Exhibition Budgerigar: Selection and Setting up Breeding Pairs
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Breeding Data:
- Average Clutch Size: 4 - 8 eggs - may produce several clutches a year under favorable conditions (plenty of food, good and safe housing, availability of nest box, etc.)
- Incubation: 18 days
The below information has kindly been provided by Rob Marshall - Avian Vet:
The selection process begins well before the first egg is laid when the fancier examines the breeding performance of the parents and grand parents. The best fanciers then follow the progress of the chicks in the nest, because the vitality and potential breeding quality of a budgerigar is obvious to the observant fancier from a very young age. Most of this vitality relates directly to the selection of the parents as a breeding pair, but also to the nutrition provided to the growing chicks. The modern day budgerigar takes 6 weeks to fledge (50% longer than the wild bird). The feeding parents must be much stronger and given much more energy rich food to cope with this extended breeding cycle and the chicks require a specialized feeding system to expose their full genetic potential as a show bird.
The breeding pairs are selected on:
- Breeding Records
Look to the records for evidence of lethal show faults (dropped tail and "nipped in the neck"). Good fertility and large clutch sizes are also largely genetically determined and passed on from one generation to the next. This heritable characteristic is a most important selection criterion. Look for the percentage of the chicks that fledge with feather problems. French Moult is a most important disease of the budgerigars. Look for this trend in certain family lines in an effort to identify and cull the original "carrier".
Observation
The best fanciers spend many hours observing their birds in the aviary and breeding cabinet. Observant fanciers develop an uncanny understanding of the needs and characteristics of the families they keep. Often they make intuitive decisions regarding the pairing of their birds, but their intuition is an understanding based upon the knowledge gained from years of observation.
Vitality
The observant fancier easily identifies the most vigorous and fittest birds in the aviary and it is these birds that are chosen above all for breeding. Exercise, play, good quality food and sunlight are essential ingredients for the fitness required for successful budgerigar breeding. The birds are prepared both mentally and physically prior to breeding by feeding and health programmes. The most vital and energetic birds with breeding experience are paired first and a few weeks later the most vital young birds are selected.
Youth
The wild budgerigar has prospered because of its ability to breed quickly and in good conditions they start breeding at a very young age. Their ultimate survival as a species depends on it. In the aviary, the young birds are the most vital and most appropriate for breeding quality exhibition budgerigars, but they need experienced older pairs breeding beforehand to get them started.
Strong hens
Strong quality hens are the backbone of a successful breeding season. Just as the wild budgerigar hen is the most important partner in breeding success in the wild, so too does a strong energetic quality hen form the foundation for a successful budgerigar aviary. In the wild, hen birds have been seen mating with more than six cocks at a time.
- Family history (genetics) and desirable physical show features.
As a general rule it is still best to select a bird close to the pictorial model of perfection. There is a much greater chance of breeding the best show bird from a long dynasty of successful show birds. It is important to select the closest bird to perfection that you can get your hands on. This is the starting point for show success.
Copyright © 2004 Rob Marshall, All Rights Reserved
Housing Your Budgies
Courtesy of: Budgerigar Society of Pakistan
Budgerigars can be kept as a single pair as well as pairs in a colony. For exhibition or English budgies, it is best to pair them and breed them per pair as you will be required to control the genetics. But if you are not interested in controlled breeding then colony breeding is an option.
The minimum cage requirement for a pair of American budgies is: 1.5 feet high by 1.5 feet long by 1.5 feet deep. Exhibition budgies should be housed in cages of the following dimensions: 2 feet length by 1.5 feet high by 2 feet deep.
The cage should have a nest box hung in one corner. Direct sunlight must be avoided as it quicky heats up inside the nest box potentially killing the eggs or chicks. The nest box size used for the English budgies is 6 inches by 6 inches L and Width by 10 inches deep. It is available for breeding lovebird in our local Pakistani market. The cage should have a stick (perch) crossing the front of the box 2 inches below and 3 inches approx. wide of the hole of the nest box. It should be fixed at both the end so that it does not move. I had the budgie pair for three months and despite all my efforts they did not breed. About a month back I introduced a new perched and saw to it that it was very tightly fixed. I was rewarded and the Hen laid eggs. Now they are rearing 7 chicks the older one being about 2 weeks old. So this emphasizes that sometimes the thing may seem trivial but they can have a huge effect on your breeding success. A cuttlefish bone (also known as Samandar Ka jhaag In urdu) should be always available to them plus you can add calcium block if you like.
In colony many birds can be kept together but a close eye must be kept on them to see if fighting is going on. If so, it is better to identify and remove the culprit. It usually is a hen who takes fancy to some other hen's nest and the fighting starts between them to conquer the nest box. If colony is handled well then it is more rewarding then the single pair breed. But for beginners I will advise them to keep them a single pair and remove the chicks as soon as they are able to feed themselves.
Here is a great example of a flight cage:
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