Interview With Sue Hill

[**KAZ** 0]

 

 

INTERVIEW WITH SUE HILL

SHOW BUDGIE BREEDER

 

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

 

we had a small aviary with 4 birds in it and some one introduced us to the English breed it was then I thought they were just pretty birds but now I know different

 

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

 

my husband built a small aviary with a breeding room attached with 12 breeding cages but as the number of birds grew we knew we had to improve our aviary as it was just too small

 

 

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

we got our first birds from the man that introduced us to the English budgies we did however stay with that line for some time but we had to get out crosses to improve our stud

 

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

 

The first lot of birds were our foundation they are cin opaline aosv and also lutinos our cin opalines have been the base line and we took on a few other breeds but out lutinos and aosvs are our strongest we have a few varieties

 

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

 

We had deep nesting boxes and for a few weeks before we start to bring them in we feed them soaked seed and a baby food mixture that has milk powder and baby ferex in it and egg and biscuit and then we pluck the vents on both the hens and the cocks we have tried cutting the feathers away buti still find plucking is the way to go

 

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

 

we have set times to breed like for the ubc shield it was queens birthday weekend until they changed the ubc shield show had to rethink our times and the young birds shield the weather has been so crazy of late they don’t know weather they don’t know if they want to moult or breed

 

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

 

We go with both if a cock is a good size with good feather direction and back skull and length spots then we will find a hen that will complement him

and then we visually breed depending on what is in the genetic make up and the we see what they produce

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

THE MOST SUCCESSFUL?

 

We have mated father daughter it has worked out fine we mistakenly mother son but it worked it helps to keep the family lines going

we have been line breeding for a little while now

 

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

 

we have a line of sky blue and lutinos we have added grey greens to make the colour darker on the lutes and the sky in to the cin opalines for feather texture

 

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

 

We have had a hen that raised 10 chicks in the beginning but we ended up splitting them around, we don’t usually let the hens have more than4 it seems to be enough for later on when the cock Is feeding on his own, some times five but any more than that

 

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?

 

The spots can be a night mare or you will get the spot but no back skull or feather direction but if u have a cock bird that has strong spots and straight back you will look for a hen that has the feather direction you need or the other way around it does pay off some times but its important to know the genetic make up of the bird and its family history

 

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

 

We feed a mixture of Soaked seed it contains hulled oats ,tracktorque egg and biscuit baby farex and grated carrot and beetroot in separate dishes

 

 

 

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

 

Our complete aviary design is simple we don't separate the hens and the cocks the floor is concrete and there is an out side flight he seed feeders are on the floor the only thing I don’t put on the floor is the soaked seed and beetroot it falls under the flight we have perches right around the aviary and even in a corner so the birds can get out of the weather and in the colder months we cover the flight so there is no breezes getting in and in the breeding room we have 16 cages from ceiling to floor and 3 holding cages if I could change it id make the breeding broom larger with more breeding boxes

 

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

 

if I could change it id make the breeding broom larger with more breeding boxes and a larger flight and maybe separate the hens and cocks and make a large holding cage for the babies before they go out in the aviary

 

 

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

 

i worm them a few weeks before the breeding season

I give turbasole (canker) as a preventive I give them pentavite infant drops every week and the weekends they get probac I don’t usually give them much unless its needed

 

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?

 

We need a lot of new breeders there seems to be lots of older breeders mainly in champion and open y there is a need to encourage younger people to the fancy

 

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

 

we have formed a few friend ships but most don’t

I don’t know why but there seems to be different groups in all clubs its a real hard one the older breeders help the beginners to help them on their way but there is a lot that don’t agree its a funny fancy its like any other club I guess there is always glitches

 

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

 

to promote the fancy we could use more exhibitions talks from other clubs on different varieties o f birds

Interclub competitions

We have had judges giving talks on genetics crop feeding

 

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

 

You know what u want to aim for the Australian nationals to get the best out of your birds you can we were fortunate to have won the lute section in the nationals is 2007 we would like to try again we aim for it plus you get to see the best birds in Australia and meet other breeders

 

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?

 

how to pick their birds and help them in any way we can , you can get a *** of a good bird out of 2 bad ones it the right birds click if they require help and ask for it then it’s a pleasure to help

 

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

 

We try to breed It out of them

Some times it works and some times it doesn’t to can try a variety of things but unfortunately it might not work you take a lot of chances in breeding

 

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

There's not just one person but a few but mainly 3 has inspired us we lost everything when we first started and one amazing person said don’t let it beat you

You will always have ups and downs

 

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

 

our lowest time was when we lost our first clutch of grey greens and they were some thing it was heart breaking then loosing our national winner 6 weeks after he came home that hurt our highest moment was winning the nationals in the lutino section as beginners that was a great achievement for us

 

 

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 ?

 

a skyblue cock $800 we have gotten a lot of off spring off him and his grandsons and him are still breeding

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 ?

 

what to do first what to look for in a bird and how to pair up and not to be afraid to ask for help there is always some one that will help

 

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

 

learn your birds? Ask for help its not an easy hobby its not a cheap one but its a great one and never go beyond your needs

 

 

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

 

my favourite one is the opaline aosv and my lutinos they inspired me and we are still breeding them with a few other varieties

 

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

 

Make sure you keep your birds out of a draft make sure your aviary is always clean keep an eye on them

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 ?

 

listen to what others tell you but take in what you need

use what you need you will hear all sorts of things every one has different ideas you make your own decisions

 

 

I'm in birds for the love of it and I enjoy it what ever comes comes I take each day as it comes

 

Edited March 24, 2011 by **KAZ**