History

The word budgerigar means 'Good to eat". The native Australians relish to eat their newly hatched chicks and so they named them budgerigars. These birds are native to Australia with the wild color being the green .In our aviculture they are found in various color mutations. There are two types of budgies One is smaller in size .It was bred for color and is called the American budgie .The other one is called the English budgie It is also called the Exhibition budgerigar. It was specifically bred for its size. But nowadays many new color mutations have been introduced into this variety also. These are the most widely kept birds. They are hardy, easy to keep and breed birds. They are ideal for beginners.

Sexing

In most of the cases it is very easy to distinguish between male and female. The male has a blue cere.i.e the nose above the beak in male is blue in color. The female has a white cere that turns to dark brown when the female is in full breeding condition. The experts can distinguish between the sexes even when they are young.

Pairing

If u intend to breed for color then it is sufficient to put a male and a female together and most of the time they will breed for u easily. But when it comes to pairing for exhibition type, it requires a little skill. The ideal exhibition budgie should have a round, well formed head, and the size should be as large as possible. But it is difficult to find such a budgie so the best thing is to find a female that is big in size and then pair it up with a male that has a well formed head. Some of the resulting chicks should have both the qualities of their parents combined in them. They are used for future breeding, whereas the ones that carry the vice of the parents are culled form the stock by selling them off.

Housing

Budgerigars can be kept as a single pair as well as pairs in a colony. For exhibition or English budgies it is best to pair them and breed them per pair as u will be required to control the genetics But if u are not interested in control breeding then they can also be kept in colonies. The minimum cage requirement for a pair of American budgies is 1.5 feet High by 1.5 feet long by 1.5 feet deep. Although I m breeding a pair of exhibition budgies in this size of cage but I feel that it is very small for the pair as they are larger in size. They should be housed in 2 feet length by 1.5 feet high by 2feet deep cage. The exhibitions are usually kept in small sized cages because they usually does not have the room to fly and so it saves a lot of their energy this causes the size of their offspring to reach the maximum limit. But there is controversy over this issue .The cage should have a nest box hung in one corner. Preferably the nest box should have either the back towards the front door or its back from where the sunlight is falling on the cage i.e. the sunlight should fall on the back of the box. Direct sunlight must be avoided as it can result in chicks dead in the shell as it may heat up the box more then the required amount. The nest box size I used for the English budgies is 6inches by 6 inches L and Width by 10 inches deep. It is available for breeding lovebird in our local Pakistani market. The cage should have a stick (perch) crossing the front of the box 2 inches below and 3 inches approx. wide of the hole of the nest box. It should be fixed at both the end so that it does not move .I had the budgie pair for three months and despite all my efforts they did not breed. About a month back I introduced a new perched and saw to it that it was very tightly fixed. I was rewarded and the Hen laid eggs. Now they r rearing 7 chicks the older one being about 2 weeks old. So this emphasizes that sometimes the thing may seem trivial but they can have a huge effect on your breeding success. A cuttlefish bone (also known as Samandar Ka jhaag In urdu) should be always available to them plus u can add calcium block if u like to.

In colony many birds can be kept together but a close eye must be kept on them to see if fighting is going on. If so it is better to identify and remove the culprit. It usually is a hen who takes fancy to some other hen's nest and the fighting starts between them to conquer the nest box. If colony is handled well then it is more rewarding then the single pair breed. But for beginners I will advice them to keep them as single pair and remove the chicks as soon as they r able to feed themselves

Nutrition

I give two types of food to my budgies .One is dry food and the second one is soaked food.

1.Dry food

1. It consists mainly of seeds.
2. White millet (desi Kangkni in urdu) 2Kgs
3. White round millet (gool Kangni In urdu) 1Kgs
4. Chinese millet (cheena in urdu) 3Kgs
5. Dehusked rice (tota chawal in urdu) half Kgs (0.5 kg)
6. Husked rice (munjee in urdu) quarter of a Kg (¼ kgs)
7. Millet (Bajra in urdu) 3Kgs
8. Linseed (Alsee in urdu) quarter of a Kg (¼ kgs)
9. Mustard seeds (Sarson in Urdu) quarter of a Kg (¼ kgs
10. Sunflower seeds (Sooraj mukhi in urdu) 2Kgs
11. Pre made feed available in market 1packet.

This feed is offered in September as the cooler season starts to set in. In this way the bird has time to build up it's fat reserves as it get very cold here in Lahore Pakistan reaching to 2 to 3 degrees centigrade.

The sunflower, linseed and mustard seeds are removed from the diet in summer to avoid deposit of excess fats and the loss of birds due to heat as in summers we experiences temperatures of 47 degrees centigrade.

The sunflower seed is offered in separate dish besides being mixed with the routine seed when they r rearing young ones

2.Soaked seeds

1. Wheat (gundum in urdu) 3Kgs
2. Black gram (kala chana in urdu) 1kgs
3. Corn (makaiee in urdu) ½ Kgs

How to prepare soaked food.

The above seeds are mixed together and a small amount as per requirement is taken from them in a container. Take ¼ the amount of seeds in the container and fill the remaining ¾ of the container with tap water. Leave it for overnight. In the morning Wash it under tap water for 5 to 10 minutes by placing the soaked seeds in a strainer or a Net clothing

Serve it in a separate dish. The soaked seeds are very high in proteins and are essential for breeding and good growth. I sometimes also give soaked sunflower seeds to my birds

Fresh corn on the cob is given whenever available It s intake along with sunflower seed intake should be monitored as it can cause the birds to grow obese quite quickly before u know it.

Vegetable are given almost regularly But thrice a week is at least required. Mint can be given on weekly basis as it regulated the digestive system. Besides that cucumber, spinach, peas and green leafy vegetables can be given. Spinach should not be given more then twice a week as it removes calcium from the body.

A well-known multivitamin should be used I use Supramin almost on daily basis especially the birds that are rearing chicks.

Budgies enjoy bread soaked in water.

Meshed Hard boiled egg

I give meshed hard-boiled eggs to all my birds. I give it to them sprinkled over the soaked seed. . In my opinion if u are giving hard-boiled eggs then there in no need for socked seeds but still I give soaked seeds to add variety to their food, which is very essential.

Breeding

Once we have a bird, it is his natural intention to breed and I m not against it as I consider that if u want to keep a bird keep it well and this means that it should also be allowed to breed. The nutrition and housing has been discussed earlier. Now I will consider the following.

It is better to start with a pair If u r buying a confirmed breeder pair then it is very easy but if u r buying from the market then see that the bird is active, It is not fluffed up. Watch the birds for five minutes because when u will approach the bird it will immediately become active but after five minutes a sick bird will settle down and will show fluffed up feathers Do not buy this bird although it ay be available at a cheaper rate but u will loosing all the money soon. Do not buy a bird who shows some discharge from its nostrils or from it eyes .A bird will have a soiled vent if it has diarrhea .It is better to buy a good healthy bird at a higher rate because u will not regret the extra money once it will breed or if u are buying it as a pet then there are more chances of its living a healthier life then a sick bird. Buy a true pair and it is very easy to identify the true pair in budgies. Also try to buy the birds that have recently reached maturity, as a very old bird will also be useless for breeding.

Once u have a true pair bring it home. Give it the above feed for at least a month so that it is eating what u r feeding it and has gained full health. Introduce the nest box after u have fed the bird on your feed for a month This way it will have time enough to overcome the stress of a new home and to gain enough strength to lay fertile eggs. Once a box is introduced the female will inspect it and will be the first to enter it .In rare instances the female will be the one entering the box first. She will soon start mating and once the vent area is swollen ,expect to have eggs soon. She will incubate the eggs for 18 days and the chicks will start hatching .She will brood once she has laid three to four eggs. The clutch size is usually 4 to 6 eggs. The chicks will fledge in about six weeks. Fledge means they will become independent

Colour mutations

1. Danish pied (recessive pied)
2. Harlequins (dominant pied)
3. Albino (white red eyes)
4. Lutino (yellow red eyes)
5. Spangle
6. Fallow

etc there are many more then these.