit in preference to others. He uses traditional wooden breeding units but with plastic nest boxes with wooden concaves and not wire cages like he used to use. When he eventually retires he will revamp his birdroom completely and make it easier and less stressful to maintain.

August 2008 - Barbeque

There was no meeting in August, but an aviary visit & BBQ was held at Tony & Barbara’s in Fareham (34) present. Luckily, the weather held out for us all; it came over a bit cloudy a couple of hours prior to the barbecue starting and then the sun ‘put his hat on’.

There was plenty of food, drink and ‘budgie’ talk. Chris Angus Smith presented Barbara with a beautiful bouquet of flowers on behalf of the Northdowns BS and both she and Gerald Binks, our President, thanked Tony and Barbara for hosting the event. The last guests left at about seven o’clock.

Barbara and Tony would like to thank everyone for traveling down on Saturday; they had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon and sincerely hope that everyone else did

July 2008 - Judging Competition

The meeting was called to order and our Chairperson welcomed everyone. Tony then asked for names for the aviary visit and BBQ in August at his house. (Please let me know if coming?)

Apologies were received from John & Stella Harvey and Mick Freeborn. Mick was going to judge this evening but was not feeling to good. Tony told the meeting that Ricky Watts had been taken back into hospital again with same infection and he would keep all updated on situation                      

With the birds benched it was the task of the chairperson, Chris Angus-Smith, to judge the pairings assisted by Julie Hutchins. Whilst the members watched you could hear light conversation in the background about all sorts of topics and who did this and that etc. Once the judging had finished the rest of us had to try and place them in order as best pairings to breed from and were marked to see who came closest to the judges order /selection.

The winner of the competition was Tony Cash with Ken Sackley 2nd and Stephen Pearce 3rd (New member with his Dad Adrian)

A general discussion on various birds continued, as there were all sorts there, from buffs to yellow feathered and flecked birds.

(Bio security was maintained, although the turnout was disappointing) 

Our thanks to all that helped with the evening (You know who I mean)

June 2008 - Ron Payne

The meeting was opened with apologies from Julia & Richard Hutchins and (by email) Gerald Binks and Ted Fitzjohn and his wife (Ted is still very ill with a chest infection). Our Chairperson then welcomed Terry Mulley, a new member, and then our speaker for the evening, Ron Payne.

Ron started with a tribute to a very good friend, Marion Wixon, who sadly passed away last Friday, 20^th June. He said she would be sadly missed by everyone, as she was one of the great ‘workers’ in the hobby. He then gave a brief history of how and where he started keeping budgerigars about 32 years ago in Lowestoft. He said he was fortunate to be left 20% of a stud of birds on the death of a breeder from Norfolk, who he had known well and swapped birds with. However, when he got the birds and started working with the bloodlines they did not ‘click’ with his own bloodlines and, consequently, he wasted two years of breeding.

Ron said with the unfortunate death of Jim Moffat and all his birds coming down from Scotland to Gerald Binks, he was able to purchase two pairs, which only produced three chicks. However, from them he produced a very good quality green cock, which he showed at Swindon and won second best champion breeder. That bloodline seemed to click with his and he has gone on to produce good quality birds. He was also lucky enough to be given some good birds from the Faulkner and Read partnership, which again worked in well with his stock. He said a bit of luck is always needed to compensate for the problems that we all have in breeding budgerigars.

Ron mentioned some of the mistakes he has made over the years (which we all do), which has helped to make him a better stockman and understand more about the breeding and pairing of his stock.

He (like so many of us) has had several bird rooms of all sizes, etc., and has now been well settled in Swindon for some 21years.

He has plans to replace his existing 16x12 birdroom with a 17x14, designed for ease of management i.e. no high or low stretching or bending down on knees etc.

With regards to buying in stock, he will buy from anywhere that has the requirement he is looking for, and will introduce it into his own families, which he says is important to maintain.

Ron went on to talk about his feeding procedures and his own preferences. He said he uses a water supplement from Country Wide Farmers, which is called Multi-Vitamin Extra and costs £2.99 for 150g. He said he applies a 2.5ml spoonful to 2.5 litres of water and this can last for a week but he changes it every 2^nd day. He adds this twice a week in the run up to the breeding season and one day a week he adds Cytacon.

He used to use Carrs products but has now switched to Orego-Stim, which is a natural antibiotic and keeps the birds gut clean. Seed is a combination of Johnson and Jeff Expert seed and Bucktons own 50/50 (Not the BS mixture) all the year round. Ron said he felt the budgerigar tonic seed should be called ‘conditioning seed’, as it does help to bring the birds into condition.

Ron said he was a great believer in using anything from the fridge, such as cabbage, corn on the cob, spinach, etc. He said he did not feed cuttlefish as he felt it was a waste of time but uses Murphys minerals in place of it, and also he did not use iodine blocks, as it’s easier to administer a few drops in the drinking water every four weeks if required. He said grit was very important and his preference is the Versele-Laga grit, which contains oyster shell, brick, and salt.

We then went on to have a general discussion, in which it was said from the floor that giving salt would help stop feather plucking. We also discussed the dreaded French moult, which unfortunately Ron is inundated with at the moment. He believes he brought this in by buying an out-cross bird, but it seems that many others in the room and elsewhere are suffering the same this year.   

Ron finished off by talking about his birds in general and giving an insight into what he does and how he does it. 

Once again, we all showed our appreciation to the speaker for a very entertaining evening.

The evening then concluded and all were wished a safe journey home.

May 2008 - Young Stock Show

The meeting was called to order with apologies from Ted Fitzjohn and his wife (Ted has a chest infection).  Our Chairperson then welcomed our judge for the evening, Bob Allen.

Bob started judging the birds (33) at 8.10pm.   Because it was a young stock show the classes were grouped together ‘cock and hen’ to simplify the judging.

Whilst judging Bob was explaining all the time what features he was actually looking for in the birds and said that when there were two very similar birds it was difficult to place them first and second and you needed to take into account all of their features / faults.

As the judging went on Bob kept up the commentary and ensured that everyone could see what he was doing. Bob also talked about flecked headed birds and said he tried not to have any in his birdroom as, if you bred with them, it came out in all of your birds and always in the best ones, which was difficult to eradicate. At the end of the judging Bob asked for any comments from the floor with regard to the judging and the birds on the benches. Our thanks to Malcolm Freemantle for assisting as Chief Steward & label fixer.

Our congratulations to the main winners of the evening:

• John Harvey: Best bird in show – Light Green Cock (Barhead).

• Cash & Gorrell:  Best champion – Grey Green Cock

• John Harvey:  Best intermediate - Light Green Cock (Barhead).

• Brian Mansell:  Best Novice – Grey Cock

• John Harvey: Best barhead  - Light Green Cock

Whilst having refreshments after the judging everyone was looking at the birds and making their own comparisons (as you do!).

We would also like to thank all of those that helped with the setting up and removal of the staging, plus other jobs, which makes life a lot easier.

Also, C. Ives from Gosport rejoined the club last night and brought along his good lady who enjoyed the evening

Once again, we all showed our appreciation to the Judge  / speaker for a very entertaining evening.

The evening then concluded, earlier then normal, to allow everyone to get their birds back into their bird rooms before lights out. After the raffle and the birds were lifted all were wished a safe journey home.

Gerald Binks - Questions & Answers On The Breeding Season

Before the introductions I said a thank you to the members for responding and sending in good quality questions, which I passed on to Gerald before the meeting in case he needed to look up anything regarding some of the technical aspects of the questions.

Also, I mentioned the Southern Classic Show, which our area society the L&SC BS has stepped in to support, to avoid another show in the south disbanding. They are looking for sponsorship in the form of advertising, etc. Chris, our chairperson, is donating £40 for a full-page advert on behalf of Northdowns BS, which we all appreciate. (Thanks Chris)

With the introductions and apologies given, the floor was then handed over to our guest for the evening, Gerald Binks, who started with a bit of history of himself and his father in his youthful days and how he eventually came into this wonderful hobby of breeding budgies.

Below is a list of the questions that were put to Gerald as well as questions from the floor, on which he answered in great detail apart from the going light syndrome. He wished he and everyone else knew the answer!

1.Do you think that climate change will effect our breeding in the future, as you know the droughts in Australia have been really hard on some bird varieties?

2. Do you think it is right to try and breed a pair when only one bird is totally fit in the hope of bringing the other into condition, or is a complete waste of time or has it worked for you?

3.What causes a pair to start rearing dark red coloured  / old looking chicks which, even when moved to other boxes, stay the same and don’t improve and the parents were ok the round before.

4. Many breeders have French moult of one kind or other? I don’t at the moment and its not because of any special thing I do etc. When a box is full /dirty all I do is empty and scrape it out, give a good spray of Avisafe and rest it on the window sill in the sunlight for a week then reuse it?

5. What about ring issue dates now, as the club show has moved to Sept and looks like staying there?

6. Do you miss being a BS panel judge and the various engagements?

7. Your views on sponsorship and the type of companies to target.

8. Where do you go to buy / exchange an outcross & what are you looking for.

9. Rats & mice??

10.Need to know all about “Going Light” and how to treat them or prevent getting it in the aviary.

11. How old do cocks /hens need to be before breeding with them? And how do you know if they are ready, you hear all sorts of age’s 4mths?

14.What made you start breeding exhibition budgiegars and why?

13. What do you use for eye infections/bubbles in budgies and where can we get it, does it work and how often should it be treated and is it bred in as a heredity factor?

14.What is the best way of controlling and managing FM;

15. Would FM be reinforced/perpetuated in the stud by future breeding with FM affected birds? 

16. A number of breeders have noticed that the hen's cere seems to go off colour in the second round, although many still raise a second brood, is it due to the soft food and vitamins we are now pumping into them?

17. Also the chicks in the nest appear more hostile than before and are not happy being handled, they bite your hand from a very early age. Can this also be put down to diet??

18.Most problems are covered in "Challenge" but could Gerald explain planned fostering of chicks to help feeding etc. 

19. The old problem of clear eggs and only one egg fertile in a round?

20.There is much talk in the fancy about additives and soft foods, what is the ultimate diet for showing, resting and breeding.

21.Also young bird diet after they have left their parents and are released into the flights.

22. When purchasing a "must have" bird from an unseen aviary we should always quarantine the bird but can we disinfect it and what with and how?

23. Feather condition - birds go from one moult into almost another - is this caused by feeding too much millet spray and millet seed?

24. Can eggs be collected when laid, stored and still be fertile and hatch when incubated? If so how long can the eggs be stored?

25. Your view on plastic breeding cages & nest boxes

26. Trimming vents / guide feathers theory or leave alone.

27.    Why, when you are still so passionate about your birds and the hobby in general do you not show your birds more often?

28.    Hundreds, possibly thousands of hobbyists have purchased birds from Jo Mannes over the past 15 years and yet no one has replicated his birds on the same scale. Do you think this is due to the fact that he only allows a certain amount of birds to go to each breeder at any one time or is it that he is smart in the type of birds he lets go from his stud?

The very last part of the evening Gerald was asked what are the most important features you must have in a budgerigar:

a)      Back skull

b)      Frame of bird /deportment

c)      Depth of mask

d)      Head / feather direction

Asked about pairing up from records or visual

a)      Used to pair up a poorer looking bird off a super parent to a very good partner as in line breeding. (Wasted 8 years doing this)

b)      Pair your very best to best, remembering not to put together birds with common faults to attain the best results.

On that note Gerald was thanked in the usual way and the raffle was drawn and all were wished a safe journey home.

Malcolm Freemantle Quiz & 1 on 1 with Tony Cash

With introductions and 12 apologies given the floor was handed over to our guest for the evening, Malcolm Freemantle. Malcolm explained about the picture quiz we were about to do and the way it would be scored, which was the first part of the evening. The second part would be him questioning Tony Cash.

The picture quiz was a lot of fun and, after checking scores, it was Jacky Fox with 15 points who was the winner and presented with a bottle of wine.

Various Questions by Malcolm to Tony Cash – Summary of answers

The new house he and Barbara brought in October 2005 was also in Fareham.  It was empty and owned by a builder, so they negotiated with him on a part exchange with permission to work on the new house before completion. Nigel Darley built the new bird room to TC’s specification, with his advice ref: base and style and also to accommodate existing breeding cages etc. This time TC had the correct power cable installed to take all loadings required with a percentage over the top in case.   It was lined with fire resistant plasterboard and fully insulated, incorporating two louvered windows with an extract fan. The walls were tiled from floor to ceiling with ceramic tiles on the floor, hence making it hygienic and easy to keep clean.  (Almost Perfect)

SPRAYS TC USES IN BIRDROOM:

Clinicide (F10) Fred Wright
Avisafe
Vanodine
Duramitex
Vircon “S”
Barrier V1
Ardap spray for all types of pests (From Quicko)

Ken Fagan

He talked about the original blood lines he brought in as a beginner / novice and the breeders that he formed good friendships with so they could help each other with swapping birds  (What the hobby is about).

Main bloodlines: Mannes, Tupin, Heylen, Huxley&Marchant and Clarkson and Ball, not bad?? Ken visits Joe Mannes each year to keep adding fresh blood and features into his stock, as he believes Joe’s birds are the best and if he works with them he will have a solid quality stud like Joes. He explained about where he lives with the forest & woods around and all the fresh air. He said he thought that environment together with a well ventilated bird room may explain why he breeds aprox 70% hens & 30% cocks, which is what we all would like to do as it’s always the hens we have problems with!

He also doesn’t suffer from French moult and never has and puts that down to good ventilation and hygiene of the bird room. During the shut down year of the virus he re-paired and bred another 500 youngsters, which gave him a lift in the amount of stock to assess and keep and to be able to sell to the increasing number of breeders requiring birds from him. This then allowed him to go out and buy in stock & features he required from other breeders.

The evening ended with Gerald handing back to Ken the extra £5 that Ken originally paid for his book!  (Ken gave it to me afterwards for club funds) - Thanks.

I look forward to seeing you all on Friday 28th March when Malcolm Freemantle entertains us at 7.45pm.  Please ring me if you cannot make it and I will offer your apologies to the meeting.

Northdowns BS AGM

Just a short note ref our AGM and to thank you for all your support.

As mentioned at the AGM, we are currently looking at packages for away aviary trips to Europe with various costings and types of travel!

Also, from the names given to me at the meeting we are looking into over night aviary trips in the UK to top winning breeders.

I look forward to seeing you all on Friday 29th February when Ken Fagan entertains us at 7.45pm.  Please ring me if you cannot make it and I will offer your apologies to the meeting.