The Budgerigar Council of Victoria Inc (A10055P)

Budgie News Articles

Feeders & Foster Parents   Assuming that in every Budgerigar breeder's birdroom there is a pair of birds which is a little better than the rest, and that their owner hopes to obtain from them as many off- spring as possible, it is logical that his mind will turn to the use of foster parents or feeders. Provided that one is sensible when making selection, one can choose those birds to act as reliable feeders who, themselves were bred from reliable birds. It is not advisable to buy in birds for feeders which may have been fed and brought up in altogether different conditions. Also the effect of moving stock from one aviary to another is a drastic change in their environment. If their routine is upset, then it is unfair to expect too much of them until they have settled down. Those birds which are considered unsuitable for stock purposes when culling, are not all dosposed of, but are allowed to fly with, and are fed in the exactly same manner as the best birds. They are brought into breeding condition at the same time, and hopefully, lay at the same time, all you have to do is switch eggs, discarding the feeder's eggs. Fostering chicks does not create many problems when the breeder has a good number of pairs, it is just a matter of evening up the nests. This is usually done when one pair has too many chicks, or the death of one of the parents and there are too many chicks for one to rear on it's own. If the chicks have been rung, a note of their number on the breeding card will suffice. If an unrung chick has to be transferred, always try to put it in a nest which you know will be a different colour or variety, e.g.:- a Lutino in a Sky-Blue nest, or a Light Green in a Light Yellow Nest.