Please no one get offended by this, it's a topic for conversation more then anything.

 

Also Mods if it is in the wrong spot let me know or just move it.

 

Today I was talking to a guy from work about setting up and attempting to breed budgies. I told him about my guys in the aviary and about the guys inside. One of my other co workers was listening and then came around and told me how breeding Budgies for Showing them / Color mutations was the same as running a puppy farm, Comments like

 

"You know that your budgies are just going to end up in some aviary or some kid is going to let them go when they can't be bothered with them anymore..."

 

Ran rife through the conversation. Do I agree with him... Not on the puupy farm comment! but I do think that there are some people out there who think they can make a quick buck by breeding and selling Budges... Not sure how they believe this but hey each to their own.

 

The other thing was that I have a link with my guys, I do love some of my guys in the aviary, Blue is my baby and if anything happened to him I would be in tears, does Blue sit on my shoulder and eat my homework, nope. He is to busy doing other things then deal with his human. But I still love him as much as I love Buddy who does play on my desk. Blue is just not a buddy buddy bird and that is that... does it mean that I love him less then a bird that lives inside full time and can talk? Nope sorry, do I love him more then Brandon a new bird I have gotten in the last few days and want to breed from, yes, why? cause I have to make the call on which birds are my buddies and which are my breeding stock like anyone who breeds anything you can't fall in love and keep them all.

 

He also said that it is pointless to have an aviary and that if we are to keep birds then they should be tamed indoor birds, breeders and aviary owners are just being cruel.

 

So I was wondering for other people, people who breed or purchase through breeders and pet stores so you ever think of the 1000 of birds that we/society cull off each year that are not the right color or the right temperament or don't have a good enough stance for the show cage? It seems that in Australia there are no Budgie rescue centers (and if they are let me know) you can't adopt a Budgie from the RSPCA. I know of a few privately owned shelters that have Budgies for adoption, I got Mozzie through one (who has since shut up shop due to funding issues). I know there are Budgies that I will never give up.

 

Harley, Blue, Flame, Mozzie - My original four, Mozzie more cause I know she has had a terrible life up till now and I would hate to see her miss treated again.

 

Sky - same reason as Mozzie

 

Lemon & Lime - They are my old pair and I love them, they spent 6 months willing me to take them home and now I have they are just really nice birds to have around. They deserve to have each other and comfort in their old life.

 

Buddy - Cause he is my baby and in two days he has managed to wind himself around my heart and chew through about three t-shirts!

 

The rest, as much as I love them if I had to give them up tomorrow then I could as I have marked them as breeding stock in my head. I guess I grew up watching Dad do it not only with the Budgies but also with Horses so I would watch horses that we could not train or did not work with his program drive out the driveway sometimes with tears and sometimes with "please don't jump out of the float till he gets to his destination"

 

So thoughts feelings opinions?

I would say that 'farms' are doing it for the cash, whereas you are doing it to better the 'breed'(I refrain from using the word species since show budgies are very seperate from wild budgies now) as a whole. She probably also believes crossbreeding dogs is all about hybrid vigour too

 

Yes there will always be birds that you don't keep and you sell on but I know you and you will always send them to good homes, I can't see you letting a second rate prospective owner walk out the front door with one of your precious babies. I don't agree with keeping hundreds of birds in small breeding cages and breeding them constantly but most good breeders have free flight aviaries that hold the birds they aren't breeding. I don't like the fact that my breeding birds are confined to the breeding boxes and I always have atleast one of my breeding pairs in the kitchen cage where I can open the door so they have a fly in the house but that only works for pairs which are comfortable breeding amongst the household noises of course.

 

Besides where does she think those indoor pet birds come from?

Sounds to me that this guy is an over-opinionated loser who has no knowledge but thinks himself an expert.

Dave you were blunter than me but that's exactly what I was thinking!

 

AV there is a bird forum based in New York which has that opinion and they are extremly rude to anyone who dares to even consider getting a second bird as they feel it is cruel to the first bird, etc. IT's just nuts!

Well i guess seeing as I sell birds who will not be kept for breeding or pets for me, as pets I am a "farmer".

To me that seems like total bull ****. I breed birds for the fun of it. Every single one is a new exciting prospect of what can come from them or be created. I'd love to provide all my birds a home, but when it comes down to it if there's not a reason for me to keep them e.g. colour/mutation/sex/fallen in love/room and so on then I will find them a suitable home with a pet family as a baby so they can live a good life

 

No adult birds are sold from my aviary unless I have a baby boom of ones I wish to keep. This has only happened once so far in 2 1/2 years of breeding. Even when this cull happens only birds who I am not attached to will be sold. All other birds I have had for a while will be kept as they're favourites. In my eyes my birds are broken into 2 groups. Pets/tame and pets/breeders. All birds owned have a place in my heart, although some more so than others. I find this depends on personalities and stories which go with the bird.

 

I make a decent amount of profit off my birds, but the profit is not why the birds are here with me. Any profit made i see as a good thing as they're paying for themselves and it allows me to spoil them and provide extra luxuries. If at the end of the day I have spare coinage in my back pocket from the chicks i didn't keep well to me that's a bonus and shows that my birds are happy enough to breed.

I agree with Dave opinion, this person clearly is misinformed, narrowminded and totally clueless!

Where would the pets come from if there were no breeders... perhaps they need to think of it from that angle.

I don;t think that counts you as a farmer Libby. You don't really make a profit out of your birds as it goes back into the birds for food, etc. I make money of my birds when I sell them but I also spend alot on them. Yes one month you may end up with cash in your pocket but the next month you may be hit with an infection and spend a bunch of money at the vet.

Exactly. If intentions are right and the birds are here as a hobby not a job then I don't think anyone can be counted as a farmer.

Sounds to me that this guy is an over-opinionated loser who has no knowledge but thinks himself an expert.

 

I have to agree

 

and none of the members i know on here are budgie farmers either

 

There is a pet shop about 15kms from my place which is always filled with FM budgies - has been for years. I can bet they come from a budgie farm as a caring breeder wouldn't breed FM budgies to excess like that.

The bird buyer would buy from our club,4 times a year on average 350 birds.The price paid,is greens $1.80,blues & greys $3.00,yellows & whites $4.50.spangles $5.00, pieds$6.00,Unless you have a good outlet,I would/nt think there would be any money in a budgie farm.

Same prices here. Shocking really

I wouldnt sell a budgie for those prices. Seems like there is a glut on budgies over "east" of Australia. What I dont sell in the local newpapers where I can meet the buyer, I sell to a bird dealer who sponsors our club and we buy our seed from. He pays $12 for anything with a ring on its leg. Privately I can sell a budgie for $15 upwards. I also give budgies away to friends and family. Just gave some to Libby the other day

Oh yes, budgie farming is enormously profitable. Rolls eyes sarcastically.

 

It takes 3-4 months to produce a clutch of budgies, after your initial outlay on cages, drinkers, food, purchasing stock budgies, vet expenses, not to mention the hours you spend every week looking after them, to have to break your heart selling the excess ones to the pet shop for a pittance. Hmm.

 

It costs time and money and I can not imagine anyone wanting to do it unless they loved budgies.

 

Did anyone ever stop to think that perhaps human interaction with these critters is also for their development as well as our own?

You could be right Kaz, I have advertised my excess birds for $5 each and still got no calls despite advertising that I had lots of nice unusual colours to choose from such as goldenfaces and yellow face blue pieds. They are the sort of colours that most people love for their backyard aviaries but people just arn't buying them at the moment. Maybe the cold weather...

I just want to add that I am not in the "business" of breeding budgies to sell. I breed to acchieve my own goals and I have room here to keep many budgies. There are some that get sold, and those pay for the seed for the others....almost

There is no money to be made by breeding budgies...they cost more than they can earn by selling excess offspring....here anyway. I have seen bird mills and I see the ads in the newspapers every week from these same bird mills ...advertising for any kinds of budgies, as they breed them and breed them and they die and they need replacement stock. Very very sad.

Edited June 30, 200816 yr by KAZ

Maybe some of the big show breeders that get a few thousand for their birds make money from their birds, but the rest of us… I can't see where anyone could get the idea that we are making any money out of them. I just keep mine for the pleasure & an interest in improving my birds. I think the guy you mentioned is a bit like others have said, he just opens his mouth & a lot of hot air escapes, but not much brain behind what he says, I would just ignore them.

 

From the noise that comes from my aviaries I don’t think they are suffering much, they seem extremely happy & constantly playing with each other & more & more of them are getting very cheeky & playful with me when I enter my aviaries. I don’t have a lot of hair on top these days, but some of my birds are intent in removing the last traces for me. All this with no training at all on my part.

Edited June 30, 200816 yr by Norm

I would say Norm that even those that do sell their birds for large amounts of money are probably only recuping the thousands of dollars they spent on their birds when they were starting out.

Farm , its all in the way you interpret the word. If it was a business the ATO would have closed me down years ago for running at a loss, The top breeders are definately making PROFITS and big ones, If you average $100 per bird and sold your excess 15o birds , thats $15000 per year CASH , not bad for doing something you like.

What a tool - I would have walked away

 

*To the over opinionated person with the ANIMAL ISSUES ... obiously wasn't allowed a Pet growning up and to that i say

Edited June 30, 200816 yr by Neat

What a tool - I would have walked away

 

*To the over opinionated person with the ANIMAL ISSUES ... obiously wasn't allowed a Pet growning up and to that i say

Good on yah Neat!!! Straight to the point no mincing your words I like it…by the way Neat I love your new sig picture, wish I could do things like that…real cute…

I don't dispute that selling those excess birds may bring in a lot of money but when you have seed bills that run into the thousands and you may be purchasing new birds to add to your breeding base plus supplements, etc. not to mention the thousands of dollars spent on aviaries and breeding cages and flying to shows, I seriously doubt they are making a whole lot

I don't dispute that selling those excess birds may bring in a lot of money but when you have seed bills that run into the thousands and you may be purchasing new birds to add to your breeding base plus supplements, etc. not to mention the thousands of dollars spent on aviaries and breeding cages and flying to shows, I seriously doubt they are making a whole lot

I know some breeders who regularly sell birds from a thousand dollars and that includes chicks out of a nest for that kind of money too. They think nothing of paying $3,000 upwards for a bird themselves and have even been known to pay around $10,000 for a bird. They sell birds to the Eastern States market regularly. The income is HUGE. It would not only cover costs, seed and aviaires, but it would pay for their homes and a healthy retirement fund.

Motivation enough to do well in show breeding I would say.

But if you are selling birds for $3000 plus and buying birds for $10000 it's going to cancel any income out isn't it? Unless you never buy any of those expensive birds and just sell your chicks.

But if you are selling birds for $3000 plus and buying birds for $10000 it's going to cancel any income out isn't it? Unless you never buy any of those expensive birds and just sell your chicks.

There would be MANY birds sold for $1000 with upwards of 40 breeder cabinets. A $10,000 purchase would be rare. But sales would be regular once you, as a show breeder, have a name and reputation. NO....it wont cancel out the income.

Wow i dont know who this guy is,but he's way off base he needs to meet some real breeders and not speculate.

 

I have birds in my aviary that i bred 5 yrs ago simply because they have a great character and i love them the oldest one is 13.This is my 3rd year of show breeding but my numbers are small compared to some of the others and believe me we breeders dont make any money,what with vet bills and medications and memberships my birds dont even pay for the seed.

When i sell my birds that dont make the show bench i meet the people who are buying them and supply them with a information sheet and a dvd on care and breeding and always tell them,for whatever reason if they aren't happy with the birdie or have simply changed their minds to bring them back to me (their home) for a full refund,and i usually only get $10/$15 per bird so that aint gonna break the bank,they also get a small bag of seed so a change of diet doesn't make them crook,

 

and as for keeping birds in a aviary being cruel.. couldn't be any further from the truth.They have a heat light to snuggle under in winter,fresh seed and water every day plus vegetables and gum leaves.. geez... and in the summer months they have a aircooler in there as well it's like a hotel here my husband complains that they get fed better than him lol ,and they survive longer under these conditions than in the wild,I dont think there would be too many 13 yr old budgies flying around in the bush.okay there are some people who sell their birds for hundreds of dollars,but they have spent a lot of time and money to eventually get where they are and now have a good reputation and bloodlines and bloodlines are what really count.

Edited July 1, 200816 yr by budgiebum

I don't dispute that selling those excess birds may bring in a lot of money but when you have seed bills that run into the thousands and you may be purchasing new birds to add to your breeding base plus supplements, etc. not to mention the thousands of dollars spent on aviaries and breeding cages and flying to shows, I seriously doubt they are making a whole lot

I know some breeders who regularly sell birds from a thousand dollars and that includes chicks out of a nest for that kind of money too. They think nothing of paying $3,000 upwards for a bird themselves and have even been known to pay around $10,000 for a bird. They sell birds to the Eastern States market regularly. The income is HUGE. It would not only cover costs, seed and aviaires, but it would pay for their homes and a healthy retirement fund.

Motivation enough to do well in show breeding I would say.

Now the secret is out Kaz is dreaming a comfortable Budgie retirement...he he he...best of luck.