CAGE BIRDS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22250, 26 October 1935, Page 5 (Supplement)

CAGE BIRDS

ftaflv ITffV, By TAIL-FEATHERS

[■ Letters requesting information regarding / the care of cage birds will be answered in V\ / this column each week. Readers are invited 1 \ ' to writs to Taiifeathers, New Zealand Herald 1 Office, Auckland. V

Fancier Friends, —There is just_ one aspect of rearing young budgerigars upon which ivo have not touched, tiiat is. ringing them. Some fanciers, particularly novices, consider it to he not worth while to go to the trouble of identifying the youngsters. Certainly, if you have only one pair of birds, it

does not appear necessary, but it is advisable to increase the interest in your hobby by noting the parentage of your birds and picking out some of the better quality and breeding from them. If you do not keep pedigrees, you are missing the intense interest you can get in an absorbing hobby. Ask any of the experienced breeders if they could continue year after year without some system of identification. Ask those whom you know are consistent winners at, shows how they would progress without breeding upon pedigree lijies. Every fancier, even if lie has only one pair of birds should keep a bird diary, and in it enter up once a week everything that occurs that might possibly be of some help in years to come.

The birds from which you breed should be indentified with aluminiumnumbered rings. In your diary, take a note of the date on which you pair up the birds, the day when you introduce the nest, when the hen commences to clean out the nesting receptacle, and the time that she lays the first egg. All of these points are of assistance in controlling birds. Value cf Ringing Birds

When the young ones are waned. find before they are put out in the larger enclosure to eat, prow and exercise, you should put an aluminiumnumbered ring on the leg of each of the youngsters, enter up the numbers of the parents, if not. done before, and the numbers of the young in your diary and keep this record for future reference. Next year, you may hare two pairs of birds breeding. They will possibly go to nest at slightly different times, and possibly your treatment may be responsible. If you have a record of all the facts concerning your birds, and in future seasons refer to it, you will be able to obviate errors and correct your method of management. If you already have several pairs, it is a good idea to work upon some definite system in ringing your birds. Some fanciers place the aluminiumnumbered ring on the right leg. and on the left leg place a celluloid-coloured ring according to some method that they have devised through actual experience. Say, for instance, you put the aluminium ring on for permanent identification purposes, which is usual, and on the left leg put a yellow celluloid ring on one season's progeny from one pair of birds. The youngsters from another nest would have their permanent aluminium ring, and on their left leg would have a red celluloid ring. As the birds grow and develop in the aviary, you can immediately identify the young from different parents, and arrive at some conclusion concerning their respective merits.

Many colours in celluloid rings are available, and fanciers can work out their own system, but be sure to enter it in your diary. Never trust to memory alone. Do not forget that you may have had to do a little changing around of youngsters to equalise the nests. Before you ring is the time to look back on your records so that your pedigress will be accurate. Identification and Selection A start has to be made sometime, and.it is better to commence with a system of ringing in mind, and not to allow one to develop as you progress. Later, when the birds are past their first moult, and you are looking around for prospective show specimens, the coloured celluloid rings will enable you to identify the parents of promising youngsters, and so guide you in which adult birds to sell and which to retain. The quality of a parent may not be altogether in its appearance, for its best qualification may bo the progeny that it produces.

Some fanciers go further in the use of celluloid rings and put a different colour on every nest of the same parents. so that they can, at a glance at their diary, ascertain, the definite age. Others will use one colour to indicate say, sky blue birds bred from sky blues, another colour to show sky blues the progeny of a blue and a cobalt, a further colour to indicate the progeny of a green-split blue bird mated with a sky blue bird, and so on. According to the number of birds you have, so you can devise a system in the use of coloured rings to greatly facilitate identification and selection.

As tlm principal interest in keeping budgerigars is in breeding them, you <-an still get a greater knowledge of breeding by watching the development of youngsters produced by different colours and types of parents. Do not assume that you will always be the possessor of only one pair, for the interest and enjoyment will be such that it is certain that the following rear you will decide to breed from two or more pairs and try your hand at producing some of the different colours. Above all", get the habit of putting down in writing all of the facts concerning the breeding and production. Adjusting the Rings The actual manner of putting on the rings is. like other things, easy when you know how. Lay out the aluminiumnumbered rings in front of you. the same number as there are youngsters

in the nest to ring. Opposite to the numbers of the parents in your book, where you have already written the various dates of interest, enter the numbers proposed to be used, leaving alongside each a space for a brief description. Catch one youngster, hold its head firmly between the thumb and forefinger of ' the left hand, its back toward the palm, its right leg between the third and fourth fingers. 'Jhis leaves you with the right hand completely free, and the bird firmly held so that the leg is easily accessible, and the beak in such a position that it cannot nip you. Take the aluminium ring in the thumb and forefinger of the right hand and put it round the right leg of the bird, the top edge of the ring toward the back of the bird. In this position, if can be more easily read afterwards. With the fingers, squeeze the joint of the aluminium ring together. This will almost close it. Have a pair of small pliers and give the ring a final nip together, being careful not to use too much pressure and run the risk of one end of the ring over-lapping the other. An Automatic Check If you have several nests to ring, it is advisable to procure a pair, of special pliers, which have a jaw that just fits the rings. In this case, you will insert one in the jaws, put the ring over the leg of the bird, close the pliers, and it is fastened perfectly. Now drop the right leg of the bird and between the third and fourth finger put the left leg and slip on the coloured celluloid ring previously selected. Before you release the bird, enter opposite to its number in your diary a description. such as its colour, whatever it may be, a straight colour, split white, grey wing, and so on. Also, add a note giving any of its individual peculiarities, such as, gool. wide head, big bird, very long. etc\ Finally, check over the written description and see that you have not made a mistake. Release the young bird in the larger enclosure or put it into a travelling cage if yon have some distance to go with it. Work over the rest of the youngsters in the nest, and when the aluminium rings previously put out for the nest are finished, you will have an automatic check on whether you have missed ringing one. Number and Age

The fixing of the celluloid rings is slightly different, for while the aluminium rings are bought open and you close them with pressure, the celluloid are always closed, and you open them j with pressure, which, when released, fastens them tightly on the leg. A little 07>ening tool, tapering to a point, slightly concave and curved, is obtainable with celluloid rings. When the celluloid ring is put upon the tapering point it will gradually be opened, and with the concave edge of the tool toward the leg of the bird, it is a simple matter to lay the tool along the* leg. then push off the ring from the tool, when the ring springs back to its original position, securely fastened. A little practice will enable you to develop a personal technique in performing this little operation. Do not be in a hurry at first, but always be sure to keep the business end of tbe bird between the thumb and forefinger, so that you will be free of interruptions. Other types or rings are available for those who favour them, and more information can be placed upon the ring, such as the year when hatched, the°initials of the breeder, and his number. Sometimes breeders prefer to have the scaled, that is, not open, and force them over the claws of the bird when a few days' old. so that when the bird grows, it is permanently identified with its number and age. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS "Anxious," Tahuna.—Nervousness would cause tbe canary to drop to the bottom of the cape. !5e IB obviously highly strung. Better pet' .i small cape and put the bird into this while you clean Lis permanent home. The bird may be too fat and bo exasperate hiß trouble. If the bird was comparatively young when you got him, old upe would certainly not account for nis present condition. N.McL., Te Kopuru.—The eggs the hen budperipar threw out may have contained dead chicks. Hens will throw out unfertile epps. This is the first time t hat I have come across a case of a hen throwing out a cood egg with a live chick in it within a dav or two of hatchinp. You do not Bay if the pair are in an enclosure by themselves. Many unusual troubles occur when breeding pairs are kept together. I would be pleased to know if the balance of the epps hatched successfully r*'d the young v.'ere reared. "Matai," Greenlane.—Yes. If you particularly wish to breed from one pair of birds, put them by themselves. The hen would be upset for a" little while after shifting her. but would normally lay a second lot of epps three weeks to a month alter the first lot" had hatched. The birds will not always change partners to orders. I EUgpest you separate the birds, remove tbe husks, pair them as you wish them to breed, leave them for two or three weeks, until you notice the cocks feeding the hens, when you can then safely re-iutroduce the nesting receptacle.

L.G., Edgecunibe.—Three weeks is hardly long enough to enable the birds to settle down in a iipit aviary. The cock budgerigar should certainly by now be feeding the hen, for all their companion? are doing so. Do not touch the husk. See that it is firmly fired, not swinging;, even if you have to put n Riital! perch across its entrance. Try screening the husk bo that the birds will have privacy. It is not necessary to have a second pair in the vicinity, although it is an advantage. I think that without doubt in the course of a week or so, the hen will have eggs.