I have only been with my current club for about 18 months or so I think, maybe 2 years. I would like to say that I have received wonderful support, been given good birds, been sold cheap birds and felt very honoured to have been treated this way as a novice. When a junior joined 8 months or so ago, even though my birds were not of the best standard, I was happy to give her a couple of the varieties she liked and sell her a few show types at reasonable prices. Ive had wonderful advice and encouragement (and the odd bit of criticism and discouragement too) but more positive than negative. One of our up and coming best breeders responded to a phone call from me, worrying about a chick I had separated from parents a few days too early, and drove 40 minutes throught the city to crop my baby and teach me how to do it myself on a Friday evening. I will never forget kindnesses I have been shown as a novice and aim to pass those kindnesses on as my experience (and flock) grows

That is great that your club is like that and you have members that help you out too, good to here

well im also blessed with encouragement

from my club and other breeders supporting me from outside

even from over in other country's

other states

i must admit when i joined things wernt so good

and i got ripped off with all my birds i brought first

bar some from mr rowe and his brothers

i got gifted birds from a few top breeders i was so exited

untill they slowly died one by one

taking my only few good brought birds with them

i took part in a share breed that was meant to help me achieve some good broad chicks with size

out come is one chick received and three im suppose to be getting but we will see

mind you ive been told that they are all fm chicks

and im not going to be getting any of the better chicks im positive of that now although i really did have faith at first

but its a lesson i have learn t

the up side to this has been honest breeders higher up have seen my persistence and determination and have stood in to help where i was left basically very discouraged by everything

i spent over 2,500 in vet cost and almost 4,000 on a aviary that if i had of brought for the price its cost me would be quiet some size

yet i kept my feet planted with the direction i chose to take and

i have been patient in what birds i buy and receive and only obtain stock through a small number of people

this has resulted in my chicks being of a sound quality

yet left me in a position where i need to pay for my next advancement in progression with my stock and it wont be just b-u-m change either im still trying to come to terms with the realism of Pershing my dream or acquiring more sensible needs with in my house whole and i juggle this all the time

so i devised a plan to along with the children s needs put aside up to 20.00 each fortnight so when my stud has gotten to the point i need to bring in that supper stud bird or two

then i will have the money their

i am right now pulling money from places to try and acquire one good bird that will really really be an asset to my stock but for more that one reason and in my eyes qualify s for the fact of how much i may need to fork out

but its got more than 6 quantrabutes as to why its a value to my breeding plan but in the end it is left to fate to decide

 

breeding show birds is more than a hobby its a passion and at times can be worse than being a gambler as the money some people pay out only to find the birds are duds is sometimes so astonishing

i believe auctions do need to have a guarantee of birds health after a certain amount is crossed after all if your receiving something in the thousands for a bird if that bird drops dead with in a month or does not work , if the buyer can get at least knowing of either a replacement bird or half moneys back maybe the quality of birds would rise again the issue with this is the other side of the stick then and its the buyers whom will just start to rip of the breeders

as their will be no fair way to prove weather the birds brought honestly did die or not work or had other real issues

leaving it really up to how you want to prezent yourself as a fellow breeder

i for one am with nubbly 5 if it is unwell doesnt work or just plain beyond breeding

either cull or retire it

the only thing i can see is maybe a re-homing program for show birds whom need to live out their old lives loved after all they deserve to for-fill their life after for-filling our goal as a bench winner or prim stud bird

Edited August 23, 201014 yr by GenericBlue

I believe gerald binks said that there are two types of budgie people, those who quietly enjoy it as a hobby, and those who are obsessed by the hobby and pursue it with a singular focus to get to the top.

 

He calls it 'attacking' the hobbie - meaning the type of person who is shrewd with buying in birds, travels great distances and many aviaries to see who has the best birds, who has related lines and who has the birds you feel will take you to the next stage or even to the top. I think im on well on my way to obsessed lol. I spent this last show season travelling as much as possible and viewing as many aviaries as I could. I still made some rookie mistakes when purchasing because I need to learn to SAY what I know in my head and not get conned into purchases just because a 'champion' or well known breeder is promising glory for his runty culls.. Spent almost $1000 on birds that are currently giving me no end of headaches in the breeding cages right now!

 

I'll come out on top though, because im not going to give up!

I believe gerald binks said that there are two types of budgie people, those who quietly enjoy it as a hobby, and those who are obsessed by the hobby and pursue it with a singular focus to get to the top.

 

He calls it 'attacking' the hobbie - meaning the type of person who is shrewd with buying in birds, travels great distances and many aviaries to see who has the best birds, who has related lines and who has the birds you feel will take you to the next stage or even to the top. I think im on well on my way to obsessed lol. I spent this last show season travelling as much as possible and viewing as many aviaries as I could. I still made some rookie mistakes when purchasing because I need to learn to SAY what I know in my head and not get conned into purchases just because a 'champion' or well known breeder is promising glory for his runty culls.. Spent almost $1000 on birds that are currently giving me no end of headaches in the breeding cages right now!

 

I'll come out on top though, because im not going to give up!

 

 

dean your birds may not be breeding to their norm because all the changes

i always let birds fly for a while before pairing up

even if just a week

this is not in my flight but in a large cage i have for new birds

they may not be **** just maybe he had worked them already some will tell you they haven't used them yet

and then when you get them home they have been plucked and feathers regrown so you can tell they tried had no luck and culled

wrong but often seen

Edited August 23, 201014 yr by GenericBlue

Yes GB I actually thought about it today. Last time I bought in new hens they didnt breed well until they had been in the flights for about 6 months settling in. I don't know why I forgot about that, suppose I just got caught up in the excitement of breeding new hens. Most of their eggs I have fostered out to reliable older hens as fosters and im letting the new hens back into the flights to settle until later this season, perhaps january. Duhr!

Yes GB I actually thought about it today. Last time I bought in new hens they didnt breed well until they had been in the flights for about 6 months settling in. I don't know why I forgot about that, suppose I just got caught up in the excitement of breeding new hens. Most of their eggs I have fostered out to reliable older hens as fosters and im letting the new hens back into the flights to settle until later this season, perhaps january. Duhr!

 

you wouldn't b the first to put birds straight up most breeders quarantine their birds this way

theirs good and bad to that but thats a whole different topic

most birds breed perfect when settled and in full condition no stresses around

letting them fly is most prob all they need