A Special article Written by Ray Steele
There are studs of all sizes in the Budgerigar Fancy and the big prizewinners come – more often than not – from the larger studs. This gives rise to the complaint “We don’t stand a chance against the big boys”. Whether this statement is true or not depends upon how you approach the problems.
I appreciate that many beginners are limited, both for space and finance but many of the top fanciers of today started in a similar manner. I had neither space nor the money and, in the real terms, good budgerigars were more expensive back in the 1960’s, when I began to take the fancy seriously. In my view, fanciers with small studs can enjoy a great deal of success, but only if they have determination, dedication and skill. I fear that many of the moaners lack one, two or even all three of these essential qualities.
The secret is to specialise and to maintain the policy of specialisation until you have established yourself on the show bench. This is not just theory; it is exactly what I decided to do in 1970. Ten years later I had established myself as one of the leading breeders and exhibitors of Lutinos, winning 360 of the 980 classes entered during a twelve-year period.
A big champion breeder or partnership will use 40, 50 or even more breeding pairs, 10 or 15 for each of the colours he has decided to keep. The newcomer is more likely to have 15 to 20 breeding cages at his disposal. If all of these are given to a single variety he has a good chance of having more youngsters of that variety to choose from than any one else in the country, when the show season comes around. Provided the stock came from good quality budgerigars in the first instance, there is no reason why a number of the chicks should not, themselves, be of high quality.
If I were starting again tomorrow with 45 years of experience behind me, I would set up a birdroom with 20 breeding cages and two inside flights – capable of housing 200 budgerigars. I would not put all of the breeding cages to use in the first instance – I would phase them in as the number of birds, of suitable quality, justified it.
Which variety to specialise in depends upon the individual, preferences of a breeder and at what level he wishes to succeed in the fancy. It is more difficult to breed top specials winners on a regular basis from budgerigars of the “lesser” varieties. However, there is no reason why they should not win Best of Colour awards in competition with their own variety. This – no matter which variety is chosen - should be the first goal.
If you decide to specialise in the “stronger” varieties – such as Grey Green, Grey, Light Green or Normal Cinnamon, the competition will be stiffer. On the other hand, the rewards will be greater. In the first instance, I would buy current year birds – ones that have not been used for breeding by someone else. In this way, you avoid buying other people’s problems. That is not to suggest that all older budgerigars are not good breeders; some are very good, but starting off with birds that are four or five years old (as some beginners have done) is a recipe for disaster. While older birds will breed, the hens are always a risk, a risk that beginners with limited resources can ill afford to take.
Producing a reasonable number of chicks is important if a newcomer is to maintain his enthusiasm. Ideally, the initial stock should be obtained from one or two studs. However, it is the quality of the bird that is most important so ideals sometimes have to be abandoned and birds of the right calibre should be bought from wherever they can be found. I can recall a fancier who purchased two birds from Europe for £150 each who stated they were only worth £15 each, however they were said to have the “blood”. I can assure beginners that this type of bird will generally breed birds like itself – irrespective of blood - line. He should bear this in mind when making purchases.
I would not advocate “putting all your eggs in one basket”, by purchasing one outstanding cock and, say, three good hens. The chances are they will let you down, so it is better to spread your chances more thinly and bring those features that go to make an outstanding budgerigar together on one bird over a period of time. The youngsters, bred from parents that have been paired on the “best cock to best available hen” basis must be carefully assessed so that only the best are retained to be integrated into the stud. Once a stud has been established on the basis of home bred stock, you can go out and look for individual cocks of better quality to keep improving the stud.
At this stage, you may well have to buy an over-year bird in order to acquire the necessary quality. The reason is that most breeders keep their best youngsters for their own breeding programme and the best chance of obtaining one is when it has been bred from.
As you gain experience, you should learn to identify the difference between a buff (coarse feathered) and a yellow (fine feathered) budgerigar. It is the skilful blending of these two types that produces first class exhibition budgerigars.
With the knowledge you build up, plus the previously mentioned specialisation, determination and dedication, there is no reason at all why a breeder with a relatively small stud should not be challenging the top champions just a few years after first making the decision to specialise.