CAGE BIRDS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23009, 9 April 1938, Page 7 (Supplement)

CAGE BIRDS

Waikato. —Rosella: Feed these on a good parrakeet mixture and plenty of apple, together frith sow thistle and silverbeet. You will have to got a young bird if you are going to tamo it. Most of those offered In shops are rather wild. They do not talk, but have a very good whistle. Keeping on a chain is not satisfactory for a bird that is not thoroughly tame. The cage is far better. Everything depends upon getting one that is tame, for tuen you can do anything with it. "X.Y.," Mt. Albert:—Budgerigar: The enlargement on the abdomen of your budgerigar is a growth which sometimes old hens get, and as far as I know, there is no definite cure for it. The best thing would bo to destroy tho bird painlessly. I do not know of a definite case occurring with a cock bird, and I am inclined therefore, to think that it is caused by some incorrect functioning of tho reproductive organs. You could, as an experiment, and provided you hud suitable instruments, lance tho swelling and carefully romovo the surplus tissue. If you do, tho result of the experiment would be Interesting, although In all probability the hen Would be useless for further breeding.

"A.1.M.," Balmoral.—Black Orpington: Poultry docs not come within the scope of this column, but strange to Bay, the question and answer above are naturally of interest to you. My own opinion is that tho derangement in your hen is brought about by overproduction of oggs—in other words, by making so many eggs in a short time, the organs have been broken down and a cist formed. I believe the troublo is not at all unknown to commercial poultry breeders, and is usually found in hens of high productivity toward th# end of their useful life.

"5.L.," Horeke.—Canary: Canaries when in condition will whistlo, but naturally at this time of tho year when they are just coming through the moult they do nbt sing. Canaries moult at different times of tho year, some of them commencing in January, others not commencing until April. It is more likely that the introduction of the third bir<l has simply with their moulting period. Examine tho vent of the birds, and the ono that has a slightly protruding vent will bo a cock bird, tho ono without, a hen. Try separating your birds, ono true pair in each cage, and that should help to

By TAILFEATHERS

Letters requesting information regardln; tha care of cage birds will be answered ii this column each week. Readers are In vita to write to Taiifeathers, New Zealand Herali Office, Auckland.

restore the song in the course of the next few., weeks. Try giving B.lso a little canary rearing food in addition to the usual seed diet.

Onehunga.—Budgerigar: Ants might have infested the bird, and even entered his ears. On several occasions, birds have been lost, and on investigation it has been found that ants infested the cages. If he should have eaten much of the sulphur, that certainly would upset him. Would it riot be better to put short legs on the cage, and stand the legs in ttas containing kerosene. This would protect tho bird from the pouts. The bird could have been overfat end this condition result. When cock birds are kept by themselves, great care should be taken to prevent their putting on too m»ch condition, for if they do, usually liver complaints follow, and occasionally hemorrhages. A cock bird in overfit condition will sometimes die on account of this condition. In this case, put tho bird on to a diet of plain Australian Hungarian millet seed, and then only a dessertspoonful of seed per bird per day.

' "Bird Lovor," Epsom.—Yon must realise the fact that freedom for birds is not freedom as known by human beings. Freedom for birds means a continual hunt for food, the risk of being killod by larger birds and probably eaten for food, a continual battlo against the elements, and altogether an extremely precarious condition. This is proved by tho fact that the numbers of wild birds tend to remain stationary in spite of the eggs which are laid. Qt course, isolated and exaggerated cases can always be separated from the whole and enlarged upon, and naturally this is ft trick of those engaged In controversy. "Where' ignorance does not obtain, howover, tho losses in making certain birds that are suitable conduct themselves to conditions of life in captivity are exceedingly small—lnfinitely smaller than the losses inflicted by Nature to reduce the number of birds' to that which the winter food supply can support. In captivity, most birds obtain food, shelter and an opportunity to perpetuate their species, and to live for many years longer than they would under tho presumed blessings of fretidom. People calling themselves humanitarians'delight in distorting the true facts of the case, and their arguments are easily proved futile by anyone with a little true understanding of the actual position