Interview With John Rasmussen

[**KAZ** 0]

 

 

 

INTERVIEW BY JOHN RASMUSSEN OF DENMARK Thankyou John

( interview has been translated from Danish into English )

 

 

 

Q1. AT WHICH POINT IN TIME DID YOU FIRST DEVELOP AN INTEREST IN BUDGERIGARS ?

 

My interest in budgerigars started by my uncle giving me a couple of budgies for my birthday gift on my 6 th birthday, it is exactly 50 years ago this year.

 

Q2. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST AVIARY/BREEDING ROOM LIKE ?

 

My first real aviary was in my uncle's basement where I had been allowed to put up some cages that had english budgerigars and small parrots. Later when I moved to my own place I got a little aviary with 6 cages and an aviary. In the 70s I made an aviary with 12 cages and an aviary of the 12 cages produced me about. 120 chicks a year.

Q3. WHERE DID YOUR FIRST BIRDS COME FROM AND OVER WHAT PERIOD OF TIME DID YOU CONTINUE WITH THESE LINES ?

 

In the mid-70s I bought a bird by Bryan Byles bloodline and several of Jim Moffat bloodline, the birds began my breeding foundation until the late 80s when I moved to Greenland.

Q4. ARE YOUR PRESENT BIRDS FROM THESE SAME BLOODLINES, IF NOT WHAT BLOODLINES HAVE IMPACTED MOST WITHIN YOUR STUD?

 

After I returned to Denmark in 1997, I bought birds from the Danish breeders of Jo Mannes blood and birds by Jim Moffat blood and blood by George Jenkins. Later I complimented with new blood from several German breeders. It is difficult to say what the blood line that has meant the most, I would rather say that they all have contributed to the type of birds I have today ..

Q5. HOW DO YOU PREPARE YOUR BIRDS FOR THE BREEDING SEASON?

 

My feeding program is the same all year round, except that outside the breeding period I only gives egg feeding every other day, and the only thing I change is the light conditions. Up to the breeding period, I raise the light level, while I gradually extend the time so sometimes with electric light frames 16 hours at the start of the breeding period.

 

Q6. DO YOU SET YOUR BREEDING SEASON BY THE CALENDER OR BY SIGNS OF THE BIRDS BEING READY ?

 

This year has been very irregular due to lack of time, otherwise I usually put the first couple together in the first week in September.

Q7. WHEN PAIRING UP DO YOU GO BY PEDIGREE OR VISUAL APPEARANCES OR BOTH?

 

When I put the birds together it is both by visual and the genetic importance.

 

Q8. HOW CLOSELY DO YOU MATE YOUR BIRDS AND WHAT RELATED MATINGS HAVE BEEN

THE MOST SUCCESSFUL?

 

I breed very rarely closer than a cousin - cousin and uncle - niece. A strong mating is the grandson of the brother or sister of a grandparent.

 

Q9. WHAT VARIETY MIXES DO YOU USE FOR IMPROVEMENT IF ANY OR IS IT BEST TO BEST?

I have used with good success Spangle to improve their feathers, several times, otherwise I do not think it seems so much depends on the individual mutation as the quality of the birds we have available.

Q10. HOW MANY CHICKS AND ROUNDS DO YOU ALLOW YOUR BIRDS TO HAVE?

 

There must be maximum five chicks in the box, but I would focus on three or four. If there are too many it becomes too hard for parents, and if there are too few chicks, there is danger that parents will be too lazy and start to attend too much to each other and less attention to the chicks. With the result that they go too quickly with the next clutch.

Q11. WHAT FEATURES ARE THE HARDEST TO PUT ON A BIRD AND HOW DOES ONE GO ABOUT ESTABLISHING THAT FEATURE AND RETAINING IT, THE DIRECTIONAL FEATHER, STRAIGHT BACKLINE, SHOULDER & LENGTH?

Back Skull and the correct transition between the shoulders and head. It has taken me ten years of purposeful breeding. For some reason I have never found it difficult to establish directional feather in foreface but it is difficult to obtain enough feathers in the face to make it an attractive soft look.

Q12. WHAT IS YOUR FEEDING PROGRAMME DURING THE BREEDING SEASON AND DOES THIS DIFFER DURING THE NON BREEDING SEASON?

 

Diets are the same all year round, the difference is only that the birds during breeding use egg food every day and outside the breeding season only every other day. I use more of Rob Marshall's products such as. Turbo Booster, Megamix, F-vite, Ioford and Water cleansers. And so do I use spirolina, eggs, olive oil, e-powder and carrot.

Q13a. PLEASE DESCRIBE YOUR CURRENT AVIARY DESIGN, SIZE, FLIGHTS, BREEDING CAGE DESIGN AND NUMBER OF CAGES ETC?

Q13b. WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE ABOUT YOUR SETUP IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO DO SO ?

 

My aviary is not so great, I have 16 box style breeding cages, with the boxes hanging outside on the grill, as it seemed to me quite easy. I only have an aviary of 4 square meters, the entire bird house is approx. 20 square meters.

The plan is to move the bird house to the garage and I plan to build somewhere between 30 and 50 breeding cages, but it must wait until I get time to do so.

Q14. DO YOU USE PREVENTATIVE MEDICATION DURING AND PRE BREEDING SEASON AND IF SO WHAT AND WHY.

 

No, I use no preventive beyond my normal feeding program and I use no medicine for sick birds ........in my world is a sick bird is a dead bird.

Q15. WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE GREATEST ASSET OF BEING IN THE HOBBY AND WHERE DO YOU SEE THE HOBBY HEADING WITH SO MANY BREEDERS LEAVING TODAY?

 

In a hectic world, it is nice to have a hobby which has nothing to do with one's daily work. I am a educated social pedagogy and my work is based on agreements and alliances which can often be both commitment and compromise, the results of my work is often dependent on everyone abiding by the agreements which can be stressful, because not everyone has the same interest in the outcome. So when I enter my aviary I'm in another world, a world with only me who must plan and how the results depend only on me and my work, I see it as very relaxing and so I think there are many who experience it to have a hobby of live animals. And finally, it is to design and build ones own birds as we thought they should look like ís an enormous gratification - and so do nothing if others thought about them :bump:

 

There are many who leave the hobby I do not know, there is always someone that tries but finds out that it is not something for them. To become a skilled budgerigar breeder requires patience, a willingness to immerse themselves, time, money, family acceptance and the desire to stand with his hands buried deep in bird droppings, and finally it requires that you get introduced to the hobby in a reasonable manner. In today's society, people have not much time for private contemplation and families are willing to travel on vacation two - three times a year, it fits poorly with a couple hundred budgerigars to be cared for. We have the "budgerigar bug under the skin" is not good enough to share with our children and friends in the hobby. And so it may be costly for new members to establish themselves both materially and obtain reasonable breeding birds.

Q16. WHAT WOULD YOU CONSIDER TO BE THE MOST IMPORTANT VALUE ABOUT FRIENDSHIPS FORMED AND FELLOWSHIP WITHIN THE BUDGIE BREEDING FRATERNITY ?

 

Besides my "innate" interest in budgerigar breeding, I thought there is something fascinating about that meeting strangers across many levels of limits here does not differentiate between religion, politics, race, rich or poor, everyone can talk to and everyone can meet and discuss on an equal footing, it is all worth it!

Q17. DO YOU HAVE ANY THOUGHTS ON HOW TO PROMOTE THE HOBBY TO GET MORE PEOPLE INTERESTED IN JOINING OUR CLUBS ?

 

I have just introduced a self-start package, in which I offer two - three pairs of free birds in the first year, helping to cull the youngsters. Other years have the two birds to improve and help with culling. And third years offer to buy a substantial gain or offer of another place where they can buy reinforcements match their birds, I hope more will go the way of helping new breeders.

 

Q18. WHAT IS THE BENEFIT OF HAVING A NATIONAL SHOW?

 

It is the most important shop window and then the ultimate test of how far you have come with your budgerigar breeding in relation to your breeding associates. And finally, the national championship show where you can get all your wildest desires in budgerigar talk with both colleagues and international judges.

 

Q19. HOW WOULD YOU GO ABOUT POINTING A NOVICE BREEDER IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION TO ENABLE THEM TO REACH THE TOP BENCH IN AROUND EIGHT YEARS?

 

I think it will be difficult to reach the top in eight years without it costing a lot of money. I have even built two strains from scratch and it has each time been almost ten years to just get near the birds that I want to see in my aviary. Of course, I could have done it faster but then it would also cost more and probably not given me the satisfaction that I have had and still have.

 

Q20. WHAT DO YOU DO WITH BIRDS WITH FEATHER DISORDERS?

 

I wish I could say I eliminate them, but it would be untrue. I like using birds with feather problems, but it is a balancing of how good or important the bird is for my breeding. I have felt compelled to use a bird without a tail and birds that were missing wing feathers. I have just now a great sky in his breeding who is missing tail feathers and a few wing feathers but he had all the feathers when he started since he has lost them and they do not seem to come back. The male is now two years and he breed last year with all feathers intact and none of his offspring have feather problems so his current lack of feathers I do not think is any real problem.

 

Q21. WHO HAS INSPIRED YOU THE MOST IN THE FANCY?

 

It's hard to say .....as a young man I read about Harry Bryan, Byles, Moffat, Ormerod and Robertson, they were all great breeders but the greatest source of inspiration was genuine when Gerald Binks introduced the Budgerigar World, an amazing magazine. At the time the world had not seen anything like it.

Q22. WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR LOWEST AND HIGHEST POINTS IN THE HOBBY ?

 

A few years ago some disgruntled people ruined our local club and started their own, it was a painful goodbye to old friends.

The best I have ever hoped for good, but for me the most amazing when I see a youngster with just what I have been working on for years and I am fortunate in that they have started to appear regularly.

Q23. WHAT IN YOUR MIND WAS THE BEST BIRD YOU EVER BOUGHT THAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE IN YOUR STUD AND WHAT APPROXIMATELY WAS ITS COST ?

 

In the early 80s a friend sold me one of her Moffat bloodline birds who had been 2nd best young in our national exhibition. My friend could not get it to lay, with me she was doing her three chicks , I paid the equivalent of 110 euros for her.

 

Q24. IF YOU WERE JUST STARTING OUT ALL OVER AGAIN AS A NOVICE IN TODAYS WORLD, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU DISPENSE BASED ON WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNT ?

 

Visit as many exhibitions as possible and visit many breeders. Wait to buy birds until you have found someone you can trust and you feel confident, ask him if he will help you get started without it costing you a fortune. I know that some are willing to sacrifice a lot of money on a good start and it is perhaps good enough for a few but for most it will be money out of pocket. At what use is one of the world's best budgerigars when he cant even see it and can not manage to get them to lay, so when you have learned it is the dead or you spoiled it all by wrong matings.

 

Q25. WOULD YOU HAVE A PHILOSPHY TO SHARE THAT HAS HELPED YOU IN DAILY LIFE WITH YOUR BUDGERIGARS ?

 

My philosophy is, I am breeding budgerigars because I like it and because I love the birds and to create my own unique birds, it turns my creative ego.

 

Q26. WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR FAVORITE MUTATION OR VARIETY THAT REALLY INSPIRES YOU ? AND WHAT VARIETIES ARE YOU SPECIALISING IN AT THE MOMENT ?

 

I have no favourite, but find the gray attractive, I breed mostly normal. I'm not so happy with Spangles but use them and have some that are fairly good.

 

Q27. GIVEN ALL OF THE ABOVE, DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER TIPS OR HINTS ON HOW TO IMPROVE AND SUSTAIN AN EXHIBITION BUDGERIGAR STUD?

 

Give it all the time it takes and remember even the most famous breeder has been a beginner once, budgerigar breeding is not a race.... it is a tenfold marathon, but enjoy it all the way

 

Q28. IF THERE WAS ONE MAIN THING YOU HAVE WANTED TO SAY THAT ENCOMPASSES YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT BEING INVOLVED IN BUDGERIGARS AND CLUBS WHAT WOULD IT BE ?

 

I thought the German Europe Show is a fantastic thing and I wish that we had more international shows and it will be easier to move across borders with the birds, otherwise I thought there has been very satisfying the past 10 - 20 years and I am really happy with it, especially the possibilities the internet has given us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My name is John Rasmussen, I'm 56 years and is married to a wonderful woman named Guzaliya. I got my first budgerigars in 1960 and started with English budgerigars 1976 I raised under the name R12. I am certainly more than breeder exhibitor, the ultimate for me is to build budgerigars and I am more into having interesting birds than the best birds, but has nothing in particular against if others thought about them. My goal is to create a strain of budgerigars as I thought they should look, I know there are more people who are closer than me and maybe I could buy me closer to our goal, but it is not urgent to achieve it, where do you go when we have built the perfect budgerigar??

 

 

Edited March 28, 2010 by KAZ