The Ten Commandments Of Buying Birds For Breeding

The Ten Commandments For Buying Birds For Breeding

Your success or failure as a bird breeder will depend greatly on the quality of the birds that you own. To get things started you will first need to invest in the parent breeds. When you are setting up your farm or your breeding centre, one of the most important responsibilities that you have is sourcing of healthy parent breeds. We can never stress enough the importance of the initial set of birds that you source for your bird breeding centre in India or your bird breeding farm in India. Here are your ten commandments for buying birds for breeding, these factors are applicable regardless of whether you are purchasing conures, grey parrots, African love birds, ordinary budgies, show budgies, cockatiels or macaws.

1. Never rush to buy your birds. Take your time. If you rush, you are likely to make rash decisions and end up with something that you don’t like for example birds that do not enjoy good health or birds that are not of breeding age.
2. Do your research; learn about the birds that you would like to buy. Find out information like their total life span, breeding age, how to distinguish between male and female birds if they are dimorphic, how to approximate the age of the birds based on the plumage, eye rings and so on. You can find whole lot of information online, if required invest in good books that will help you see things in better light.
3. Enquire around for the market price. The cost of the birds varies depending on from where you are purchasing your birds. Number of factors come into play here such as the city that you are in, the city or the area from where you are purchasing your birds, whether you are purchasing from a pet shop, from a trader or from a breeder. You will understand how things work here when you gain experience in buying and probably selling your birds. The cost of the birds also vary depending on their age, nature of the rings, health condition, etc. You should learn to compare an apple with an apple when you are comparing your prices. As a breeder, I would not mind spending little extra if I can establish that the birds are in prime health condition rather than trying to save a little on birds whose quality that I have reservations about. So play your cards carefully here when you are comparing and shopping around for your prices.
4. Never blame the seller! The seller could be a trader, breeder, pet shop or anyone from where you are purchasing your birds. Take complete responsibility for your decision. It is your responsibility to examine and establish the quality of the birds that you are planning to purchase. You cannot skip this step and throw childish tantrums later. You might say that you don’t have experience in selecting birds, this is where all the above commandments make sense. Do not rush to order your birds, do your research, read around different online forum, learn, gather as much information as possible so that you become a well-informed buyer that no one can con you. By saying this I do not mean to say that the seller has the right to cheat their customers but the problem is that in every niche industry there are both good and bad individuals. So you need to be on your guards and tread cautiously. No one is putting you under the gunpoint to buy from a particular seller. You have all the freedom to select your sources. I have been lucky to come across some of the best sellers, genuine, friendly and very helpful providing support. I have purchased from breeders as well as from traders. My personal experience with them has been very good so far. So do take time to identify your sources. After all some of the birds cost us thousands and I will certainly not prefer to throw away my hard-earned money due to my careless approach while selecting my birds.
5. Purchase from a local source or from place to which you can personally make a visit to pick up your birds. Examine the birds personally before purchasing, it is your responsibility to ensure the quality of the product that you are purchasing no matter what the sales person tells you. It is much easier and convenient to have the birds transported to you but it is worth it to put yourself through little inconvenience here so that you do not regret later. No seller will object you doing this, they will rather be happy to receive you because they will not have to go through the hassles of transporting the birds to you. You could be pointing to practical difficulties, expenses involved, time taken, etc., in having to visit places just to pick your birds. It is up to you to decide, you could come up with a long list of reasons or more so excuses… but don’t lament later. 
6. Regardless of what the seller says, you should be the one that makes the final decision. Do not allow yourself to be swayed by the seller’s words regardless of whether the seller is telling the truth or otherwise. If you have done your homework, you will be in a better position to make your choices and decisions. Pick up your birds only when you are 100% sure and confident. If not, you can always find a different seller. Do not worry about factors such as missing the deal if you are not comfortable with something.
7. Always buy from reputed sellers that are concerned about their reputation. I know sellers that are so concerned about their reputation that are prepared to take up loss rather than sell a problematic bird to you. You need to deal only with such people because they know that it is not just a one-day show, if they want to be successful in the industry in which there is so much of competition, good reputation in their forte. Don’t think there aren’t any such sellers in the field, I have come across them and you too will, if you look in the right places.
8. Never purchase birds without DNA if the birds are not dimorphic unless you are ready to pair them later. Even with dimorphic birds, purchase only when you can visually confirm the differences personally no matter what the seller says to convince you on the sex of the birds.
9. Never pay more for birds just because it is a confirmed pair, a bird that has been breeding successfully need not necessarily breed in a new location. Birds are sensitive! They take time to settle in a new place before they could breed. I personally feel that it is not worth it to bet heavy on confirmed pairs given all else being equal.
10. Do not buy birds for breeding if you are not ready to wait. They are not machines that you can switch on to produce young ones as soon as you install them! If you are 100% commercially and with no personal love for birds or interest in them breeding may not be right for you. You could find your money elsewhere and probably, you will be more successful there.

Terms Every Breeder Should Know - Bird Breeding – Glossary – Basic – Part 1

Bird Breeding – Glossary – Basic – Part 1

This glossary is compiled for beginners that are getting confused and that are not sure what these terms exactly mean.

Why it is important that a breeder knows the terms listed here? As a breeder, you will coming across these terms in various situations. For example, when the bird seller says that it is a closed ring bird or closed band birds, you should know what it means, when the seller says that it is adult pair you should know what he or she means by that and whether the pair that is being sold is really an adult pair or a semi adult pair so that you pay the right price for your birds. Therefore the terms that I have listed here are very significant for bird breeders or someone interested in aviculture. I have tried to include as many terms that I have come across in my personal experience and I don’t claim this list to be an exhaustive one. I have tried to explain each of these terms in simple, lay-person’s language so that someone that is new to breeding birds is not simply intimidated by the jargon used in this field. Some of the terms here are not necessarily limited to Aviculture or just to birds but in this glossary, I have limited the scope of the explanation only to aviculture.

Breeding – Refers to the process of producing offspring or the reproduction process of birds that are considered true pairs. The breeding process involves six important stages namely courtship, laying of eggs, incubating, hatching of eggs, feeding and dispersal.

Mating – Coming together of birds that are of opposite sex for copulation or sexual reproduction.

Courtship or Courtship Rituals or Courtship Dance – The set of acts done by birds to impress its partner before mating. Each bird will have its own set of behaviors including special calls, display of plumage, postures and special movements. To our knowledge it is believed that courtship rituals are performed by the males to impress the females that it is considering as its mate.

Adult Pair – A pair of birds that are considered to be of age for breeding. Or pair of birds that are in their breeding age. The breeding age varies from one species to the other.

Semi Adult Pair – The stage before the breeding age. Pairs that are not yet ready for breeding, but will come to breeding age in a few months time. This again varies from one species to the other.

True Pair – A true pair refers to a set of birds that are actually a male and a female proven either through DNA testing or natural dimorphism or in experience whereby it has been seen to have successfully produced fertilized eggs. 

Compatible Pair – To successfully breed it is not enough to have just a true pair i.e. that is just a male and a female but the male and female that you have should be a compatible pair. In other words, compatible pair refers to birds that accept each other as their mate so as to involve in breeding behavior and eventually breed successfully.

Clutch or Clutch Of Eggs – Refers to the set of eggs produced by a particular pair at a single time. The clutch size or the number of eggs laid by each species and each pair varies. Sometimes the same pair may lay different number of eggs each time or each season depending on its health conditions, general well being and numerous other factors that control the clutch size.

Hatching – The process of the young ones coming out of the eggs, breaking the shells is called hatching.

Brooding – Birds sitting on the eggs for a specified period of time to hatch the eggs. This process is also called incubation and the act, incubating.

Incubator – An electric device that is used to artificially hatch the fertilized eggs. An incubator simulates the brooding conditions.

Nesting – Refers to the set of behaviors exhibited by birds that are in breeding process which includes preparing of the nest box, spending time in the nest box even before the eggs are laid (not referring to birds that have the habit of spending their nights in the nest box) and incubation of the eggs.

Nest Box – A box or other set up that is provided for the caged birds as a special place where the birds can lay their eggs, incubate and take care of the young ones until the young ones are ready to be on their own. 

Incubating / Incubation – The process of the parent birds sitting on the egg to hatch the eggs. This process is also called brooding. The incubation can also be handled artificially using incubators.

Crop Milk – When a parent bird regurgitates the food it eats to feed the young ones the food, the lining of the crop secretes a highly nutritious substance which is important for the hatchlings’ growth and immunity. The secretion from the crop lining of the parent birds is called crop milk.

Bird Leg Rings or leg bands – Metal Rings or plastic rings in general are used to identify one bird from the other in the breeding farms which helps them keep the birds segregated during the breeding season. Leg rings or bands are also important while sexing birds because the DNA results are matched with the numbers or the codes in the leg rings or bands of the birds.

Closed Ring Birds / Closed Band Birds – Birds that wear metal or plastic rings that are of closed nature as opposed to rings that are with cuts or slits. Closed ring or closed band shows that the birds are bred in farms or raised in farms because closed rings can be put on to the birds legs only when they are very young, just about 15 days old.

Cut Ring Birds / Cut Band / Open Band - Cut rings refer to rings that have a slit which can be expanded while putting on the rings to adult birds and squeezed back to ensure that it does not slip out of the bird’s leg. Also check Bird Leg Rings and Closed Ring Birds.

Mutation – Refers to the variations from the original bird traits in terms of physical appearance, for our purposes mainly referring to the color of the plumage. For example, the original color of Indian Ring Neck parrots is Green but through mutation we have Indian Ring Necks in various colors including blue, grey, white, yellow, violet and many more.

Incubation Period – The number of days it takes for a fertilized egg to hatch after the parent birds start sitting on the eggs or incubating. The incubation period varies from species to species.

Gestation Time / Gestation Period – See Incubation Period