The meeting was called to order at 7.30pm and everyone was welcomed by our Chairperson, Chris Angus-Smith.  Apologies were received from Alistair Cameron, Paul Gover and Andrew McKendrick.

Chris then handed over to Gerald Binks to introduce our guest speaker from Australia, Dr Rob Marshall and to chair / facilitate the meeting with the help of Terry Tuxford working on the projector.

We had breeders there from top champions like the Al-Nasser's, Mick Freeborn and Roy Aplin (BS President) to beginners like Dereck Ham and Dee Boscoe. Also there was Roger Stone and his sons from Riversway Plastics, who sell Rob’s books in the UK.

Rob started with a power point presentation on Eucalyptus trees, which the budgies love to, chew on, and explained which type to grow and how to harvest it etc.

Rob then drew a feather on the sketch board, placing lots of dots down the centre of the quill, and asked if anyone knew what they were.  He explained that they were quill mite and that they were detrimental to the heath of a bird, as they eat the protein out of the bird, which lowers it fertility. The bird would need to be treated by spraying or bathed in the correct solution of ivermectin at 5mls to 1 litre and again three weeks later alternatively a   shallow bowl in flight so they bath  themselves. (Note: over dosing will result in death of bird)

The other mite to watch for was the feather mite, which eats away at the skin of the bird and lowers its energy levels! (So much to write about)

He said that modern day exhibition budgerigars were more difficult to breed and needed special attention. The fancier should see improvements in breeding results when the principles of the breeding habits of wild budgerigars were applied to the (somewhat difficult) exhibition budgerigar. The following facts should increase the chance of breeding success and reduce the likelihood of breeding failure. He explained some of the problems and suggested a variety of changes we could try to improve our breeding season.

Fertility problems (albeit not in every breeding pair) must be expected when budgerigars are paired at the wrong biological time of the year, irrespective of the presence of artificial lighting or temperature control.

Fertility problems (albeit not in every breeding pair) must be expected when budgerigars are paired at the wrong biological time of the year, irrespective of the presence of artificial lighting or temperature control.

Poor breeding results must also be expected ccommencing breeding in the dark days of approaching winter ,when the natural light during the day has lost it’s intensity, will result in poor fertility and unsuccessful breeding results in the Northern Hemisphere. Strong natural light which is still present in late September to Mid October (in UK) is a time when aviaries come into condition and when a serious commencement of a breeding season should be considered.

Breeding condition is a prerequisite for successful breeding. The best results are seen when the breeding condition of each sex is synchronous. Informed breeding management systems introduce the pairs to mimic the wild bird situation. Poor results should be expected when the hen in "breeding condition" is not introduced to the cock or nest on time.

The availability of food and water is required for wild budgerigars to breed. Most often it is the autumn rain pattern of central Australia that creates the best conditions for wild budgerigars to breed. Wild budgerigars also breed in spring when good autumn rain saturates the water table. With the onset of warmer weather, the soil moisture produces a flush of summer grasses. It is the biological clock of ancient birds that stimulates breeding at this time. The increasing day length activates the biological clock and initiates breeding behavior in most bird species. With the increasing day length that follows the shortest day of the year (June 23rd in Southern Hemisphere; December 21st in Northern Hemisphere) the sex organs of cock birds are stimulated. As long as the weather is not too cold, they will come into "breeding condition" within 4 weeks. Hens do not respond as quickly to the increasing day length. They require a day length of at least 10 hours, and closer to 12 hours, to attain "breeding condition". This apparent asynchrony is beneficial to the breeding outcome, by protecting the energy reserves of the hen. She must preserve her energy for egg production.

When in breeding condition, her nesting and egg laying response will not be completed unless she receives appropriate courtship activities from a cock bird that also has to be in breeding condition. Warmer weather may also stimulate hen birds into breeding condition. Although budgerigars respond to increasing day length as a remnant of the ancient birds' biological clock, it is not an important stimulus to breeding in the wild and should not be expected to provide the same breeding stimulus as the completion of the natural summer moult.

Australian breeders provide their birds with direct sunlight, as it is such an integral part to breeding success. Direct sunlight should be utilised wherever possible. Enclosed bird rooms are used for convenience and for when direct sunlight is impractical. They offer advantages and challenges for the budgerigar breeder. Day lengths between 10 and 14 hours are used to stimulate breeding activity. Enclosed bird rooms are also used in Australia, but are far more common in other parts of the world. Without the benefit of natural daylight hours, breeding expectations must be lower for environmentally controlled indoor bird rooms. The temperature, humidity and day length controls found in indoor bird rooms do, however, provide breeding budgerigars with significant advantages compared to budgerigars in naturally lit aviaries.

"Natural selection" guidelines in nature, the strongest budgerigars select the best nest sites and are first to breed. Similarly, the most vital exhibition budgerigars are the first to come into "breeding condition" and are the best breeders. Fanciers must select wisely and follow nature's doctrine of "survival of the fittest". Freedom from disease also plays a major role in the breeding performance of the exhibition budgerigar and health programmes should be implemented prior to breeding for studs with poor breeding records. It has never been easy to breed champions, because they are few and far between, even from studs with the very best European stock. Success at breeding champion livestock has always been (and continues to be) a "numbers and chance" game. The more offspring bred from proven pairs, the better the chance of producing a champion. Consequently, the aim must be to improve the breeding success of each pair.   Budgerigar fanciers are wise to take note of this fundamental tenet and take advantage of the extraordinary breeding capabilities of the budgerigar.

“Fertility" guidelines - Many, but not all of the best quality exhibition budgerigars have fertility problems. In an effort to recover the lost vitality of the champion bird in future generations, the most practical solution would be to use the family gene pool of lesser quality, but more vital brothers or sisters of the champions. There is a far greater chance of producing future champions from the lesser birds purely due to increased numbers of offspring produced. A champion produced from this "lesser" pairing is much more likely to be vital and fertile. They can then be used to start a sturdy and productive family more in line with the old Australian families.

Rob said his advice was to breed at the right time of year and then reassess the breeding results. If infertility persisted, "cleanse" the stud with a prescribed disease treatment programme. If fertility was good but the babies developed poorly, look more closely at the feeding system being used. By following these simple rules, breeding success was guaranteed in all pairs except those with a genetic weakness.

Rob went on to give lots more advice on all aspects of the Budgerigar and its general heath & wellbeing, with lots of general discussion from the floor which was good! 

He said the other problems were with the water we use and said to make a note of the change if we boiled our water for a week to see if we noticed any difference!

With that we all thanked Rob in the usual way for the professional and very informative evening! (Running out of time 10.30) His presentation could have gone on all-night for me!

Roy Aplin then took the floor as the BS President to say a few words (Roy had done a special sketch, which we all signed for Dr Rob Marshall as a momento of his visit).

Roy presented the sketch to Rob and went on to say that this was the type of meeting / speaker that the BS should have at their conventions, as Rob was the best avian vet speaker on Budgerigars he had ever heard.

Gerald Binks then spoke and said that at the beginning of the meeting, when he was introducing Rob, he had said that Rob was arguably the best avian vet in the world, but he would now like to correct that statement, because he was the best (this received a very loud round of applause).

The meeting was called to order at   8.00pm and everyone was welcomed by our Chairperson, Chris Angus-Smith.  Apologies were received from Alex Whitman, Mike Ball, Delia Smith and Andrew McKendrick.

Tony Cash talked about general club news and also the September 11th meeting, which is on a Wednesday to suite Dr Rob Marshall, starting at 7.30 with Gerald Binks chairing the meeting.

Chris then welcomed Ron Pearce, our speaker for the evening, with his partner Marcel Buhler!

With all  the birds benched (pairs only), Ron started by giving a brief of the format for the evening and by asking everyone to pair up their best 3 pairs and also 2 of their lesser pairs, assuming that they were the only birds in their stud.  He gave everyone 35 minutes to do so, after which he would comment on the various pairings that had been chosen and ask the reasons for that particular pairing.  After this he would give his opinion on people’s selections.

Once the pairings had been done to what was thought to be the best pairings to breed from, we stopped for a tea break and general chat.

Ron then started to give various comments regarding the quality of the birds benched and the faults and good features that were in front of him.

With that out of the way Ron selected various breeders with their sheets and asked them to come up and explain the pairings they had chosen.

We had breeders from top champions like Gerald Binks to beginners like Dee Selby.  Ron gave advice to each individual on their pairings and sometimes suggested another bird as an alternative to help breed better youngsters, in his opinion, or to balance the faults in the pair. 

A general discussion on various birds continued, with Ron giving explanations on his view of pairings and why, assuming that this was his stud and all he had to work with! There were all sorts of birds there, from buffs to yellow feathered and flecked with dilutes and spangles. 

Ron went on to talk in general about the modern birds of today and asked if we were going too far with the quest to cover the face with feather.

He mentioned that, whilst on a visit to Daniel Lutoft, that he was taking a step back on the amount of feathering around the face. That is not to say that some feathering around the face is desirable and makes the bird look neat and not beaky. 

He said the other problem with trying to increase the feather was the tailless wonders and also the long flight type bird and others with extreme long tails! He admitted he had the odd super bird in his stud but had decided not to use them as it would only spread that factor into the rest of his stud - a balance had to be maintained in the pairings of the buff feature for the stud to survive.

Ron talked about miniature budgies, saying that they were a completely different type of bird compared to our normal budgies as we know them.

With that we all (27) thanked Ron & Marcel in the usual way for the professional commentary and the advice / banter given to us all and for not taking any expenses on the night. We then had the raffle and all were wished a safe journey home.  (Bio security was maintained). 

The meeting started at 8.05pm and our Chairperson, Chris Angus-Smith, welcomed all there with apologies received from Dereck Ham and John Mullen.

Neil Johnson, our judge for the evening, started judging the birds at 8.25pm, after explaining how he was going to judge them and that he would make some allowance because of condition, as some of the birds this year seemed to be in-between moults.

Because it was a young stock show the classes were grouped together ‘cock and hen’ to simplify the judging and Neil said that condition was not paramount, as it was a members young bird show. Also, reclassification would happen if required, as no one would be wrong classed. (It did)

Whilst judging Neil explained what features he was actually looking for in the birds and said that when there were two very similar birds it was difficult to place them first and second, as you needed to take into account all of their features / faults. He also stressed that birds entered deserved the time to allow them to perch.

As the judging went on Neil kept up a running commentary and ensured that everyone could see what he was doing. He asked for questions and comments as he was judging and also when he had finished.

After the break I announced the winners of the evening and presented the trophy to Jim Lawrie for Best Young Bird. Neil then started to explain about the birds and the faults and the reasons why they were placed where they were on the benches.

Our thanks to Brian Duncombe, our show manager, who did a great job again and thanks to Jacky Fox for helping in the kitchen with Chris!

Our congratulations to the main winners of the evening:

Jim Lawrie: Best bird in show – Grey Green Spangle Cock
Colin Ives: Best Opposite Sex -  Cin Green Hen
Malcolm Freemantle:  Best champion –  Yellow Wing Dark Green Clearwing Cock
Jim Lawrie:  Best intermediate –  Grey Green Spangle Cock
Alex Whitman: Best Novice – Grey Green Cock
Dee Selby: Best Beginner – Violet  Cock
Colin Ives: Best Barhead  –  Green Hen

The meeting started at 8.05pm and our Chairperson, Chris Angus-Smith, welcomed all there with apologies received from Richard & Julie Hutchins, Andrew McKendrick, Clive Mayers and Alex Whitman (Terry Smith now back home).

Chris then introduced our speaker, the well-known Ian Standley and Marion his better half, from Bexhill-on-Sea.

Ian started with a short résumé of his history in the hobby and what he did, as well as being a full panel judge!   He then introduced his presentation on “Infertility in Budgerigars”, which he said he had quickly put together for this meeting and that it was his first attempt at giving a power point presentation.  Like me, he hasn’t brought a projector yet, but being in the TV business he brought along a 45” LCD TV, which did the job just as well!

Main Headings of the Presentation:

• Bad Management: Poor feeding (soft food supplements needed), cleanliness, erratic routine, boredom. Selection of known low fertility birds, birds out of condition and stressful surroundings

• Failure to Mate: Due to bad health, nutrition deficiencies (particularly vitamin A, D, E and calcium). Vitamin E for fertility and calcium for good eggshell production (calcium should not be given on a regular daily basis in water)

• Lighting: Incorrect lighting and temperature, too bright/too dull (natural or artificial light), too hot/too cold or too erratic

• Disturbances: Cats, vermin, outside lighting switching on and off

• Perches: Loose, polished or wrong size

• Tired Birds: After showing, lack of food and vitamins

• Condition: Pairing birds out of condition, birds not fit and birds not ready to move into the breeding cycle due to moulting

• Immature Parents: Underdeveloped, erratic mating

• Time of Pairing: Pairing at the wrong time for your stud. Does your stud have a right time to pair up for maximum fertility?

• Atmosphere in Aviary: Aviary too quiet – colony birds need noise; a radio is often on in many aviaries for this reason

• Male Infertility: Male infertility can be caused by physical problems, but very often is caused by stress

• Buff Feathering: Larger feathering on our birds today gets in the way of mating.   Trimming may help. Guide feathers do not do anything; it is the hens sucking action that is important to successful mating

• Inbreeding: This can cause weak sperm and low fertility

• Box bound Hens: Once in a box they never come out to mate

• Internal Layers: Malfunction of the shell gland can cause internal laying of eggs – extra calcium may help

• Drug Effects: Drugs can cause infertility i.e., Emtryl for Trichomoniasis causes temporary infertility

During the break Malcolm Freemantle judged the Grey series birds that members brought along - thanks to those that did!

After the break Ian continued with the last part of his talk, which was on stress etc.   Everyone joined in after that with their comments and it made for a very enjoyable part two of the evening. Ian then gave out copies of information on Basic Genetics and also this presentation

However, all good things must come to an end, as the meeting was so interesting with total interaction from all in the second part of the evening.

We all thanked Ian for a great evening’s entertainment and also Marion for bringing him and not accepting any expenses for their trouble!

The evening then concluded with the raffle and all were wished a safe journey home.

The discussion then turned to the new BS personnel and the manning of the BS office without a full time secretary to answer calls.  Roger said he felt it was a backward step not to have a full time contactable person! So it will be very interesting to see what transpires in the near future and whether it will be efficient enough to satisfy the membership.

Northdowns Minutes of AGM 2012

These had been sent to all members before the meeting and hard copies were given out at the November meeting! And there was one comment from Chris Angus-Smith in that I didn’t record her thanks to myself, now rectified! (Minutes then taken as a true account of AGM 2012: Proposed by Sue Warrington – Seconded by Alex Whitman)

The President’s Report (Read out by Tony Cash)

The President, John Gorrell, was unable to attend because of family commitments, but asked me to say “a thank you” to everyone connected to the club for all the work they did.   He said that all of the committee had worked hard to make Northdowns a success, especially Chris & Tony who put in a tremendous amount of work over the year to ensure that Northdowns remained one of the best clubs in the south and that there had been some great meetings with entertaining speakers.

The Chairperson then gave her report:

Chris Angus-Smith said she had enjoyed the year very much and that having good speakers made it even better. She went on to thank her committee for all of their hard work during the year. Chris then gave a thank you to all that helped in the kitchen during the year, also to Tony for all the work he does on behalf of Northdowns. We have had good attendances at the meetings because we have good speakers; we are heading in right direction, with a full programme for 2013 and the 2014 programme almost complete.

General and Membership Secretary’s report:

Tony Cash started by thanking the committee for all their work during the year, which had contributed to the success of the club. He said the club had picked up 4 new members during the year and now had 67 members (which included life, partners and other free memberships). All of the meetings had been well attended during the year because of the quality of the program / speakers and he hoped this would continue during 2013 and beyond. He confirmed that the hall was booked for the year 2013 (and 2014 provisionally) on the last Friday of each month. Also, the October meeting, being the Members show, would be held on Saturday 26^th October from 9.30am to 3.30pm.

Treasurer’s report: 

Barbara Davis went through the profit and loss/balance sheet reports that had been sent/given out to members. Barbara said that, compared to 2012, the income had gone up slightly and the expenditure had also gone up, but we have all trophies, medals, rosettes paid for 2013 and still  only made a small loss after one of the most expensive speakers this year that the club has engaged.

(Accounts Proposed by David Rice – Seconded by John Mullen)