As there is no one way to keep birds we all have different 'ways' in which we do things all with one thing in common, that is the well being of our stock i.e. well fed with clean water, somewhere dry and under cover from the rain and the sun to retreat to, room to live together and breed if you wish, in fact anything that keeps your birds in their best condition which in turn promotes a long and healthy live for these beutiful and colourful creatures. The following are articles from previous society magazines giving the views of some of our more experienced members for which we thank them.

 

Basics For Beginers

By Keith Jones

Always build your first aviary larger than your initial requirement, with scope for each expansion, because in no time at all it will not be big enough. Provide electricity for heat and light, also consider the proximity of your neighbours- a complaint can mean you having to dismantle your bird room and aviary’s, and moving them to another part of the garden, with perhaps the complete loss of your first breeding season, also consider room for yourself to either sit or stand and observe your birds, store seed, show cages etc. Have enough room to swing a cat (be comfortable moving around is what I mean). For my first aviary I bought half door panels, if I put the door at the top of the panel I would have known how walnuts feel at Christmas, so I put them at the bottom, the only way of entering the aviary was on all fours which wasn’t very nice in the middle of winter with three inches of snow on the ground or in the summer when egg laying hens produce excrement that can only be described as not solid. I now have bigger doors on all flights and clean trousers.
When erecting the aviary’s tack the wire mesh to the insides of the supports, not leaving any exposed wood for the birds to exercise their beaks on, don’t forget the extra flight to house your young birds- the results of all your efforts.
Do not over crown your aviary, remember one pair to one square yard of floor area only is advisable if you want to avoid fighting and squabbling- and it is the night quarters that is measured not the external flight
Breed only with birds in top condition, do not breed with birds that have a physical deformity or show any form of feather loss ailments, buy only healthy birds in good physical condition, do not buy cheap birds in poor condition thinking you can bring them back to fitness with love, kindness and good food, they usually fall of the perch within two days of getting them home- I know, I have bought some in the past against all the advice I give everybody else, do not use immature birds for breeding as this will spoil their long term breeding potential.
Start with easier and less expensive species keeping your pounds in your pocket until you have some experience, do not mix species in the same aviary as this is a recipe for disaster.
Although love birds bred in the UK are relatively hardy, you must provide protection from the worst of our weather, if you don’t provide separate night quarters leave the nest box’s up all year round or replace them with suitable “poppy box’s”(a finch type box), provide a choice of nest boxes for breeding pairs, at least two per pair and a plentiful supply of nesting material such as fresh willow should always be available.
Give plenty of variety in the food you give them, just because they do not appear to eat some of the seeds at any point in time does not mean that they will not take them when they need them e.g. during a moult- let you birds be the judge of what is best for them, never change the seed mix when birds are feeding chicks, if the adult birds don’t eat the new mix, the chicks will not be fed, feed soft food and fruit in the mornings and remove in the evenings, don’t let your birds roost at night with a crop full of apple, especially if they have chicks.

THE JOY OF LOVEBIRDS

by Alfred King

(Alfred has supported the Society from its inception, and has been keen to help in a number of ways - many thanks to him)

"From Buying to Breeding"

I hove since boyhood been interested in all animal life. Especially birds and have kept and bred over the years various avicultural subjects. However, for the last 26 years I have specialised in keeping and breeding members of the Agapornis family - Lovebirds.
I am happy that through the Lovebird (1990) Society I can pass on my experience in Housing, Feeding, Caring for and breeding of Lovebirds. They are among the most appealing, attractive and pleasing specimens for novice and the expert aviculturist alike.
May I begin by saying to any person about to keep any animal, the welfare and well being of that animal should be his foremost concern. The first objective must be to find, furnish and equip the best accommodation possible.
The first essential for these (and most other) birds is that accommodation be warm and dry, or birds will be lost due to chilling or cold connected ailments. Unless kept in a heated bird room the Lovebird species MUST have a box to roost in, especially when conditions are bad or birds are young.
Although they are hardy creatures, they need somewhere cosy in the hours of darkness. The ideal situation for any aviary is South facing, but this cannot always be achieved and is not essential if the aviary in enclosed on two or three sides and the flights covered. My own aviary faces South-East and I have had good results with it. Early morning light is beneficial, particularly if birds are breeding during autumn and winter.
Flights and stock cages should be as large as possible, and protected from the birds' chewing capabilities. Strong, firm perching at various heights and logs and sandstone on the floor improve the interest in the environment in flights. Sawdust and grit are used for indoor cages.
Feeding and watering points should be conveniently placed, as should the access to flights, so that cleaning, especially while birds are breeding, can be done quickly and quietly.
Seed and water dishes are best placed on a shelf, accessible through a hatch. I place 6" diameter water pots inside a 12" plastic container lid to reduce the amount of water spread around when the birds bathe. Wire hung plastic D Cups can also be used and are easier to keep clean.
I will write about feeding at a later date, but you will of course provide quality parrakeet mix, mineral grit with added charcoal, cuttlefish bone, mineral blocks and a good brand of vitamins in powder or liquid form, also greens and other beneficial food.
Outside flights in my opinion need the roofs completely covered and I feel are best boarded to half way up .all round, if possible with exterior quality ply. Roof lights are a definite advantage, but provision of a shaded area is essential as sunshine can raise the temperature in the flight to unacceptably high levels, and be particularly distressing to sitting birds. For the same reason good ventilation is important, but remember to fit meshes over open ventilation points to keep out vermin.
Insulation of the complete aviary is sometimes carried out, depending on the cash available, but as long as sleeping quarters are rain proof, frost and draft free and there are no disturbances, especially at night, your Lovebirds will be alright. Floors should be made of wood or concrete for inside flights, but for outside I prefer concrete flags as these can be easily washed and disinfected. When dry they should be treated with an anti-mite preparation, which should also be used in nest boxes. Check the outside of your aviary. It must be weatherproof, doors and windows fit correctly, and the rain must be carried off the roof efficiently.
If rainwater is given to the birds for drinking it must naturally be kept as clean as possible. The pipe to butts or tank should pass through a well fitting lid and have some form of strainer attached, which must be removed at intervals for cleaning. To exclude vermin, dig a 1 foot deep trench around the aviary and attach a galvanized "skirt" all round the construction. With the trench filled, a path of flagstones around the aviary give it a neat appearance. You may now wish to lay on electricity for lighting and power, but will certainly be keen to see your aviary occupied.
It is very important to purchase from reputable establishments.
The absolute beginner who must go out and buy now should consider starting with Normal (Green) peach faced, purchasing if possible two good pairs, each from a different supplier. However - things to look out for and points to remember when choosing birds will be covered in more detail at a later date.
Having said all I have, I realise that for anyone thinking of taking up this fascinating hobby, aviculture is no cheap past time. It is best to keep one or two pairs that you can easily manage than too many for your pocket.

LOVEBIRDS FOR BEGINNERS

by Barbara Smith

There is no right way to breed birds; each breeder has his or her own methods and being as no two people took at the same problem through the same eyes, ideas can vary enormously. Therefore a beginner should absorb as much information as possible about their chosen species and devise a breeding programme which suits their own particular needs. What works for one person may not work for another!
We all have our own experiences and all birds are individuals. therefore, even a newcomer to the fancy has something to offer other Lovebird owners and it is important that as many people as possible write a few lines for the Newsletter. One does not have to be a literary genius to get ideas down on paper I am the living proof of that!
I have been a bird lover for about nine years and during that time have discovered, mainly through trial and error and listening to other people's problems, that although there is no specific "right" way to breed birds, there is undoubtedly a "wrong" way. The golden rule as far as I am concerned is NEVER OVERCROWD AN AVIARY.
I am always nattering on about overcrowding, but beginners often fall into the trap of being carried away by their enthusiasm. They fill the aviary with as many birds as they can afford, then sit back and wallow in the beauty of them all. Unfortunately, the joy often turns to horror when as time progresses, battered bodies are found on the aviary floor. Lovebirds are aggressive - make no mistake about that! I try to impress this fact into the heads of beginners who come to me for birds, but all too often they look at me incredulously and say "But the lovebirds I have at home are positively angelic", looking at me as though my birds must be crossed with Rottweilers! They don't seem to realise that their birds may be angelic this week, but add a few more birds to the flight and they could be mass murderers by next week!
I have only once had a bird physically killed by another, but I have spoken to people who have, and that included Fischers, Masked and Peachfaced Lovebirds. However, this type of death is in a minority. The greatest danger comes from STRESS caused by overcrowding and consequent bullying Stressed birds die from illnesses which they would normally be able to resist.
Obviously, breeding one pair of birds per flight or cage is by far the least stressful method for both birds and owner. However, colony conditions may still be encountered when mixing different clutches of weaned chicks in a nursery flight.
Chicks can be almost as spiteful as their parents. It is impossible to be dogmatic as to how many birds can be kept in a flight of given size. Some people seem able to break all the guidelines and get away with It. All I can say is that our nursery flights measure 3ft x 6ft x 6ft high and seldom are more than eight chicks kept in one flight.
We have two pairs of breeding birds who are willing to share a flight of this size, but these birds seem to be an exception. However, having said that, I know of a couple of breeders who aways breed two pairs in flights of this size. A flight of 6ft x 6ft x 6ft should accommodate four breeding pairs without too much trouble. Always allow plenty of space for fledging chicks. Four pairs can produce an alarming number of offspring! Try to avoid long, narrow flights as birds seeking to escape the unwanted attention of an aggressive pair may find their escape route cut off.
NEVER add very young birds to an existing cage or flight containing adults. Real life savers are "poppy boxes". These are 4" cube wooden finch boxes with half open fronts. Birds can roost in these as well as use them as refuge when frying to hide from a bully. Twice as many boxes as birds should be available.
I am always pleased to hear from people with problems. Although I consider myself far from being an expert, I believe that two heads are better than one and it is of course always nice to talk to other bird lovers.
Recently two queries required in some respects a similar answer. The first was in very cold weather, when a breeder phones to say his two masked chicks had just fledged, badly feather plucked and very short of feathers. However, they did have a good covering of down and the parents were feeding them well. He was afraid that the chicks would die of cold and wondered if he should bring them in for hand rearing. I found this question rather difficult as I could not see the chicks so the only advice I could give was that hand rearers should not be commenced at weaning time except in a dire emergency. Whether this was an emergency I had to leave up to the breeder to assess for himself, and I did not find out what happened.
Weaning can be a stressful time for a bird, even a chick which has been hand reared from an early age can lose weight at this time; some lose all interest in the spoon long before they can eat enough seed to keep themselves alive. They then have to be almost force fed in order to keep up their strength, so beginning to hand rear a parent reared chick at weaning could do more harm than good. The stress involved could cause more trouble than the original problem. The second query concerned a single chick which had just fledged. The parents appeared to be attacking it. The owner had already brought the chick into the house out of harms way when he called me. He intended to hand rear it. I had never come across a case where parents have attacked their own fledged chick. Of course this does not mean it never happens, but I did wonder if the owner was mistaking the parent birds* attempts at getting the chick back in the nest box for a serious attack, I suggested that they put the chick back in the nest box and keep a close watch on it. I felt the chick would stand a better chance of survival if the parents weaned it themselves.
The nest day the chick fledged again and all was well. Some parent birds are a bit neurotic when their chicks fledge, they seem so worried that the chick will come to harm that they try to coax them back into the nest box. If coaxing fails, then some resort to more physical methods and will actually grab the chick by the neck and attempt to drag it back.
Alternatively they may peck it until it gets fed up and does what it is told. It is quite similar to a jaded human mother or father who clips a child round the ear and tells ft to get home and go to bed!