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Buying Birds By Robert Manvell Return
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Articles page Some comments made to me by struggling fanciers has prompted
me to put pen to paper. On many occasions, fanciers have lament "nobody
will sell them good Birds" or "they can't afford to buy or wont pay
the prices asked for good stock birds" along with "after all the money
I have spent, my birds are going nowhere!". Apart from the above statements being a bit of a whinge, the
basic problem would appear to be, that very little thought has been given to the
many factors which influence whether a purchase is going to be useful or not.
These factors could include :-
In addition to the above, we must not forget the most
important factors, the fanciers own ability and experience. Many birds
procured by fanciers are of little or no use to them. In fact many birds should
not have been purchased in the first place. Hopefully the information contained herein will address some
of these points and give you something to think about before you next make a
purchase. There are many reasons why breeders buy budgerigars. Some
breeders may have aspirations of being one of the next Legends of the hobby.
While others are quite happy to just plod along enjoying their birds without
ever wanting to improve their stock exhibition wise. There is absolutely nothing
wrong with either of these goals as they are a very personal choice. The vast
majority of fanciers are lodged somewhere in between these two extremes. In the beginning. Birds acquired in the early stages of the hobby should be
regarded as disposable or for want of a better explanation a stepping stone to
the future. I say this because in the early days the new fancier does not have
the skill or knowledge to get the best out of their birds. Most probably the
initial exhibition stock birds will have died and thus will have been wasted
before they could be properly utilised. Spending big at this point would be
foolhardy. Even if you can afford visually superior stock, you simply will not
have the eye necessary to make full use of these birds. The fancy is littered
with breeders in this position, successful today and floundering tomorrow, then
exit stage right. In the beginning buy a few pairs of reasonably priced stock
from a recommended (word of mouth), breeder and have some fun. That's right,
have some fun, while you learn the ropes, getting on. top of things like
breeding, feeding and keeping these finicky exhibition birds alive and well.
Then when your ready, trade-in your birds and move up to the next step on the
ladder. Take time to enjoy your days as a beginner. Use this important time to
educate your eye for the finer points of exhibition Budgerigars. From this point on the breeders will have been breeding for a
while and should be starting to appreciate a quality bird. Thus they would be
ready to improve their birds to be more competitive in whatever status they
exhibit. It is from here that you should be starting to consider building the
foundations for your future in the hobby. The more experienced and established breeders will be trying
to buy features to implant in their own birds, making them more complete and
therefore more likely to win the highest accolades on the show bench. All the
above categories of breeders have very different requirements, and are therefore
sourcing a very different style and or quality of birds.
Be honest with yourself. If you are not an accomplished breeder, you will more
than likely have some major inadequacies in your present stock. You must be
objective and absolutely honest with yourself, acknowledging your bird's
failings, if you wish to make real progress. The fundamental problem is, the features so necessary on a
winning Exhibition Budgerigar are not all that heritable. Meaning, for instance,
if your birds have poor head features you will find that in almost every case, a
single purchase is not capable of fixing this well established problem in your
birds. This happens because the poor features will be dominant, thus suppressing
the new improved features you are trying to establish. The results are
disappointing when purchased birds are paired to birds that do not have
comparable or compatible backgrounds. This is why so many outcrosses fail to
pass on their superior features. Unfortunately, in many instances breeders are just wasting
their time trying to fix endemic problems within their stock by buying in the
odd out-cross. I'm sure you've all heard the "flogging a dead horse"
or "banging your head against a brick wall" analogies. These two
sayings are especially true regarding breeding exhibition budgies!!!!! Need for Upgrading. If you are honest with yourself and you can recognise you are
in the above position, you would be far better off to cut your losses and
completely upgrade your bloodline and start an entirely new line within your
aviary. Rather than wasting time and money on the existing line that is
resisting your efforts to improve and therefore holding you back. I have done
exactly as outlined on three occasions over the past sixteen years. Being realistic, I knew the birds in my aviary at the time did
not have what it takes to be competitive. Nor were the birds backgrounds there
to pull the necessary features out. The first upgrade was to the Scoble birds,
the second an imported UK line (F & C
McGovern) and finally I was fortunate
enough to buy birds from Mannes in Germany. The last upgrade was some four
seasons ago, and I am reaping the benefits of the Mannes blood now.
You must have faith because each time I converted to a new superior line,
visually my birds took a step backwards. On each occasion however the babies
produced in the first season were a vast improvement on the predecessors. All it
took was for me to swallow my pride and admit to myself, that my birds were as
good as they were going to get! My birds did not have any chance of progressing
to the quality of the Mannes birds, so they had to go! No other purchases have
been necessary or should be necessary in the near future, since this last
complete major overhaul. Obviously I could not afford to buy Mannes top birds, but the
ones I did buy were from his strongest lines. From previous experience, I
learnt, "you are far better off with a visually ordinary bird from an
outstanding stud than you are with an outstanding bird from a mediocre
stud". This is because in an outstanding stud the birds will have
background, pedigree substance and ancestral homogeneity. Regardless of the
birds visual quality if it is from an outstanding bloodline it should be capable
of passing on the family attributes. The mediocre stud will not have the
background to do this. Justifiably, an ordinary bird from the outstanding stud may be
the same price or in the case of Mannes a lot more than a good visual bird at an
average establishment. Human nature will wrongly push even the most experienced
fancier towards the visual purchase almost every time. If you wish to progress,
the first and most important consideration when purchasing is background. You
can't breed great budgies from a second-rate bloodline. Select the best bird you
are offered or can afford with the chosen background. This is exactly what I did
with the Mannes birds. With this type of purchase I know that over the long haul
these birds will reproduce, and they have as expected, produced some excellent
quality babies over a few generations. The secret is if you can buy a group of birds from one
dependable bloodline, there are many possibilities (chances) for producing
quality youngsters. This is better than putting all your eggs in the one basket
with that one super bird purchase. From this you should gather I basically
disagree with the general thinking that you are better off buying one good bird
instead of several lesser quality ones. Of course, the proviso is, the birds
purchased must be from an outstanding bloodline and have impeccable parentage. Looking for stock. From who and what quality of birds you purchase, will depend
on your position within the hobby, your future aspirations and of course your
resources. However, if do you wish to build an outstanding stud of birds, you
must acquire your stock from a breeder who has an outstanding stud of birds,
with all the contemporary features you desire, most especially top end features.
What is the point of selecting rejects from a breeder who is not capable of
mixing it with the best? Where do we get these marvellous birds? Whatever are your
individual requirements, you must not be hasty, take your time and be on the
lookout for breeders who are exhibiting stock with the features you desire. Or
if you require a new start, look out for breeders who are winning year in and
year out with young and old birds all of course bred in their own aviary. Make
sure the selected persons are winning with different birds, not the same few
they are flogging to death. The last point is cost! Personally, I buy so few birds, the
cost over many years is almost irrelevant. If the birds are the ones I want and
they are available, within reason I will pay the price asked. To me the bird is
much more important than the price. Each buyer will have their own circumstances
and must work within these constraints. All fanciers should be aware though
there is absolutely no correlation between the price you pay for a bird and the
quality you are getting. To summarise * Check if the features you need
are in your flock before buying. * Only buy for a reason. * Take time to find a source to
purchase your requirements for the future. * If your flock is well off the
pace, be prepared to start from scratch. * When you do buy, give your
purchases the opportunity to prove their worth. * Although winning is nice, it far
from being the most important part of the hobby. I hope the above information is of some assistance. Good Luck,
take your time and enjoy the hobby! ã Robert
Manvell 1997 Please seek permission before reproducing this article. Email robert@bigtgolf.com Return
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Robert Manvell: Phone 02 67622272 Mobile 0427 622272 Tamworth NSW Australia |