ARTICLES

CHICKWEED

By Chris Snell

In 1984 C & A Snell took the supreme award of the British Budgerigar Fancy best in show at the BS Club Show. As recently as 1991, 1994 & 2007 the partnership were awarded the trophy for best opposite sex in show at the same event. Chris Snell the younger member of the partnership is a great believer in feeding natural foods to their stud of exhibition Budgerigars
WHEN I was only five years old my father kept pet Budgerigars. I used to collect chickweed, from the garden, for his birds and even at that age I could sense how excited the Budgerigars became when they sensed that a supply of this green food was to be made available.
As I grew older I would go out on my bike and I regularly went on a trip of 6 miles to gather a plastic bag full and made the return journey with the bag balanced on the handlebars. As a youngster I was chased from gardens and off private land - once by a man with a gun. Nowadays, I find that a polite request to enter property “to collect chickweed for my Budgies” is often met with amusement and never refused.
Today, at the age of 54, I still collect chickweed. Anyone who has carried out the same task for 45 years is bound to be something of an expert on the subject and that may be why I can spot chickweed growing at the side of a road even when I am travelling at 70 miles per hour. Chickweed is a different shade of green to any other plant.
On one occasion I worked for six months near Doncaster and I was invited to give a talk at the local Budgerigar society. As soon as I got onto my hobbyhorse - chickweed - I was assured by several locals, who were unaware that I was working nearby, that chickweed did not grow in Doncaster. I told them that in my lunch hours I had already identified six sites where it grew in profusion.
Wherever good soil is disturbed, chickweed grows. At the sides of newly-made roads and where a load of topsoil has been dumped are always promising sites. Chickweed does not grow in the middle of summer and winter. Which means that, no matter how hard you look, there are about six weeks of the year when chickweed is not available. Chickweed is made up almost entirely of water and so it chills off in the cold and withers in the heat perhaps more quickly than any other plant. This fragility is useful when it comes to finding out whether a source of chickweed has been sprayed with weedkiller. Whereas some weeds takes days to wither, when sprayed, chickweed goes yellow within hours and warns the collector that all is not well.
Anyone writing about collecting wild greenfood must always offer a caution about the possibility that it has been fouled by chemical sprays or animals. A farmer friend of mine taught me to taste all foods myself before giving them to my birds. If food has been sprayed it can be tasted and the amount taken will not be sufficient to mar the health of a human. However, the same amount could kill a bird. I gather dustbin-bags full of chickweed at the height of the season and taste several samples at different levels down the bag. I have never experienced a bad taste and have never lost a bird due to polluted greenfood. All greenfood should be washed, but I hate to see valuable chickweed seeds lying in the bottom of the sink after a supply has been rinsed. I collect the seeds and plant them in a cold frame so that I have a supply ready for emergencies. Chickweed flourishes when growing on manure.
Offering large quantities of chickweed to birds that have never experienced it before could upset their digestion. It is similar to when we go on holiday and find that the local water does not agree with us. It takes a few days for our stomachs to settle down. It is best to introduce birds to any new food gradually. Our own birds will eat any amount with no ill effects. When there is a good supply available a large handful goes into every breeding cage. Some birds consume the lot while others pick out the seeds, but all benefit.
Whether breeding pairs are on eggs or chicks, they still receive the same amount and I have seen the colour green in the crops of one-day-old-chicks. Just how much water there is in chickweed is demonstrated by the fact that consumption of drinking water drops dramatically when there is plenty of chickweed on offer. The water it contains is pure, drawn up from the ground. What could be more natural?
In my experience, chickweed seems to act as a stimulant. When our Budgerigars are paired they receive a little chickweed and it excites them. It is like lighting the blue touch paper. If a hen with chicks is a little lazy, a few sprigs of chickweed seem to spark her off and gets her down to feeding her brood properly. This is the sort of eventuality I was thinking of when I referred to emergencies in a previous paragraph. Once your stud of Budgerigars knows what a treat it is, you will find that the birdroom comes to life when you enter with a bag of chickweed.
As an alternative to chickweed I grow perpetual spinach. This is well named because I only ever bought one packet of seeds and since then the plants have seeded themselves in my garden. It is stronger than chickweed and I do not think it is as good for my birds, but it is a useful back-up. I think of carrots as greenfood and many a greengrocer has raised his eyebrows when I have requested the largest carrot in the shop. This goes into the flight and is soon devoured.
While on a trip to the USA I saw Budgerigars demolishing heads of sweet corn in the aviaries of Gil Barboza in Texas. Since then our own birds receive the same treat. I recently saw a packet of sweet corn seeds and wondered whether I should grow my own, but my gardening skills extend only to chickweed and spinach so I will continue to obtain my supply from the supermarket.
In June, our Budgerigars receive lots of seeding grasses. I prefer to gather it from meadows that are set aside for haymaking. I am not so keen on fields which have been sown only with rye grass as a variety of seeds is better. In a good field you will be able to cut 12 different grasses. I know the names of some - rye, timothy, coxfoot, wild oats - but many other I know only by sight. I feed seeding grasses green, medium green and ripe. Unfortunately the season is limited but at its height there will be a 2inch thick layer of seeding grasses on the floors of our outside flights. Within a couple of days only a few, chewed stalks will remain.
Although not considered strictly as food, apple branches are readily stripped of their bark by our Budgerigars and I am sure they benefit. I know where wild apple trees grow and prune them every year. The same, natural feeding policy extends to the softfood mixture fed to our breeding pairs. We grate six hard-boiled eggs with three medium-sized carrots and add the contents of a royal jelly capsule; all natural foods. No sausage rusk or biscuit is added though, from time to time, a little wheat germ bran (bought from a health food shop) is added. This is particularly useful if the mixture is too wet.
One drawback of feeding natural foods is that some of them -chickweed and carrots for example - stain birds’ masks. This means that the show team do not receive them. It makes me feel terrible to walk past the show team’s cage (containing, by definition, some of our best Budgerigars) and have to deny them the foods they love so much.
Seeding grasses, chickweed and the like have two other things going for them. They provide activity for our birds and, while they are eating these wild foods they are not eating the seed that we buy. Our seed bill is much lower than it might be because of our natural- feeding policy. Reduce costs and have fitter birds, all at the same time. What could be better?

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LOOKING AFTER THE CHICK'S

By Jackie Freakley

I will never forget that special day our first chick was born. It was Christmas Day. I was amazed how loudly the call came from inside the egg, and then after a short time and much hard work there lay a tiny pink chick almost exhausted from all its efforts. It made me think that if we put as much work into giving the chicks the best start possible, as they did trying to get out of the shell both our labours should be rewarded.

During the first two weeks the chicks develop at an amazing rate and we feel that at this time it is essential to give the parents extra food to aid the chick’s growth.
Initially of course the chicks are fed on crop milk which gives them all the goodness they need, but as this begins to diminish they will be given small amounts of regurgitated food by the parents.

When the birds are paired up we feed a proprietary soft food, mixed with grated carrot, soaked oats, broccoli and boiled egg.
We feel that routine is very important and try to keep as near as possible to a good timetable. The soft food is given at the same time each day. When the time approaches there is an air of expectancy in the bird room and when given, the food is quickly devoured. We also give tonic seed in a finger drawer and millet sprays every day. We are convinced these extra treats set the chicks off to a better start.

We have the advantage of being able to check our chicks at regular intervals throughout the day. By doing this we can monitor their progress and if we find a chick is being left out we can re-house it before it is too late. We have also found that if a hen has only one chick to rear, it never seems to make a strong adult. Four chicks per nest we feel is perfect but we should be so lucky.
Once the frame of the bird has developed it is quickly covered with down feathers, and after a short time the quills are produced. This is a traumatic time for the chicks and it is essential that the parents continue to be feed all the nourishment we can give them, so as to aid the feather formation which is a major part of the birds structure.

When the chicks are old enough to be taken away from the parents we put them into a mobile nursery cage. This settles the birds down and gets them used to movement around them.
It is critical when the young birds are taken away from their parents that they should be handled regularly to ensure they are feeding properly. Feel the crop last thing at night and if it feels empty they will need to be fed.

In this situation we feed the birds ourselves with a dosing tube. These are now available from the Budgerigar society
We prepare a mixture of Kay-Tee rearing food and a little glucose which we mix to a runny consistency with warm water. This is then fed directly into the crop. By doing this we have managed to save many young birds that would other wise have died. But please make sure you know exactly how to administer the tube before using it.

We are sure all your efforts will be rewarded, hopefully with a good show season and an even better breeding season. Good Luck.

Jackie

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SHOW CAGE TRAINING

By Mick Freakley

At this time of the year, most serious exhibition budgie breeders will be well into the breeding season, and will just about be completing their second rounds. It is around this time our thoughts turn to the first round youngsters as these will form the basis of the breeders early young bird show team.

Some birds will be natural showmen/women and will adapt to the show cage with absolutely no problems whatsoever, others though will be just the opposite and will not like the confines of a show cage at all. It is these birds we need to give some show cage training to.

It is no good just placing this type of bird in the show cage and leaving it to get on with it, thinking it will get used to it in time, it won't. All that will result is a bird that has so many bad habits, it will be useless at any show. I suggest short periods of no more than ten minutes at a time, and only when you (the breeder) are present. It is important to make sure the bird gets on the perch, use a judging stick to do this. Just place the stick between the show cage bars and touch the chest of the bird, if you are lucky the bird will hop onto the stick and you can then lift it to the perch, it should then step onto the perch itself.

If the bird will not get up, try tapping the front of the cage below cage wire level, this is what a judge will do at a show, and the birds will get used to the tapping. Once the bird is up, stand back for a while and view from a distance, so as not to crowd it at first. If the bird drops to the floor, just repeat the process of getting it up on the perch again. Remember, no more that ten minutes at a time. When the time is up, place the bird back in the same stock cage it came from. Have another session with this bird the next day.

If you have a budgerigar that despite all your efforts will not perch, one trick you can try is to get and old stager, an adult show bird who is used to a show cage, place both him and the baby in together. The calm of the adult can help the youngster, and quickly teach him to calm down. It is amazing how soon a nervous baby can learn the ropes from an old hand.

One practice that must be avoided at all costs, in my opinion, is that of placing stuff on the floor of the show cage to stop the bird sitting on the floor. I have heard of all types of practices from filling the floor with ping pong balls, to actually putting an inch or more water in the cage. I strongly recommend you do not go down this route.

Once you feel your bird is reacting well to being in the show cage, start to move the cage around the bird room, this will get him used to being moved, banged around etc. Take it into the house and let the kids run around it. Obviously do not over stress the bird, again just short spells, then back to the shed and his/her mates.

One other practise is to take the bird a ride in the car. No, not to go shopping with you, but to get it used to the noise, the darkness, and the movement of the road. It would be a wasted effort if you spent all the time it took to get your best baby used to the show cage, spending six to eight weeks preparing and getting him in the best feather for the show, only to ruin it all because he panicked on his first outing and smashed his flights, or banged his head and had blood everywhere when you got to the show all.

If you follow these tips, and get your bird to the show in his best suit as it were, and have him/her standing steady on the perch, looking at the judge as if to say, look at me, give me the rosette, the chances are he will, and you will have a very well deserved winner on your hands. If so, give the bird and yourself a very well deserved pat on the back.

Copyright 2009 © Mick Freakley http://www.fa1-stud.co.uk/. All Rights Reserved
This article and/or pictures may not be reproduced in any way, shape or form without the express permission of Mick Freakley.

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AN INSIGHT INTO SHOW PREPARATION

By Mick Freakley

How do we prepare our birds for a show, well, I will try to expain in some detail providing images to help you see how the process develops.

First thing to do is to catch up the birds you feel will make your show team for the season, let them settle down for around a week, and then check for any damaged or broken flights/tail feathers. These broken feathers will need to be removed.

Check for Damaged flight feathers

To remove a flight feather, hold the wing butt at the base of the feather to be removed, with the other finger and thumb, pull and remove the damaged flight.

We need to do the same with broken tail feathers, or any you want to volantary remove, this is done to make sure new tail feathers are down for the new season. Flight and tail feathers take between 6 and 8 weeks to re-grow, I would definately leave 8 to be on the safe side. Again hold tight at the base of the feather and pull out the tail

The last removing of feathers is to remove the four main spot feathers, these will take approximately 4 weeks to re-grow. I must say at this point removing any feathers carries an eliment of risk, not so much with the spot feathers, but the flight and tails, there can be instances where these never re-grow, so the decision to pull or not is entirely down to you.

The next job will to start the spraying process, but before we do, once the birds have been sprayed they will need to be housed in a clean cage, with clean shavings etc. So get that cage sorted.

Now we need to spray the birds, I use my home made cage you see in the photo's, but you can use an old show cage, although you will need to turn the bird, which is not alway easy, or an old wire budgie cage is ideal.

You can used a hand sprayer or a pump up one as shown, I would recommend the latter.

Give them a real soaking at this stage, you may wish to add a plume spray, but again I just use cold water.

Another spraying today, not too heavy this time, it is important to make sure you spray earlier enough in the day to ensure the birds have the required time to dry completely before going to roost.

If you look at this cinnamon sky you will be able to see the water globules on the feathers, this is a sign that the preening is working and the feathers are coming into good condition.

How many times have you seen a good bird spoiled at a show because of pin feather, as you will see this cock is full of them. All we need to do is to rub them with finger and thumb, this will remove the wax on the quill as we mentioned earlier in the thread. A soft tooth brush will help too, this needs to be dry. As you will see from the series of images below, in a couple of minutes you can make a big difference. This bird is not in full show condition yet, but at least we can see how easy it is to open the feathers. Don't give the judge a reason to put your bird down.

To be continued.............