ARTICLES
FROM:
THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL COCKATIEL SOCIETY
INC. JOURNAL
1998
Brisbane Pet & Animal Expo
(May/June 98)
Weeds
for Birds (May/June 98)
On
Track (May/June 98)
"Sammy" (May/June
98)
Can you
solve this problem?
(May/June 98)
Ask the
Vet (May/June 98)
My
first attempt (May/June
98)
Keeping
Records (May/June 98)
A
distress call (May/June 98)
Book
Review (May/June 98)
Feather
Plucking (March/ April 98)
NSW
Sub-branch report
(May/June 98)
Hand
Rearing formulas (May/June
98)
Membership
Information
1998
BRISBANE PET & ANIMAL EXPO
On the 20th, 21st &
22nd of March the Brisbane Pet & Animal
Expo was held at the Convention Centre at
Southbank in Brisbane. As was the case last
year we were generously sponsored to
participate at the Expo by Mark & Kathy
Arnold from Vortex Industries , makers of the
Bird Munchies products.
Along with the Parrot
Society of Australia, The African Lovebird
& Foreign Parrot Society and the Finch
Society , we each had an aviary in which to
display our birds and promote our respective
clubs. This is certainly a golden opportunity
for clubs to reach members of the general
public who otherwise may not be aware of the
existence of specialist bird clubs.
As was the case last
year, largely thanks to the members who so
generously volunteered their time to help out
over the three days, the whole exercise was a
huge success. In my opinion , the questions
asked compared to the previous years’
experience , seemed to suggest the public are
becoming better informed about birds and bird
keeping in general.
Back to the volunteers,
they are owed a huge vote of thanks from all
the members for the big effort they put in.
Believe me it is hard work being in there and
coping with the constant bombardment of
questions being thrown at you . A special
thankyou to those members who stayed much
longer than their shift required them to, it
was very much appreciated.
A raffle was conducted
over the course of the three days and thanks
to some very aggressive ticket selling
techniques we were able to raise close to
$1300.00 for the club. A very good effort I
am sure you will agree. The raffle consisted
of two hand raised cinnamon cockatiels and a
large powder coated cage. The raffle was won
by the Hourigan family of Forest Lake who
were very delighted with their new additions
to the family.
This was also chance to
introduce the new Bird Munchies
"Cockatiel Blend " to the general
public and it was extremely well received . I
am sure their are a lot of pet cockatiels out
there saying thank heavens they don’t
have to eat wild bird mix anymore.
Robyn Ashton.
WEEDS
FOR BIRDS by
Andrew George
What is a weed ? A weed
can be described as , any plant growing of
its own accord in a place where it is not
wanted. Weeds are a part of everyday life and
thus we can use some of them to our
advantage. This advantage being to feed them
to our birds.
I must stress at
this point, before I mention any names, that
there are many things to consider before
feeding any weeds to your birds.
Knowing your weeds is
imperative for a start , you
don’t want to make the mistake of
feeding a poisonous weed to your birds. Once
you know your weeds you must consider where
it is you are getting the weed from. Never
take a weed from the roadside as the polution
from cars and trucks will be over the leaves
and flowers. Be sure that the area you get
the weed from hasn’t been sprayed with
anything. I wouldn’t recommend taking a
weed from a park as they are areas often
sprayed for pests. The old saying "
it’s better safe than sorry" is a
golden rule to follow when picking weeds to
feed to your birds.
Following is a list of
some of the weeds you can feed your birds:
GRASSES:
Most if not all grasses are edible , Avena
fatua and ludoviciana are wild oats related
to Oats used in seeds and for porridge.
Phalaris paradoxa grass and lesser canary
grass are related to the canary seeds found
in bird mixes. Setaria is millet grass with
italica being a cultivated form and
verticulata being a common weed form. Panicum
maximum Guinea grass is a tall grass of
disturbed areas and provides plenty of food .
Wild sorgham is a useful weed though as with
Johnson grass has been described as possibly
causing some poisoning in stock. I have fed
it to my birds in small amounts with no
effects.
AMARANTHUS :
There are many Amaranthus that you may find,
a common one is Amaranthus viridis known as
green amaranthus, this is what I would call a
great weed as it grows quickly and my birds
absolutely love it from its roots to its
seeds.
GOMPHRENA:
Gomphrena weed is the one that Galahs enjoy
in parks in summer and you may find it in
your lawn. It has been reported that horses
can be poisoned if all they eat is gomphrena
weed for prolonged periods. But that is not
likely to happen to your birds but be
cautious.
MILK THISTLE:
Sonchos oleraceus is also known as sow
thistle. It is enjoyed by birds all over the
world as its milky stem is classed as a
delicacy by even the snobbiest of birds.
BRASSICA:
Brassica juncea , Indian mustard and wild
turnip ,a member of the cabbage, brussel
sprout family. It is enjoyed by some but not
all birds. It is cultivated in Russia for oil
for mecicinal purposes. It may also provide
something for birds, who knows.
PIGWEED:
Portulaca oleracea is a succulant plant in
high rainfall areas. This plant is also
called purslane or munyeroo. This plant
should only be fed in small amounts.
CHICKWEED:
Stellaria media is a widespread garden weed.
It is regarded as a major problem weed of
crops in many parts of the world. It is
sometimes used as a green vegetable in
cooking.
There are a few weeds
that birds will enjoy if you are lucky enough
or unlucky enough to have them growing near
you . Your local library is a good source to
identify weeds through books and you local
nursery may also be worth a try.
Happy Birdkeeping &
Happy Weeding.
ON
TRACK by John
Gallagher.
O’kay, O’kay
Robyn here is your article. After much
persistance on Robyn’s part I have
managed to find some time in my busy six
weeks of sick leave to sit down and write an
article for the Australian National Cockatiel
Society. Although, this article may not be
very long. Watching T.V., reading the paper
and sitting watching my birds are taking up
most of my busy schedule.
They say that marriage
is a test. Just ask my wife Jan when I ask
her if I can put up another aviary in the
backyard !
In all seriousness
though, I have seven aviaries catering for my
birds at the moment with 90% of those being
cockatiels. I have found with being employed
full time, seven is more than enough to take
care of , taking a lot of my spare time.
Especially when you take into consideration
the other chores including looking after the
kids, the house, the yard, the dog....did I
mention the kids ! I also try to spend some
quality time with my wife. When deciding how
many aviaries you can look after properly, if
you have the time, then below are a few handy
hints.
I take a very serious
view on caring for my birds, the two main
factors being cleanliness and regular care. I
believe this is the key for keeping healthy
birds. I am very lucky that my wife share my
interest , so whilst I am unable to fully
care for them, she gives them the treatment
that they need.
Cleanliness. I
consider is put down to keeping the cages
tidy , changing the water daily, making sure
no droppings are in the seed, and left over
scraps are taken out each afternoon or early
the next day . My cages are scrubbed once a
week and cuttleshell and calcium bells are
checked for mould etc. as well as checking
seed dishes are not badly stained by
droppings. There is an additive called
Aviclens which can be used in the water to
stop it from getting a green slime in the
bottom of the dishes. I do not use it daily
but do use it if we go away for a few days.
Attention and
regular care comes with observing the
birds daily , varying what is fed to them and
ensuring they receive vitamins as an extra
suppliment which they need as well as seed.
Vegetables such as silverbeet, celery,
broccoli and carrot are a good vitamin source
along with multigrain bread and cuttleshell.
I give my birds silverbeet, multigrain bread
and celery on a daily basis. Cuttleshell and
calcium bells are left in the cage at all
times. To stop boredom in the avairies I have
found by giving them branches this acts as a
sufficient playground to keep them happy and
content.
Just a note on the
position of your aviaries. If for example,
your aviaries are facing the prevailing
winds, or are exposed to rain, and you have
no protection this can be easily remedied by
clear plastic covers which can be made quite
cheaply and rolled up in good weather so they
can be left permanently on the cages. There
is nothing worse that finding wet seed and
having to change it , which is not only
expensive but is also time consuming. Believe
me, I have done it and I am not the only one,
I’m sure. Just a touch of sunlight a day
is all the birds need to get their vitamin
D3. They do not need to be in direct sunlight
all day long.
Being a bird breeder I
have learnt through trial and error and found
a lot of alternate ways of dealing with
problems that arise. I think there is always
something to learn whether you have been
breeding birds for one year or twenty years.
You can pick up ideas from listening to other
people or just reading the magazine, so
please feel free to express your ideas in
articles in this magazine. This will not only
help other cockatiel breeders in their quest
for more knowledge but it will help Robyn to
fill our magazine with newsy articles and
save me from getting R.S.I. at the
typewriter. If I can do it anybody can .
But now I must end as
the T.V. is calling.........
"SAMMY" by
Glenn Hutchings (Newcastle)
I was spurred on to
write this story after reading Robyn Ashton's
story of Hop-a-Long.
Sammy was born in the
spring of 1986 from a pair of lutinos. Each
time I checked their nest one of the young
chicks was alway lying on its side and when
it looked like it was not being fed I took it
out to be hand raised.
We persevered and she
survived and became a household pet. She took
over the house – it was hers.
Sammy bathed in the sink, ate at the kitchen
table, picked her own Anzac biscuits out of
the tin, bit the cat when it got in her way,
slept on our shoulders but when you dozed off
she'd pull your eyelashes out. She even went
outside a couple of times on my wife's head
when she forgot Sammy was there and even
though her wings were not clipped, she didn't
attempt to fly away.
Sammy lived with us in
the house for about a year and then she got
bored and started to chew things. The plaster
cornice above door pelmet, the door pelmet
itself, curtains and anything she could get
her beak into. She refused to go back into
her cage at night and we had to resort to
using the net to catch her. Sammy could
detect when we were getting ready to go out
and she'd start flying around the house at
full speed.
It was down to two
choices:
1) Stay in the cage all
the time.
2) Up to the aviary
with all the others.
We chose the aviary and
hoped she would mingle with the others. As
she was still a "virgin" my wife
wanted me to protect her modesty with a
bandaid so none of the males could interfere
with her "daughter".
The following breeding
season she was mated with a male lutino and
it took her a few nests before she became a
good mother. I bred with her until 1994 with
the same lutino and then paired her with a
Normal/Lutino. In September 1995 I found
three rosella eggs on the grass at the back
of our shed where they had been pushed out of
their log nest by Indian minor birds. I
wasn't sure if they were fertile or not so I
put them under Sammy as her eggs were
infertile and knew she would hatch them if
they were OK. She hatched and raised them for
around 4 ½ weeks and then she tried to push
them out and stopped feeding them. I called a
friend who hand rears young birds and she fed
them until they were weaned and then we
donated them to the local wildlife reserve.
Sammy has not been
mated since she raised rosellas and has had
the run of the aviary ever since. She has a
boyfriend (whiteface) and even though she is
now eleven years old they look as though they
are going to start mating soon. I have not
kept any of her young over the years so I
would like her to lay, again so I can keep
one or two but am not sure if she is too old
or not for any more nests. She is in
excellent health and is quite eager to mate
with this whiteface – does any one have
any older mothers that are doing well? If so
can you give us your input.
CAN
YOU SOLVE THIS PROBLEM ?
In the last journal we
asked members to write in their solutions to
two problems. Thanks to the members who have
written in with the following ideas.
Dear Members,
I am writing in answer
to the couple of questions you have in your
Jan/Feb issue. These are probably not new
ideas but I thought that I would send them to
you anyway. In answer to the first question
about the ants, the only suggestion that I
have is if you have suspended aviaries tie
rags soaked in oil around the legs. For some
reason the ants won’t crawl over the
oily rags. If they are not suspended I have
no idea , as I have the same problem myself.
In answer to the second
question about rats and mice, personally I
have found that if you put guinea pigs in or
around your aviaries the rats and mice
won’t go anywhere near them. As silly as
this may sound I have found from experience
that it really does work.
I hope that this may be
of some interest to your readers.
Yours faithfully, Dave
Quinlan.
*************************************
Dear Robyn,
In answer to "Can
you solve this problem" Question 2. I
have an 8 bay aviary for cockatiels and in 6
bays I have a pair of King Quail in each bay.
I do not have any problem with mice in these
aviary bays. In the other two bays I have
"Ketch All" mouse traps and
regularly catch any wandering mice. It
appears the odour of the Quails keeps the
mice away.
Best Regards
Sid Hansen ( P.S. I
really enjoy our journal.)
ASK
THE VET with Dr
Ron Woodhead B.V.Sc.
Question....What
are the danger signs of illness to look out
for when purchasing a new bird ?
Answer...When
purchasing a new bird inquire of your fellow
aviculturists for a reputable dealer. Look
over their aviaries and assess their standard
of housing and husbandry.Inquire as to the
history of the bird you wish to purchase. Was
it bred by the vendor or has the bird been
purchased by him / her for resale ?
Observe the bird in
question form a distance. Is the bird active,
moving about the cage or aviary freely ? The
bird should not be fluffed, sitting quietly
on the perch or floor. The bird must be alert
and aware of its surroundings. Birds cover
their illnesses very well ans it is not until
they are very sick that their appearance
indicates their condition. Do not feel sorry
for the quiet, sitting on its own type of
bird as this could be the first sign of a
sick bird.
The next step is to
handle the bird and feel its breast bone,
making sure that the bird’s weight is
within the normal body weight range for that
species. The bird should not be too light or
too heavy. Overweight birds can have health
problems as do underweight birds.Look at the
bird’s feathery. Is it complete ? - Some
cockatiels have bald heads, this is normal.
Are there any abnormal feathers, any stress
lines in the feathers indicating previous
stress conditions ? Check for mites or lice
on the birds body of feathers. Start at the
bird’s head and look at the eyes for any
sign of discharge or blockages ; the Beak for
malformation or scaliness ( this could be the
first sign of mites). Move the feathers and
look into the bird’s ears making sure
they are not blocked or discharging. The
bird’s beak and mouth should be clean
with no caking of food inside the beak or
wetting of the feathers around the beak or
over the bird’s head. Check the
bird’s vent making sure there is no
green diarrhoea or soiled feathers indicating
diarrhoea. The birds legs and claws should
also be observed for normal confirmation and
skin texture. Poor confirmation of the feet
may interfere with the birds breeding
ability. If a clean dropping can not be
observed for the bird in question, place the
bird in a clean holding cage and wait for it
to pass a dropping so as to observe its
colour, texture and consistency. Birds with
abnormal droppings should be avoided. A visit
to your avian veterinarian with your new bird
for further advice and possible tests is also
advisable. It is advisible to quarantine all
new arrivals for 45 days before placing them
into your aviaries.*
MY
FIRST ATTEMPT by
Nellie Borst
I have been told that
if you wish to train a bird to talk, it is
better to have one, as they tend to be more
interested in one another. My son Greg, and
his wife Elizabeth hand reared a baby galah,
now 6 years old, Floyd is his name, has a
wonderful vocabulary of words, one of which
he repeats over and over again, " What
are you doing."
I gave my son one of my
baby cockatiels ( Ernie, they have named him,
which I hand reared ) to be a companion for
their own cockatiel ,Oscar. In all, they have
two galahs and two cockatiels, they spend a
great deal of time together in the back
garden. Ernie is facinated by Floyds talking
all the time and is now at the tender age of
three months, talking his little head off by
mimicking Floyds every word. It is truly
amazing to listen and watch this beautiful
little bird.
Of course, ( as I keep
telling my son ) why little Ernie is so smart
is that he came from me and my first attempt
in breeding these delightful little birds. My
own little bird, Joe, who is the brother of
Ernie, is already mimicking the phone and is
doing his best to say " here
chook", I hand reared them all. I sold
five and kept three, they are my babies. It
broke my heart to let the other five go.
KEEPING
RECORDS by
Robyn Ashton.
Record keeping is a
very important part of bird breeding. It
helps you to keep track of individual birds
and their offspring , when they bred, how
they bred any details that might help you in
future breeding with individual birds. The
list goes on , no matter how much we think we
can retain in our heads there is just so much
information needed to be retained if you
don’t have some form of system you
should really think about starting one.
To start your breeding
register you can go high tech such as
computer programs designed to have everything
at the push of a button or you can go low
tech with an exercise book and a pencil ( at
least you don’t have to worry about
power blackouts or the millenium bug!) .
The basic format is
really the same no matter how you choose to
record it.
Step1.
Establish your breeding
pairs. Give them a reference number and
record a list with each pair and
corresponding number ( this could be at the
back or front of your book. Alternately if
your birds happen to have names eg. Max &
Mabel use their names to keep track.
Step 2.
Number your aviaries.
Sketch out a floorplan of your garden and put
each aviary in its place . Then starting from
left to right give each aviary a number.
While this isn’t absolutely necessary it
comes in handy when you are approaching
breeding season and planning which pair will
you put in which aviary.
Step 3.
Draw up your book along
the lines of the sample below.
Enter the details of
the breeding birds, one page per pair, any
comments relating to the breeding pair, their
ring numbers , origins etc.
BREEDING
REGISTER
As you can see by the
sample breeding register as above everything
is set out clearly and simply. At a glance
you are able to check up on a nest that you
may have had years before and have all the
dates and details at your fingertips. Keeping
a record of who you sell each bird to can be
very useful in a couple of instances. Firstly
when that person comes to you for another
bird ( because they were so happy with the
first one ) you are able to know exactly
which bird you sold them , which pair it was
from, its age and you will know for sure that
if they require an unrelated bird you are
able to be absolutely positive that this is
what you are selling them.
Secondly, if at some
time the purchaser of your bird loses it , as
long as your birds are rung with club or
coded rings , if the bird turns up we can
track down the owner by contacting you the
breeder to see who you sold it to. I think
the trick is to keep your system simple and
user friendly. Have your register (and a pen)
in an easily accessible place and always put
it back in its proper place so that you know
where to find it next time. Always record
your details straight away don’t think
" I’ll do it later " because
what usually happens is you forget later and
when you go to look up details when you need
them you find out you never got around to
filling them in.
First egg laid and due
date are two very important entries. We all
know how quickly time flies , but if you have
a pretty good idea when those eggs should
start to hatch you are far more able to pick
up any problems such as chicks unable to
hatch through eggs being too dry, whether the
eggs are even fertile because if they are
getting close to hatching time but they
haven’t started to change colour it is a
pretty good sign that they are clear and you
need to start over. Also you know that in the
days leading up to the hatching date that the
parent birds will need to have their food
intake increased to enable them to feed their
nest of chicks.
Leg rings play a very
important part in your breeding register.
Without them all the good book keeping in the
world won’t help once birds from
different nests but of the same colour are
mixed together. This is especially important
if you are putting together unrelated pairs
for a buyer. It is not good enough to go by
guesswork, you need to be able to guarantee
that you are not selling someone two birds
for the purpose of breeding that are in any
way related.
The amount of
information you choose to keep is really up
to you . If you like the sample register I
have put together on the previous page you
could go to a photocopy shop and have it
anlarged to A4 size get a few copies printed
up and keep them in a folder. It doesn’t
get much easier than that. Or if you are keen
you could do up your own personal version on
computer or by hand .
A
DISTRESS CALL by Lyn
Ramscar.
My phone rang one
morning about 9am. A lady on the other end of
the phone was very distressed, her name is
Sharon. Sharon had bought a baby cockatiel,
supposedly hand raised, from someone two
weeks earlier. This baby was supposed to be 8
weeks old now, Sharon thought it was eating
she had seen it picking up seed. When someone
has sold you a handreared bird you do expect
it to be able to feed itself.
I was on my way out
when the phone rang so I gathered up some
roudybush just in case it was just hungry and
headed down to see if I could help.
To my horror when I
arrived I saw a tiny platinum bird hunched
over in a little basket , all lined with
cloth, seed and water dishes. Yes, it was the
right seed but that isn’t much use if
you don’t know how to hull the seeds to
eat them.
Sharon had the bird to
the vet two days earlier, he sold her some
Sulphur D and gave her some sugary solution
to give her bird 3 times a day. ( This local
vet did tell her he didn’t know a lot
about birds.)Since then this little bird had
got a lot worse. Sharon had tried to contact
the person who sold her the bird, only to be
told they were unavailable ( not very
responsible bird keeping). She needed help
but didn’t know who to ring. Finally she
made contact with the club .
This little bird cost
$35.00 to buy & $50.00 in vet bills, so
it was no longer a cheap bird. Needless to
say here I was , standing in her living room
with a sick bird, 2 little children and
Sharon , all pleading for me to make their
bird better. Nothing short of a miracle could
have brought this little bird back . I tried
to give him a feed a Roudybush but I knew it
was no use, the bird had needed to be fed two
weeks ago . I sadly watched as I could see
this baby bird slipping away and so could
Sharon. To ease their distress I took the
bird home with me , Sharon knew it was dying,
her phone call had been a last desperate
attempt to keep her pet alive. Even though
Sharon had tried to do all the right things
it had still ended in disaster. If you
handrear please make sure they are fully
independant before you let them go .
PRICILLA WAS HER NAME
SHE LIVED ONLY 8 WEEKS.
BOOK
REVIEW
The latest topic to be
covered by the Guide to.. Series from
Australian Birdkeeper Publications is"
A Guide to Incubation & Handraising
Parrots."
The author is Phil
Digney has put together a comprehensive and
detailed guide covering every aspect such as
:
Incubation -
including the different types of incubators
available and how to choose the right one for
your needs; also the types of equipment you
will need to have on hand to cover any
situation or emergency that may arise.
Hatching -
understanding exactly what stage the egg is
at and when the chick is hatching , what
steps to take if a problem occurs.
Handraising -
this covers everything from fundamentals such
as weighing and record keeping to brooders,
bedding , feeding instruments and choice of
formula. Weight charts are a valuable guide
for the novice handrearer and every chapter
is beautifully illustrated with photographs .
Weaning - is
covered in great detail as this is probably
the most crucial stage of handrearing. This
book details how some species are more
difficult than others to wean and how in some
cases such as Black Cockatoos can regress
from being totally weaned back to total
dependence. The author stresses the dangers
of selling unweaned chicks which is something
we have tried to educate people about many
times through this journal.
Troubleshooting
- the final chapter covers what to do when
things go wrong and how to recognize if you
have a problem and act quickly to rectify the
problem. Prevention is better than cure and
this is never more true than in handrearing
where attention to detail , good hygiene and
diet all lead towards a successful result.
This book will be of
great benefit to those about to attempt
handrearing for the first time as well as
helping those who already handrear but are
always looking for ways to improve their
system. Even if you are not intending to
handrear , we all know how emergency
situations can arise and the information in
this book could provide you with the
knowledge that you need to save a chick that
might otherwise have no chance of survival .
I don’t think
there is any better sense of achievement that
you can get in birdkeeping than raising a
tiny chick from total dependency on you to
being able to grow and thrive on its own all
thanks to your tender care. It is truly a
special thing to do as I am sure anyone who
has ever handreared will agree.
I think the photos in
this book of all the healthy young chicks are
enough to remind us what aviculture is all
about, especially in the case of species that
without the intervention of dedicated people
such as the author would be lost to us
forever. It is a credit to modern aviculture
in general that so many leaps and bounds have
been made in fields such as handrearing .
Whereas years ago it was very much a hit and
miss affair to now where formulas are
specifically designed to suit the different
species.
A Guide to Incubation
& Handraising Parrots is available
through Australian Birdkeeper or from the
A.N.C.S. Sales Table R.R.P. $24.95 plus $3.50
p&h
FEATHER
PLUCKING
March/April 1996 A.N.C.S. Journal
Late last year I had a
pair of cockatiels start plucking their
chicks in an attempt to make them leave the
nest. Don’t blame them ! Like most kids
3 feeds a day, warmth, love, no chores, they
didn’t want to go. But Mum & Dad
knew it was time.
Unfortunately 2 of the
young kept going back and Mum & Dad got a
bit angry so they kept plucking them. I took
them all out to look after and let Mum &
Dad hatch the next nest. They were around six
weeks old and already eating well on their
own , just needing a bit of encouragement.
This is when it became obvious to me that I
had a problem .
I noticed the two who
had been plucked a bit started to pull
feathers out of eachother , I thought this
was maybe frustration so I just dismissed it.
Two weeks later I noticed these two harassing
the others so I separated them. The other
three have grown with no problems at all but
the other two kept it up , bad behaviour
seems to multiply if you don’t do
something about it.
Then I remembered
reading an article when I first came to the
club on feather plucking. I had nothing to
lose so I decided to give it a go. There were
three different types of remedies , the one I
tried was 50% Listerine mouthwash 50% water .
Fine mist the birds 3-4 times a day . Do this
for a month or two. I did it for one month.
Be consistant ! I also
misted them when I saw them plucking
eachother. These birds are now 5 months old ,
no sign of plucking, what’s more they
get annoyed when any bird tries it on them.
They seem happy well adjusted birds although
they still know what it means to see me with
a mister in my hand and fly quickly to the
back of the aviary.
I’ve tried it
and it works !
They may not have been
bad feather pluckers but could have been just
that if not stopped.
HINTS : Things I have
found in a magazine to be a good hint I
highlight so it’s easy to find later.
Also keep your magazines in a binder, you
will have a great reference library.
P.S. If you see an
article in your magazine that you think is
great it was probably written by someone just
like you so have a go !
NSW
SUB BRANCH REPORT
Our March meeting
commenced at approximately 8.15pm with the
usual formalities being conducted ( minutes
of last meeting , treasurers report etc ) .
At the completion of
these our President Ted Lowe launched himself
into an informative lecture on the use of
electricity and electrical items in , around
, and on your aviary/s. The display of items
Ted had on show ranged from computer
controlled water/sprinkler system, lighting
set-ups and security & deterrent units.
The computer control unit for
watering/sprinkler system has the ability to
refill/top up water dishes at a designated
time each day and with a thermostat control
unit connected to the sprinkler unit they
will turn on whenever a certain temperature
is reached saving you a fair amount of time
depending on your aviary numbers.
The lighting set-ups
allowed for the extension of daylight hours
during the winter months with the lights
based on a dimmer/timer set-up where they
come on very dim at a set time each morming
and gradually brighten up to full light over
a 2-3 hour period and at night going in
reverse creating an artificial sunrise/sunset
effectively giving you extra 4-6 hours of
light per day.The security & deterrent
units consisted of motion sensetive flood
lights to light up your yard or aviary
complex if an intruder was detected and a low
voltage electric fence to act as a deterrent
to predators & other pests. It may be
mounted on either your aviary/s or on the
perimeter of your complex and can be run on
240 volts or batteries.The meeting finished
at approximately 10.30pm with Ben Doyle our
raffle winner and myself winning second
prize.
Dean Baker (
Publicity Officer )
PRESIDENT’S
NOTES....
The quality of birds
sent to us on Saturday for judging at the
Sydney Pet Expo was great and made the whole
event worthwhile. To Mike Anderson , who with
a normal Whiteface cock bird took the honours
for the show for Queensland, congratulations.
With this sort of
interclub event , it will only make our
society stronger and more inviting . We.ve
started to put our birds in training for the
return bout next year. To the other
Cockroaches who sent birds many thanks , for
without your support this event could not
have been possible. To the N.S.Welshmen
you’ve done yourself and club proud with
the way it was run and the display organised.
Many thanks to both
judges for your time and effort, it’s
good to see that it appears that some of the
states are using the same judging schedule.
To Bird Munchies for their support at the
Expo , Kath & Mark Arnold , once again
thankyou.
Second Birthday
Meeting 13th May 1998
What a night , new
venue , quite a lot of visitors and our
Judge/ Guest Speaker from W.A. , Spencer
Stewart.
Spencers talk went from
about 8.30pm till 11.15pm and what a talk. A
short video was shown on Spencers aviaries
and his Spangles, West Coast Silvers &
some Pieds. We then went onto aviaries,
feeding , mutations and the year 2000, he
discussed the breeding of Spangles and the
misconception in relation to the West Coast
Silver.
Spencer also said of
the show on Sunday that the quality of the
cockatiels benched was very high and there
was no discernable difference beteewn the
birds from the different states. The top
shelf of 14 birds would all take pride of
place in any aviary.
Footnote.. Final
outcome of the night was the in house raffle
, the prize was a young Platinum and was won
by Kath Stewart. Spencer said "
we’ll keep it and take it home for some
new blood " Spencer also donated a pair
of split Spangle "Weeros" . These
birds will be run in a raffle over the next 4
months.
Ted Lowe ( President
)
The 5th Annual
Sydney Pet & Animal Expo was held on
the 8th , 9th & 10th May 1998 at the new
Homebush Showground. The Australian National
Cockatiel Society Inc N.S.W Sub Branch was
proud to be part of this Expo bringing our
club and the many varieties of cockatiel to
the showground for the public to see and
learn about.
An in house show was
conducted on Saturday the 9th with some 76
birds benched. The winners were...
Jimbo Kearle ...
Cockatiel of Show
Merv Knight..... Juvenile of Show
Ted Lowe.......... Best Opposite Sex
Robert Cross..... Runner-Up Juvenile
Thankyou to Keith
Gallagher for judging this show .
Congratulations to the above winners. The
winners and second place getters in all
classes then advanced through to the Sunday
show against Queenslands finest birds.
The results of this
show were....
Mike Anderson QLD
.............. Bird of Show
Merv Knight N.S.W............... Juvenile of
Show
Ted Lowe N.S.W................... Best
Opposite Sex
Robert Cross N.S.W.............. Runner-up
Juvenile
Thankyou to Spencer
Stewart for judging this show.
Congratulations to the above winners . The
Perpetual Shield donated by N.S.W. was won by
Queensland ( but not for long !) Our sincere
thanks go to all our Sponsors , Mark &
Kathy Arnold of Bird Munchies, Ted Lowe of
Weero Electrical , Chris Matts of Mona Vale
Pet Shop and Treco Sheds and Aviaries . to
all who assisted and promoted our club and
birds over the 3 days of the Expo , take a
bow. You all made our display an outstanding
success by contributing a high standard of
presentation to the public , well done.
Dean Baker
(Publicity Officer )
HANDREARING
FORMULAS by
Robyn Ashton
When you are
considering doing some handrearing it is
important to work out which formula you think
will be best to use to feed your chicks.
There are several commercial formulas
available to breeders now unlike years ago
when you had to make up your own recipe.
While some of the home made formulas work
just fine , we are fortunate now with all the
developments in aviculture to be able to go
and buy a ready made mixture that contains
all the ingredients your chicks need to grow
and thrive.
However with all these
advancements in handfeeding formulas there
are still some who choose to use totally
unsuitable mixtures such as egg & biscuit
to handrear chicks on . Egg & biscuit
does not contain the necessary requirements
for growing chicks and while it may be enough
to keep them alive ( just ) , it certainly
won’t produce a healthy , thriving bird
. If the chick survives it will most
certainly be lacking the vitamins and
minerals so necessary for its development. So
please don’t use unsuitable products to
handrear. Remember , you only get back what
you put in , so if you are only prepared to
put in minimum effort and resources instead
of having an end result you can be proud of
ie. a beautiful healthy chick, all you will
end up with is a weak , vitamin deficient
chick with limited chance of survival.
The new A Guide to..
book from Australian Birdkeeper which we have
reviewed in this journal goes into much
detail about handfeeding formulas as well as
all the other information you need to know .
MEMBERSHIP
INFORMATION
STANDARD $28.00 PER
YEAR
PENSIONER / STUDENT
$24.00 PER YEAR
OVERSEAS $39.00 ( AUST
$ ) PER YEAR
Do not send cash
through the post. Cheques or money orders
should be made payable to The Australian
National Cockatiel Society Inc .
Please include your
name, address and phone number . Also which
membership category you wish to join and send
with your cheque or money order to...
THE SECRETARY
TELEPHONE ENQUIRIES TO..
A.N.C.S. ROBYN
ASHTON
P.O. BOX 1248 PH. 07
33763601
FORTITUDE VALLEY QLD
4006
The articles and
information published are the opinions of the
Authors and not necessarily those of the
Australian National Cockatiel Society,
it’s Committee Members or Editor. The
Editor reserves the right to exercise normal
editorial responsibility in regard to
printing or not printing material submitted
for publication. Material which is defamatory
will not be printed. All advertisements in
this journal carry no endorsement whatsoever
by the A.N.C.S.
Articles marked ã
copyright remain with the author and cannot
be reprinted without their permission.
Permission for reprinting articles by other
clubs may be granted providing permission is
obtained from the A.N.C.S. and author and
source acknowledged.
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