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How Important Are Breeding Records


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Well for me very important, I keep a hard copy of each year in a excercise book, I know everyone does it different but my way is the same as Greg uses and I find it very good for me.

I start out with a book out in the aviary of each nest and what they lay and what hatches etc then that book gets brought inside and I have my mane record book that I have pair numbered with their young so round 1 and their young and down the back of the book I have every bird I bred for that year and their ring numbers sex, I have K for keep a S sold and a D for dies in a column etc and their parents breeding number.

So if I want to look up a bird I go to the back of the book find the ring number and pair number which say it 15 then I go to the front of the book and see who the parents are. It is really easy.

I also use the budgerigar program and every bird is registered in their.

 

Here a a couple of pics please excuse my scribble white out comes in handy :) but all this works fro me some breeders use the card system which I think is great but I can't get hold of them yet.

Front of the book

mybirdsforshow038.jpg

 

Back of the book

mybirdsforshow039.jpg

 

I would like to hear how other breeders do it

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I have just begun using a book ( diary really ) in addition .........ready for the next breeding season anyway. The thing is I have had two computer crashes over time that lost me a lot of my records on computer, and when the new computer came with VISTA, the program kept crashing due to its incompatibility with VISTA. I now have the working program that will run with Vista, but I lost a few records in the crashes.

It makes me more certain now to use paperwork as well as computer and also backing up onto a seperate hard drive.

My next thought is to buy one of those newer smaller notebook type pcs and keep it in the birdroom.

Edited by KAZ
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I am glad I have my hard copy because I am still trying to get my records off my old computer, I managed to save the breeding records but it won't let me save the birds and I spent hours putting them all on their, but I can still you the old computer but I find it annoying.

So my old trusty books are great.

I get 3 season to a book before I start another one.

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okay that is a good set up in the book i fine it all hard to get it all in the book but i like what you have can you take a photo off a full page for me can i used this please if i can how did you space it out thank you

 

i think it is very important put i have just not did it all yet but know i am going to have 2 i am starting my clearwing breeding plan

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Keeping records is not important, unless you want to win, or linr breed or advance your stud. Clearwing

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My next thought is to buy one of those newer smaller notebook type pcs and keep it in the birdroom.

I like that idea! :) My only concern would be about feather dust :) ... we keep the lawnmower in a corner of our garage/breeding room and have to routinely clean out the filter and such when the lawn starts growing again with the winter rains. Thank goodness that falls under the parameters of "man jobs"! :wine

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okay that is a good set up in the book i fine it all hard to get it all in the book but i like what you have can you take a photo off a full page for me can i used this please if i can how did you space it out thank you

 

i think it is very important put i have just not did it all yet but know i am going to have 2 i am starting my clearwing breeding plan

 

Yes Shannon will take a photo soon the camera recharges.

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My next thought is to buy one of those newer smaller notebook type pcs and keep it in the birdroom.
I like that idea! :) My only concern would be about feather dust :) ... we keep the lawnmower in a corner of our garage/breeding room and have to routinely clean out the filter and such when the lawn starts growing again with the winter rains. Thank goodness that falls under the parameters of "man jobs"! :wine
I will wrap it up or remove it when not in use.
Keeping records is not important, unless you want to win, or linr breed or advance your stud. Clearwing
Important to all show breeders so that's it in a nutshell isnt it CW :P
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Yes Kaz thats about it, I have an incredable memory for birds [not for anything else] but I still keep detailed records of every mating, details of features such as spot size, shoulder width, feather length are invaluable. You may have a reasonably short feathered bird, but when you check your records you find it was bred from long feathered cock so you know the gene for long feather is in the bird you just need a long feathered mate to bring it out.

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Great advice Clearwing :)

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My problem is not so much the record keeping but keeping track! :wine

 

I routinely have a couple of nest starting to hatch at the same time, minimum 2 but it has be known to reach 5 within a 7 day period, and because I move the chicks around all the time - a day old chick from a non-feeding maiden to a more experienced hen for a couple of days and then back to the original nest or another maiden AND I group all same age chicks together so they all fledge within days of each other, well I get very confused. :P Fortunately for me my hens don't, I do believe you can train them. :)

 

I am wondering what other breeders who have a similar experience do? :)

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I try not to move them around untill they are rung but If I have to i put them in a nest that will not be the colour of that bird but then that does not always work out

But I do put food colouring on the so I can at least work out which one is which.

As babies hatch I record them on the nest box record sheet. and If they do get moved it is written the record sheet and the nest where they have gone to.

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But I do put food colouring on them so I can at least work out which one is which.

Food colorant, that is a good tip :)

I have had 30+ same aged chicks on the go at once ... any one out there with a similar experience who would like to share? :)

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If I move unrung chicks it's always to a nest that I can tell it apart. For example red eyed chicks into a nest from known normal parents or visa versa plus every move is recorded on the cards. Then come ringing time I know who is who.

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mmmmm. Well what if you can't move to a definite different variety? :)

 

Many of our birds are split for something or another ... I guess everyone is super organized and never lose track. :)

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Renee sorry but it sounds like you don't who your babies belong to, maybe you should cut down on how many pairs you breed from at anyone time

like last year I had 25 cages going and I found it very hard this year I plan on my usual 14 or maybe 16 cage then I can keep control of what I have going.

I am like Nubbly only put babies in cages I know are different like a cage that are all spangles so I can put normals in there.

Edited by splat
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Renee sorry but it sounds like you don't who your babies belong to, maybe you should cut down on how many pairs you breed from at anyone time

like last year I had 25 cages going and I found it very hard this year I plan on my usual 14 or maybe 16 cage then I can keep control of what I have going.

I am like Nubbly only put babies in cages I know are different like a cage that are all spangles so I can put normals in there.

Well I have had a couple that I have looked at and said, "well where did you come from?!" ... a sea green spangle I bred this year comes to mind, I was expecting a DF White Spangle! :)

 

I had I think 29 on the go last year and the hatching was staggered but as it happens I did have an unforseen bottle neck.

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For you Shannon

This is what my record book looks like pretty hey, and the one out in the breeding room has little one old chicks on it

mybirdsforshow040.jpg

 

This is a page out of my record book,

mybirdsforshow043.jpg

 

this is a page from the back

mybirdsforshow044.jpg

 

This is a page from the book in the breedroom that then gets tranfered into the main book

mybirdsforshow045.jpg

 

At the start of my book I allow around half the book to record the nest maybe more and at the back about 3/4 back I start putting all the birds I have bred.

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My problem is not so much the record keeping but keeping track! :)

 

I routinely have a couple of nest starting to hatch at the same time, minimum 2 but it has be known to reach 5 within a 7 day period, and because I move the chicks around all the time - a day old chick from a non-feeding maiden to a more experienced hen for a couple of days and then back to the original nest or another maiden AND I group all same age chicks together so they all fledge within days of each other, well I get very confused. :D Fortunately for me my hens don't, I do believe you can train them. :lol:

 

I am wondering what other breeders who have a similar experience do? :rolleyes:

I think you would be aware too Renee that one of the top breeders over here, a Nationals breeder, ( who shall remain nameless ) has admitted on more than one occasion that he also shifts chicks about so much that he also loses track. Its the shIfting about so quickly with no written record and losing track that causes future surprises and missing splits not recorded to assist moving forward in breeding and this hobby. It wastes a lot of time and birds.

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Totally agree Kaz.

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My problem is not so much the record keeping but keeping track! :D

 

I routinely have a couple of nest starting to hatch at the same time, minimum 2 but it has be known to reach 5 within a 7 day period, and because I move the chicks around all the time - a day old chick from a non-feeding maiden to a more experienced hen for a couple of days and then back to the original nest or another maiden AND I group all same age chicks together so they all fledge within days of each other, well I get very confused. :D Fortunately for me my hens don't, I do believe you can train them. :lol:

 

I am wondering what other breeders who have a similar experience do? :rolleyes:

I think you would be aware too Renee that one of the top breeders over here, a Nationals breeder, ( who shall remain nameless ) has admitted on more than one occasion that he also shifts chicks about so much that he also loses track. Its the shIfting about so quickly with no written record and losing track that causes future surprises and missing splits not recorded to assist moving forward in breeding and this hobby. It wastes a lot of time and birds.

And good on them for being so candid is what I say. :) I wish a few more people would put up their hands and admit that sometimes **** happens for whatever reason. :) Although admittedly this is a public forum ... just as well I don't take myself too seriously otherwise I'd be terribly hurt by any easy assumptions that could be drawn. B)

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That's not fair Renee, first of all I or we have to make the mistake first and I did say earlier moving young around does not always work. I have had 2 babies last that I was confused over because I put them in a nest where I was quite sure all birds would be green but they all turned out blue. Those birds are now in the cull cage but luckily they were not much good. Had I checked the records I would of relised that both birds were split for blue (MY MISTAKE)

BUT I do not want to make the same mistake next this year.

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It is very easy to lose track of baby budgies. I have a couple of times when chicks had to be moved not once, not twice but three times..........before legrings. I try to only move the rung chicks as a rule. Or I move them into a nest where they will be recognised when they feather up. Some can be recognised and others leave us scratching our heads trying to figure it out. I have had three that had me guessing, over time.

Sometimes quick decisions have to be made in very young unrung chicks. I record these moves on the nestbox cards and then wait for them to feather up to ID the fostered chicks. On the odd occasion when I had a hen who escaped her cage on a regular basis ( up to three times a day in the birdroom ) I would find she had eaten much of my nestbox cards :lol:

This taught me to have a diary as well and to record nestbox card info a lot quicker than I was :rolleyes:

We all make mistakes. Its up to us to learn and try and be smarter than our budgies.

Edited by KAZ
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here here Kaz :rolleyes:

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here here Kaz :lol:

I think your food colouring idea is good. I once marked a baby budgie on the bottom of its foot with a black marker permanent pen....it was gone in half a day :rolleyes:

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