My start with Budgerigars was the traditional way - through the pet side of the hobby. This was enjoyed for a few years following a visit to a work colleague of my father who kept Budgerigars in his garden shed. These were bred on a colony system and were mainly blues of "mixed" variety. At the time I saw this as a interesting pastime and perhaps the opportunity to satisfy the then high pet demands that existed. I bred my pet budgies for a few years before attending a show of the Basingstoke Cage Bird Society. As with so many other breeders before me, I immediately became hooked on the show bird. I joined the BS in 1980 and all the pets went.
As a Beginner I did very well with Dominant Pieds - my initial stock came from Joan and David Nicholls. They had this super family of Cinnamon Grey Pieds and following a degree of badgering on my part I was eventually the proud owner of one of these. This bird bred very well for me and from this family I was awarded many VBC Section Awards. One of the first shows in which I entered my Pieds was at Camberley CBS. At the time my de-spotting skills were not well honed and I had left a spot in. At the show, prior to judging Joan de-spotted this bird "properly". Thanks to her it won Best Dominant Pied Young Bird and Dominant Pied in show, beating her birds to boot. This is the hobby at its most unselfish. I also won my very first Challenge Certificate with a Pied but this time it was a Recessive.
To me the hobby is a continual learning process. People are always coming up with new ideas and suggestions how to get the best from our birds. In terms of influences on my management techniques in the birdroom it was initially a culmination of what I had seen in the many aviaries I visited and also what I had read in the fancy press and in books. It is no different today. I am always open to new ideas. One could say that the greatest demise that our hobby has suffered is it's reluctance to stay up with the times. There have been little significant change in the past 20 years and probably more, and it is no wonder that we fail to attract new members and lose so many with the myriad of other more "exciting" pursuits available that are relatively cheap and highly accessible.
I am in partnership with Brian Poole. He is a good mate and we have enjoyed our partnership without disagreement for 12 years. The way that we operate is separately but together. This may sound like a contradiction in terms but as he has a stud that consists totally of Lutinos and Albinos, we share views on each others birds but rarely do birds move from one aviary to the other. However, all expenses are shared, although we do individually self finance any bird purchases. A few years ago bird sales would cover annual costs but not today. I should also point out that Yvonne, my wife, is also a fancier, having been a BS member for 10 years.
My current birdroom started life as a shed built by a fencing contractor who owned a timber yard near Basingstoke. It measures 10m by 2m and is almost 3m high at its tallest point. As you will realise a construction of this nature and size is not cheap. It seemed to me at the time that a wooden building is little more than fence panels of various sizes joined together with a few windows and a door fitted. It was shortly after the '1987 Storms' that brought so many trees down and consequently there was glut of timber in the area. As a result my birdroom is build of English Oak and as for the cost - £400 including erection. In fact it cost more to insulate and line than it did to build the main structure.
Then another piece of luck came my way. An aviary supply company in Alton run by Wally White went out of business. He had used his stock of part build nest boxes and cages to pay a print bill and I was given the opportunity of buying the lot for a very little, about £150 I seem to recall. From this I had enough material for 24 breeding cages and probably 100 nest boxes - all cut to size and just requiring glue and nails. Since that time and following a few modifications, I have 40 breeding cages at my disposal, although this does include the 8 cages that Yvonne uses.
Like all fanciers, the number of birds kept varies throughout the year depending on what season we are in. As I enter the breeding season my ideal numbers would be 60 cocks and 120 hens but in reality is usually ends up with about 100 birds of each sex. My stock of Pieds these days is very limited, in fact up until this year I had not bred them for 3 years, having concentrated on Clearwings. Also, what has not helped the situation was a series of very poor breeding seasons during which time the stock was getting older and even more difficult to breed with. Last year I made a decision to return to breeding the normal and dominant varieties of Budgerigar and I made a not insignificant investment in birds. In this I acquired 3 Normal Dominant Pied breeder hens. Currently (March) these are all on fertile eggs and I eagerly await the results. Simply, over the nest few seasons I aim to increase my numbers of Dominant Pieds so that I can once again challenge for Pied Specials on the show bench.