Drawing a line under the breeding season

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Well it is great to finally see the  of the 2018 breeding season. I have let a couple of birds have another round to get some 2019 rings on birds.

​The season has been a success numbers wise and the quality has been exceptional. I would have liked the hatch-ability to be a little higher. I think the extended dry weather in this part of Australia, makes it harder for some of the bubs to hatch out of the eggs. I am not in favour of helping birds out of eggs, in case I just add another weakness  in the stud. I want babies that are strong and healthy, that can hatch of their own accord.

The quality has been extraordinary, many of the pairs have produced the kind of birds I am happy to go with. Part of this is to do with cutting back in the number of breeding cages I am using. That way only the very important birds are getting a start. In addition having fewer pairs I find it much easier to look after them now. With several business commitments and extended business travelling, I found looking after to many birds was just a struggle, and not enjoyable. I have progressively cut back from 72 Cages to 24 over the past few years.

I find the more things you try and concentrate on with a pairing the less successful you will be. Concentrate your efforts on very specific features, such as spots or head width or whatever. Hopefully improving this feature not to the detriment of the features you already have in your birds. The birds you bring into your breeding plans the less efficient your selections will be. 

I have concentrated on bulking up the birds over the past couple of seasons, with a third of my pairings devoted to just that one task. I have also concentrated my efforts on having much less grey factor influence than previously again over the past few years. Many of the more experienced breeders will understand why.

All the of the birds at the top of this blog are from the current breeding season. I hope you agree with my thoughts on their quality.