South Hampshire December 2018

The December ‘Social and Christmas Raffle’ at Wellow Golf Club was a great success again and it excelled again from last year with a turnout of 30 members / guests!

Apologies were received from John Burton, David Rice, Kevin Burnett and Tony Cash & Barbara Davis.

With everyone sat down with their drinks we started with the first round of skittles (with FreeBo leading), before the meal, which was served at 8.00pm.

After the meal we had the Christmas draw (67 Prizes) and this was followed by the second round of skittles. This was played with some hilarious moments to say the least, with Derek Ham being the overall winner and presented with a Roy Aplin (donated) painting which was signed by all there!

Mick Freeborn thanked Peter Merritt and his family for all the hard work they had put in to make the evening a success again this year, he also said thanks to Les & Miranda’s Sophie & Robbie for picking up and replacing the skittles etc.

Later Mick Freeborn thanked everyone for coming and the staff for the quality food and service they provided. He also thanked many others for their contribution during the year to make the club a success. He said what a good atmosphere there was in our club these days, which would stand us in good stead for the future.

South Hampshire November 2018

Jim Lawrie, our Chairman, opened the meeting and welcomed all there. Apologies were read out from Mick Freeborn, Tony Cash, Andy Thorpe, Peter Church, Brian Bailey, John Burton and Roy Aplin.

Jim introduced our guest speaker for the evening, Phil Reaney (who had travelled from Lincoln).  With  members' birds benched (any colour/variety birds) ready to be judged later in the evening, Jim handed the meeting over to Phil. Phil had intended to make a power point presentation and had set up his equipment in advance of the meeting. Unfortunately, his programme was not downloaded and was taking some time to do so (indeed it was not fully downloaded until the end of the meeting at almost 10pm!). However, Phil was not to be put off by this technical problem and explained what he was going to talk about, which was about how to stimulate more birds being shown and was to form the basis of his presentation to the BS GC next February.

Phil had brought two show cages: one standard cage and a proposed plastic show cage produced and used in Ireland (the continental plastic show cage only differs with a combination lock on the door). He emphasised the benefits of low maintenance - easy to clean; no need to repaint and durable; and about the same cost to buy as the standard show cage. The proposed plastic show cage, which had recently been rejected by the BS membership, was only 3m difference in overall size to the standard cage. Phil said that the BS is due to reconsider introducing plastic show cages at its February meeting, and he is going to propose that both types of cages are allowed on the show bench. This is what the Irish BS allows, he believed that over time plastic cages would overtake numbers used at shows and the standard show cages could be sold off cheaply to newcomers to the hobby and not discouraged with high start up costs may encourage new members to show.

Phil discussed problems of specialist varieties being shown in the wrong classes. He mentioned that Lacewings were often seen in the Albino class, whilst the former look similar but have cinnamon markings and coloured cheek patches and should be disqualified. He also discussed Clearwings often being shown in the wrong class and that some judges had not noticed. For example, Clearwings should have grey/blue feet and if pink it is a Cinnamon Clearwing. Likewise, Spangle Clearwings should be shown as Spangles and not Clearwings. Phil proposed that the BS should introduce a training programme for judges that focussed on the correct recognition of specialist and rare varieties.

Phil thought that there are now too many CC classifications and were devaluing the status of CCs (especially as a CC can now be awarded to one exhibitor with two birds in a class). He proposed, for example, that the number of CCs could be reduced by amalgamation. He cited the blue series, which can be awarded CCs for each variety of blue (Cobalt, Sky etc) and suggested one overall blue CC. Individual blue colours could instead be awarded lower point CCs. He also felt that CCs should have a greater relationship with the quality and not simply the numbers benched, and that judges should be able to award points for quality and also variety content (on a 60/40% basis, respectively). This might mean that a bird coming, say , 4th in a class might win a CC, and over time he thought that this might encourage specialist breeders to get back to breeding birds that met the BS standard.

The BS has staging for 7,000 birds. Phil thought that the BS could make an arrangement with area societies for the use of the staging. Area societies could buy trailers advertising the hobby on the sides. The BS would then recall staging for the Club show. He thought that this could be of financial benefit to the hobby as a whole.

Phil went on to discuss how breeders could build a stud based on top breeders bloodlines without spending a small fortune. As an example, he mentioned that he had bought a bird for £500 from Joe Mannes in 1995. This was a lot of money then, and not insubstantial today. But he then put that cock bird to several hens carrying Mannes blood, which he had obtained at lower cost as chicks from other breeders. He also advocated (which we all know as the "Binks" principle) of selling ten birds and buying 1 of better quality (eg: sell at say £10 each and buy one at £100).  Make the hobby work for you.

As change to his presentation, Phil whipped out of his bag - like a magician - 7 bottles of a skin care product made for horses but safe to use on budgies. It is called "Hypocare" by horseware. It can treat cysts if you catch them early enough and can encourage regrowth of feathers. It can also be used on "Red eye”. He said if anyone was interested he was charging £10 each (normally they cost about £14). The 7 bottles were eagerly snapped up. Phil then generously donated £10 to our club funds.

Jim asked Derek Ham, as a beginner, to judge the birds benched. He did a good job and Phil agreed they were placed in his opinion in the right order.

Phil’s talk concluded at 10.00pm with a round of applause in appreciation of an excellent presentation.

After the raffle Jim, our Chairman, thanked Phil for his presentation and all of the members for bringing their birds.  He then closed the meeting and wished everyone a safe journey home.

South Hampshire October 2018

Jim Lawrie, our Chairman, opened the meeting and welcomed all there. Apologies were read out from Andy Thorpe, Peter Church, Brian Bailey, John Burton and Peter Merritt.

With all the birds benched and ready, he then handed over to our judge for the evening, Roy Aplin, who had travelled up from Dorset.

Whilst the main judging was being carried out we dealt with club business and general matters regarding the sponsors of our Open Show for 2019 and the need to keep them and see if we could add others to that list! We also hadn’t collected monies for the adverts again this year in the schedule, as most members had contributed to the costs anyway.

(This will discussed at our committee meeting on Thursday 25-9-16)

I had also issued a completed 2019 program to members at the last meeting and will send it by email again.

In part two of the evening Roy gave a running commentary on his decisions & placings of various birds with questions from the floor.  

Our congratulations to the main winners of the evening:

• Best in Show                        Mick Small          Grey Green cock       305-3
• Best Young Bird in Show       Mick Small          Grey Green cock       305-3
• Best Opp Sex Young Bird     Jim Lawrie          Grey Hen                   106-1
• Best Opp Sex AA                 Mick Small          Grey Hen                   206-1
• Best Champion                     Jim Lawrie           Green Cock                 1-1
• Best Intermediate                     N/E
• Best Novice    Young Bird      Mick Small          Grey Green cock       305-3
• Best Novice  AA                    Neil Cawley         Grey Green cock       205-2   
• Best Beginner  AA                 Derek Ham       Cobalt hen                   204-2
• Best Beginner  Young Bird      Les Underwood    Yellowface hen       319-1
• Best Junior                                   N/E

Our thanks to Les Underwood, our chief steward for the evening,  overseen by Neil Cawley, who did a great job working along side Roy Aplin - thank you Roy.

After the raffle Jim, our Chairman, thanked Roy for adjudicating and not accepting any ‘expenses’ and all of the members for bringing their birds.  He then closed the meeting and wished everyone a safe journey home.

South Hampshire September 2018

Jim Lawrie, our Chairman, opened the meeting and welcomed all there, including 2 new members Andrew Pitcher & his daughter Lila.  It was also good to see Bill Farr our ex Chairman as well (27).  Apologies were read out from Peter Church, John Burton and Brian Bailey.

With that I explained the format for the evening, with the paperwork I had printed off to be filled in by the members; they had to judge what they would keep as their best 3 birds and in what order, then write down 2 that they would sell on, because they didn’t have ‘what you need to put into your birds.’

With the birds benched and ready for the fun judging, our judge for the evening had to choose his best 3 birds to keep, so we could compare later with the members’ selections. The judge was Steve Cox, so whilst he was doing his judging we carried on with club business.

Jim mentioned the London & Southern Counties BS Inter Club competition to be held on Sunday 11th November and thanked, in advance, all who would support it by entering their birds as part of the team of 12 classes.  He said it would be nice to win again this year.  We also talked about the 2019 aviary visit with an overnight stop in the midlands (more later).

Jim then said a few words about our last meeting, which was the BBQ at Peter’s.  Everyone agreed it was a great evening and we all thanked Peter and his family for their hard work in making it such a success.

Jim went on to give an update on the 2019 - 2020 programs and the speakers booked and asked if anyone wanted any particular speakers booked for 2020.

Regarding our open show, he said it had been a success again although the numbers were down this year (644 benched).  However, the numbers were down for most other shows in the country (apart from South Cheshire)!

Everyone was asked to keep their judging slips / paper work on them until part 2 of the evening.

After lots of lively discussion and the sharing of ideas between the members it was time for a tea break. Once the break was over I asked Steve Cox to start part two and explain his own choices on which birds he was keeping and why, after the members had been up to give their choices.

Steve said he had some heavy feathered birds and they needed to be refined with some deportment, which would help resolve some of the problems.

We then asked various members to come up with their selections and give their reasons for placing the birds as they did. This was very entertaining as most members had a go.

As the evening was drawing to a close it was evident that most members chose different birds for various reasons.

So, many thanks to all who brought birds along for the evening and to Steve Cox for a brilliant explanation on his chosen birds and why he didn’t chose the others.

The evening was very interesting, especially with comments from the floor as well! It was an enjoyable evening with most members participating, which is what club meetings are all about.

South Hampshire August 2018

All were warmly welcomed (37) at the BBQ at Peter Merritt’s house, which started from 6.30pm. Apologies were received from Mark Edwards and John Burton. 

Tables and chairs were set up all around the garden, with a food table set up next to the BBQ.

Peter & Chris were well prepared and organised, with mouth watering sausages, delicious burgers and spicy pork kebabs on sticks.

There were various dishes to go with the meals, including coleslaw, rice, pickled onions, potato salad and a mixed salad of tomatoes, lettuce, etc.

The deserts were equally mouth watering, especially the strawberries!  Everyone sat down together for a lovely social evening with free drinks all from club funds, as we are trying to give back something to the members! 

We also held a club raffle, which raised £57 (Every little helps).

David Rice, our President, thanked Chris, Peter& Sara for their hard work in cooking / preparing the food and also, a big ‘thank you’ to all the members that attended - it was great!

The BBQ finished at approx 9.10pm, with members starting to drift off and all were wished a safe journey home.

South Hampshire July 2018

Jim Lawrie, our Chairman, opened the meeting and welcomed all there, including our guest speaker Ron Pearce.

Apologies were then read out from John Burton, Kevin Burnett, Steve Cox, Geoff Futcher, and Bryon Shaw.  (26 Members Attended) 

We then had a minute’s silence for Martin Terry, who passed away on Wednesday 4^th July.

Neil Cawley was to judge the  benched birds during the tea break, so we could talk about them later in the evening. 

Ron started his power point presentation, showing us the old setups with wooden cages and outside flights.  He went on to show all the improvements they had made over the last few years, bringing them in to the 21^st century!

His birdroom is 20`X10` with 2 stock flights complete with sink, extract fan and all mod cons. He said that upgrading your birdroom is ongoing (or should be).  He has 24 plastic breeding units with plastic nest boxes from Oestringer, which are easy to clean but not cheap to buy.

Ron, having finished his presentation /talk, then took questions from the floor, which was interesting and amusing at times.

Neil Cawley gave a detailed assessment of the birds he had chosen, with a heavy feathered bird up front.  He said it was difficult, as all the top birds had some faults.  Ron said that was what judges had to deal with at most shows.

Well done to Ron for a very interesting presentation and thanks for not taking any expenses.  Thanks too, to all who brought birds on the evening.

The meeting finished at 9.40pm with the raffle. Jim thanked all members and closed the meeting, wishing all a safe journey home.

South Hampshire June 2018

Bob Allen

Jim Lawrie, our Chairman, opened the meeting and welcomed all there, including our guest speaker Bob Allen, who had travelled up from Little Stoke. He then read out the email I received from Heidi’s husband Tim Tizard, saying thank you to all of the club members for the kind donations to the Air Ambulance.

“Heidi supported the Air Ambulance after seeing them in action near the farm where she worked, after a cyclist had been knocked off his bike. The first medical person on the scene when she got knocked over by a transit van last year was an Air Ambulance guy on his way home....by car.

Also I would like to thank the club for helping Heidi with her birds. She learnt a lot and really enjoyed being part of your world. I am looking after Heidi's two. If I need any advice I know where to ask”

Apologies were then read out from John Burton, Kevin Burnett, Geoff Futcher, Ray Nichols and Bryon Shaw.  (22 Members Attended) 

Our Show schedule has been updated and printed, ready to be posted out to various breeders. Peter Merritt also handed some out to those there as well as giving Bob Allen some for the Bristol club.

Bob was to judge the 12 benched birds during the tea break, so we could talk about them later in the evening.

Bob started his presentation with “Early Years”, which was 1960 and after talking about the good old days that he was involved in, he then showed us pictures of his new / current birdroom 2018 with patio door, sink and the kettle for making teas etc.   He has 15 breeding units down each side (30) that he can use if required, but only uses 25 cages as the babies need somewhere to go when removed from parents! He showed us lots of rare varieties of budgies, including his famous half sider with an explanation on the birds in layman’s terms so we all understood.  The presentation was very involved regarding details of his soft food mixture, water treatment and various medications and preventive medicines.  He showed all the treatments he uses to avoid northern / red mite which includes a good quality fogger, after having suffered with it before, as a lot of us have had with the problem of red mite. At the end of his presentation he showed us some quality well feathered Canada birds with an explanation about them.

Well done to Bob for his power point and thanks for not taking any expenses.  Thanks also to all who brought birds on the evening.

South Hampshire - May 2018

SOUTH HAMPSHIRE BS’ SAFARI TO THREE TOP FANCIERS.

The sun was shining. It was the day of the Royal Wedding. It was the FA Cup final. The day could not get any better, so you would have thought. But it did!

South Hants’ mustered a team of eleven enthusiasts to go on a budgie safari to Alec and David Woan (Club Show winners); Harry Hockaday; and Alan and Gina Adams. These were:

Tony Cash;
Ray Nicholls;
Peter Merritt;
Les and Miranda Underwood;
David Rice;
Mick Freeborn;
Derek Ham;
Andrew McKendrick;
Neil Cawley;
Jim Lawrie.

With the sun on our backs we left Peter’s place Saturday morning at 7.00am (Neil kindly taking the driving seat of our 17 seater bus – most of the group were banned from driving due to their ages!), picking up Jim and Derek en route. We were away, full of excitement and anticipation of having a great time and seeing top birds. We were not to be disappointed!

Our first visit was to Alec and David Woan. We arrived at 10:30am to be warmly received by David and Alec and shown to their new brick built birdroom.  Inside we had tea or coffee and biscuits before being show some top birds, including the Spangle that won the Club show in 2016. They had effectively maximised the use of space with a kitchen area by the door and windows, and three two tiered box-aluminium flight cages. David put quite a few of his birds in show cages for us to see, all with great top ends. In particular he put up a young grey barhead that had great potential showing plenty of length and directional feathering.

Our next visit was to Don and Harry Hockaday. On arriving at about 1:45pm we were again warmly welcomed by Harry and Angie and taken to their conservatory for refreshments and some banter before visiting his birdrooms. We were all “champing at the bit” to see his birds and those of us with 20/20 vision (not many!) could see Harry’s birdroom in the distance of the 1.8 acre grounds, which were magnificent.   

The birdroom (two in fact) was a log cabin of about 30’ x 18’ kited out with a kitchen area, two Oestringer flight cages in the middle of the birdroom surrounded on three sides with wire breeding cages. It was good to see Don looking well and still maintaining his interest in the birds as he managed to join us in the birdroom. Harry showed us top birds that had us all drooling over, with great of top ends without excessive directional feather and plenty of length.  He is working with three lines of birds to develop his own style of bird, which he is clearly achieving. He talked to the group on his management routines, emphasising the importance of regular preventative medication (to prevent common ailments such as trichomoniasis and megabac).

Both log cabins are situated on an old tennis ground that Harry decided he would not be using, preferring his birds and fishing instead! The second cabin was a bit smaller than the main birdroom, which he has only recently put up. It currently houses a full Oestringer flight and a half flight some 12’ long that divides into two flights (made by Ian Ainley). 

We were all having such a great time, especially Miranda swinging on a sun lounger with Angie partaking in some liquid refreshments and enjoying the sunshine, it was difficult to drag people away to get to our hotel. After a group photo, we said our fond farewells to Harry and Angie thanking them for their hospitality.

On arriving at our Premier Inn around 5:30pm, and after refreshing ourselves in our rooms all met in the adjoining Beefeater restaurant at 6:45pm for our evening meal and drinks (of course!) Our Polish waitress was very efficient and courteous (maybe it was due to the mature ages of most of us), and told us how we could obtain a 40% discount!!! Needless to say, she received a very generous tip. Having had a great day, but a tiring one most of us oldies had an early bed around 10:00pm.

The next morning we all mustered for an 8:00am breakfast, and catch up on the previous day’s events. Our next visit was to Alan and Gina’s place, which was only 10 minutes from the hotel. We arrived early at about 9:45am, at first worrying that Alan might still have been in bed. But no, he was already in the birdroom. Many of us had been to Alan and Gina’s before but it was good to met up again and see their birds. We all went into their long and spacious birdroom, and Gina took our orders for Tea and coffee (several times) and later served cream and jam scones and biscuits.

On entering the birdroom, there was a two tiered flight cage in which Alan had put sales birds with a price list. This attracted a lot of attention, and a few of us were catching up birds in his rack of show/training cages to asses the birds’ qualities. Les was exceptionally enthusiastic, and before long had his name on six useful birds. As his money bag was getting emptier, he tried to negotiate a modest reduction but this was not to be. Not one to be put off by rejection, Les invited Alan to “toss a coin” to conclude their deal At first Alan was reluctant as he had on previous occasion lost out twice on the “toss of a coin” but sure his bad luck streak was over he agreed. Alas he lost again – better luck next time.

Alan showed us some quality birds in show cages. A particular bird that we all remember was a late bred Grey Dominant Pied cock with plenty of blow and directional feather and stood on its perch upright and didn’t move, just like a Guardsman.

We said our goodbyes and hit the road around noon for the journey back. We all had a great weekend, and are already thinking about our next year’s adventure.

Club Meeting

Jim Lawrie, our Chairman, opened the meeting and welcomed all there. Apologies were read out from John Burton, Kevin Burnett, Brian Bailey, Geoff Futcher and Bryon Shaw.  We then had a minutes silence for Heidi Patient who passed away 2 weeks ago. (27 Members Attended).

With the birds benched, Neil Johnson started judging at 8.15pm.  Neil Cawley acted as chief steward, whilst we dealt with some club business.

Jim then handed over to me to give a brief of the format for the evening, which was asking Neil to choose Best Young Bird overall, Best Opposite Sex and Best Barhead, as well as section winners.

I also mentioned that our Show schedule had been updated as far we can go at the moment – we are just waiting for further details to come through to Andy Thorpe from the BS.

Jim read out the some of the minutes of the last meeting, which was the AGM and the ‘Pete Smith with Tom Jackson’ evening.

I mentioned some of the decisions made at the committee meeting of the 27-3-2018, which was held at Peter Merritt’s house.

Neil had almost finished his judging by the break, so after refreshments he selected the main winners of the night.  He gave a detailed assessment of the birds he had chosen, with a  Cobalt Cock up as Best Bird, saying it had some growing to do to become a super budgie!

Neil then started to give comments regarding the quality of the birds benched and the faults and good features that were in front of him.  He also explained the types of pairings he liked and what he was trying to put on to his birds.

With each bird commented on, along with comments from various members, he then took questions from the floor.  There were lots of positive and interesting comments, so ‘well done’ to all the winners.

The winners on the evening were:

• Best Young Bird:                   Ray Nichols  (Cobalt Cock - Best Novice)
• Best Opp. Sex Young Bird:     Les & Miranda Underwood
• Best Champion Bird:              Pam & Malcolm Freemantle
• Best Intermediate Bird:           Peter Merritt
• Best Novice Young Bird:         Ray Nichols
• Best Beginner Bird:                Les & Miranda Underwood
• Best Barhead:                        Ray Nichols

Other Awards:

• Best Spangle:                         Ray Nichols
• Best Red Eye:                        Peter Merritt
• Best Yellow Face:                   Les & Miranda Underwood

Well done to Neil for his judging and thanks for not taking any expenses.  Thanks too to all who brought birds on the evening!

The meeting finished at 9.30pm with the raffle. Jim thanked all members and closed the meeting, wishing all a safe journey home.

South Hampshire - April 2018

Our Acting Chairman, Jim Lawrie, opened the meeting and welcomed all there.

Apologies were read out from Paul Gover, Bryon Shaw, Geoff Futcher, John Burton, David Blackeby, Peter Church, Brian Bailey, John Mullen, Andrew McKendrick, Martin Terry, and Kevin Burnett. (11) There were 22 in attendance.

With the birds benched (any Green Series bird) and ready for Pete Smith to Judge, we dealt with club business / AGM.  Peter Merritt had previously handed out the 2017 accounts for members to take home to see if there were any ‘anomalies’ that they would like to raise tonight .

South Hampshire Minutes of AGM 2017:

These were taken as a true account by members and there were no comments.

The Minutes were taken as a true account.

(Proposed by Neil Cawley – Seconded by Jim Lawrie)

The President’s Report

The President, David Rice, started by saying a thank you to everyone connected to the club for the work they did and apologised if he had forgotten anyone.  He said committee members had put in a tremendous amount of work over the year to ensure that South Hampshire BS remained one of the best clubs in the south and that there had been some great meetings with entertaining speakers, which was very good indeed.

David Rice is in his last year of a three year term as our President.  David said it was an honour being President and he would enjoy his last year. 

Installation of New President N/A

The Acting Chairman then gave his report

Jim Lawrie got up and said how well the club was progressing, which was due to the membership all pulling together to make it a very successful Society. He said he hoped it would continue in 2018 and beyond.

General Secretary’s Report:

Tony Cash started by thanking the committee for all of their work during the year, which had contributed to the success of the club. He said all of the meetings had been well attended during the year.

Treasurer’s Report and Membership

Peter Merritt went through the profit and loss/balance sheet reports that had been given out to members. Peter said that, compared to 2016, there were not a lot of differences and he gave a full detailed explanation of the accounts that showed an overall yearly profit of £802.52 (Open Show profit £397.30).  Peter thanked Malcolm Freemantle for his work on the accounts over the years, as he was stepping down this year. (Auditor)

(Accounts Proposed by Tony Cash – Seconded by Ray Nichols)

Election of Officers:

The President took over the chair for the election of Chairperson and officers.

Regarding the Open Show in August, we will be having an auction of 9 birds again to raise funds for the club and we have thanked all those who contribute towards helping the club have a successful Open Show.  We discussed the entry fees and incentives at the Committee meeting that was held on the 27th March 2018 at 1pm at Peter Merritt’s house and they stay the same as last year.

The AGM finished at 7.55pm.

Jim then introduced the evening’s speakers, Pete Smith & Tom Jackson from Swindon BS.

Tom started the first part of the evening with a power point presentation on preparing a bird for showing; it was full of detail with step by step pictures of washing / cleaning of various varieties and colours and it showed birds being de-spotted ready for show and his method from start of preparation to showing the bird. He took questions from the floor, with most agreeing that they did similar with their own birds, de-spotting was the one where some prefer to cut spots!

While Tom was doing this Pete Smith was placing birds in order to talk about later on.

Pete started by giving a brief of his history in the keeping of birds in general, starting off with foreign birds and being a member of the Cirencester CBS.  His first ever show was at Gloucester, where he bought some budgies from the sales class, which was the start of him keeping budgies 20 years ago. 

Like many breeders he has moved about and built a few different aviary’s/sheds/lofts up to his new present one which is 20` X 10` with all wire breeding units (having tried all sorts of units etc and found these worked well for him).   Pete talked about his breeding results over the years and the different stock he had brought in from various breeders/bloodlines to try and breed the winning bird! One thing which showed up from his meticulous records was that if a pair had clear eggs on the first round then it was 85% certain to have clear again in the 2nd round (interesting). 

After the break Pete was asked to comment on the Green Series birds brought along by members, which he had judged earlier.  This then brought up a few interesting comments from various members.

There were lots of positive and interesting observations, so ‘well done’ to all who supported by bringing birds (18).

After the raffle Jim Lawrie, our chairman, thanked Pete & Tom for their presentations and for not taking any expenses and then closed the meeting at 9.75 and wished all a safe journey home.

South Hampshire - March 2018

Meeting Cancelled due to Snow

South Hampshire - February 2018

Jim Lawrie, our acting Chairman, opened the meeting and welcomed all there and our guest Andy Thorpe, who was going to be asked questions on a one-to-one by Jim Lawrie.

Apologies were read out from Peter Merritt, John Burton, Bryon Shaw, Geoff Futcher, Brian Bailey, Heidi Patient, Jane Cooper and John Mullen. (8)

The main sub titles tonight were: The Early Days, Management, Success with a Small Stud, Showing and General Stuff / Meetings & How Has the Hobby Changed.

Q1.  How and when did you get interested in budgerigars?

A: I started in the early sixties, when I was 11 years old, with a pair of Grey Yellows. 

Q2.   What was your first aviary set-up like?

A: It was a double breeding cage with a nest box on side.  I then got a second-hand 8’X 6’ shed with a small outside flight and I joined the local Gosport CBS.

Q3.   Can you remember your first major Out-Cross?

A: I bought from various breeders around in the area, also Bob Steele.

Q4.   Did you ever come out of the hobby?

A: I came out in 1980 for 10years, whilst working in Jersey.  There I saw Muir & Crossman birds at the Jersey Open show and came back into the hobby when I came back home in 1990.

Q5.   What appealed to you about budgerigars?

A: I started with a pair when I was 11 years old.  I had seen various varieties of birds, but budgies seemed to be what I liked in those days and, later on, I was helped by various champion breeders from local clubs.

Q6.   Who have been your major influences?

A: Bill Heffer was the main mentor.

Q7.   What is your current set-up like?

A: Better then the first one! I now have a 20` long by 10`wide brick built aviary, with double glazed windows, internal 4’X 8’ flights at each end and 16 breeding units (only use 12), complete with a worktop, which is very handy. 

Q8.   What are your views on outside flights?

A: They are not for me, as they are a security risk as well as all the foreign bird droppings etc,.  I don’t think they are needed.

Q9.  How many birds and what varieties do you keep?

A: I keep several different varieties, Blues & Greys but mainly normals and also spangles and DF spangles - about 130 is my normal stock level (said to many) but going up to after the breeding season.

Q10.   Describe your daily management routine?

A: In the morning I feed general seed and soft food with Just Supplements carrot & greens as well as Orlux egg food and fresh water (daily).

Q11.   What do you do differently during breeding, resting, showing?

A: I have the same routine all year around.

Q12.   Describe diet, supplements, softfood etc. Do you ever try new products? How influenced are you by what others are doing?

A: There are lots of new and different products now on the market to use, but I don’t change my system of feeding unless I have problems. I feed lots of fruit and vegetables and millet sprays.

Q13.   What lighting times do you use? How do they vary throughout the year?

A: The lights come on at 7am until 10pm, all year round, with a break at 12am – 1pm. I also have a dimmer system to turn on the night lights and then turn off the fluorescents.

Q14.   What special features do you look for in a budgie?

A: Deportment / style a must, with a good back scull.  I’m careful not to use very buff untidy birds with short masks.

Q15.   What is your approach to pairing up, and how important is pedigree versus visual, colours and varieties?

A: I need both pedigree and visual when pairing up, making sure I am improving the birds and not going backwards by creating feather problems or dusters if they are in the back ground of my stock.   I seem to be line breeding now.

Q16.   How long will you leave a pair together before splitting them up?

A: 3 weeks at the most.  I have split them after a couple of hours if I’m not happy with them or they don’t seem compatible with each other!  Some birds reject birds of a certain colour and won’t breed.  When changing a bird’s partner to a different colour they will mate and produce chicks.

Q17.   With a limited number of breeding cages how do you manage a clear first round?

A: I pair up in November and will let them go again to see if I can catch them on the correct cycle.  I will also pair love couples I see in the flight if they are compatible. 

Q18.   What are the benefits of working with a small(ish) number of birds?

A: I find I have enough stock / breeding pairs. If you remember, Jim Hutton used to use only 12 breeding cages and many other breeders do the same and do very well in numbers and quality.

Q19.   How many times do you show each year and how many birds do you show?

A: I only do about 2 shows a year now, although it used to be many more with lots of travelling.  I take 6 birds at a time to my kitchen to prepare them with a wash with baby shampoo and I also trim them rather than pluck them, which I find gets a better result.  

I seem to be judging a lot more now, but not as many as I used to.

Q20.   How has the hobby changed?

A: It has changed in lots of ways, some for good and some for bad.  With the judges training course now it has produced some good judges for the hobby, but others are still in the old days with regard to the modern budgie. I believe judges that are judging specialist varieties and don’t keep them should go around to different aviaries to see and understand the variety content of the birds.

Q21.   My time as a BS Judge:

A: I thoroughly enjoyed myself judging here and abroad: it is a real eye opener.  

After the interview there was lots of interaction between all the members whilst they were having a cuppa.  It was a great evening, with all the members creating a friendly atmosphere and most people contributing in some way. Some of the questions asked took up a lot of time, e.g.:

Showing bought birds

Should Judges’ judge the variety that they keep? And many more!

We all (24) had a lovely evening listening to Andy’s answers to our questions on various subjects, and on breeding & problems and how to overcome some of them in this great hobby of ours.

After the raffle Jim Lawrie thanked everybody.  He then closed the meeting and wished everyone a safe journey home. Our thanks to Andy for not taking any expenses’!

South Hampshire - January 2018

Jim Lawrie, our Acting Chairman, opened the meeting and welcomed all there. Apologies were read out from John Burton, Bryon Shaw, Geoff Futcher, Steve Bailey, Brian Bailey, Peter Church, John Mullen, Martin Terry and Steve Cox.

14 birds were benched and ready to be judged later, in the order that they would be used for breeding with.

Jim Lawrie then explained the format for the evening, which was talking about our breeding problems and medications / vitamins in the first session, then looking and talking about the birds that David Rice was going to judge during the first part of the evening.

With lots of discussion on day old chicks dying/ dead in shell /addled, which was the problem Neil Cawley was having, and the various ways to eradicate this we went on to talk about all sorts of problems, as well as feeding methods etc.  Jim Lawrie said he was having a poor start to the breeding season again this year, with others having a great start.  Peter Merritt said he was off on a flyer this year in his new cages and explained what he thought were the reasons for that.

We discussed the various additives we were all using, with a lot of similar products being used by many.

One of the products renamed was “Carr’s AD-Herbs Original for pigeons”.  Sizes come in: 250ml, 500ml, 1000ml and 2500ml (Peter was put on to this by Brian Sweeting some time ago).

Ingredients: Helianthus annuus oil, essential oil of origanum (Without menthol).
Directions: Blend 5ml thoroughly into 2kg of feed.

Use everyday to maintain good condition. Use feed within 5 months. Shake well before use.

Also, a product that Peter Merritt uses as well as others is Zooserine, which comes from Portugal.  Peter said that the price has gone up from £6.00 to £11.00 for 40 tablets.  He explained what he uses it for and said he would try and acquire some for the members (10).

(Zooserine is indicated for the treatment of mixed infections of the respiratory tract and digestive tract. Chronic respiratory infections, traqueobronquites, pneumonia, and tuberculosis and mycoplasmosis gastroenteritis caused by salmonella and e. coli, as well as the clamidiose, are among the main indications.)

This then brought up a discussion on all types of diseases and the medicines to treat them.  Below are some of the medicines mentioned that are used by, or required by, the members.

Treatments/ Medicines Mentioned:

• Terramycin - As directed
• Ronivet-s - 2Grams to 2 Litres or as Harry says:
• Triple C - As directed
• Orego-Stim -100% Natural Supplement in drinking water:
• Baytril Oral - As directed
• Harkers 3 in 1 (Trichomoniasis /Canker /Coccidiosis)
• Mega –S  (Waga Waga in Australia)

After this we asked several members to express their views on the birds and most agreed that the positions that David Rice had placed them in were the correct order.

We then discussed an Aviary visit, with over night stay out, possibly to Harry Hockaday and Alan and Gina Adams and maybe a third visit, which the club would subsidise with the cost of the mini buses.  Most of the members there put up their hands (14) as being interested in going, possibly around May time.  We will investigate and come back to you.

We all had a lovely evening talking about our breeding and problems and how to overcome some of them in this great hobby of ours.  Many thanks to all that brought birds for the meeting.

After the raffle Jim Lawrie thanked everybody.  He then closed the meeting and wished everyone a safe journey home.