Our Birds
Stephen checking on the birds
When we started up again breeding clearwings, we bought the best cocks we could from whom I consider to be three of the top clearwing breeders in the country.
Obtaining quality hens was a different matter! We bought the best available to us, but were not the quality we would have liked.
However, we plodded on, and through careful selective breeding each year, we could see an improvement.
We began to breed some quality hens. Maybe I'm wrong, but I believe that hens have more influence on the quality of the offspring than do the cocks.
Now with quality cocks and quality hens we were pretty confident that our stud was going places.
We had quite a good year on the showbench last year, but what really pleased us this year, was, at the very first championship show (Cent. Lancs. & Leyland), we won the whitewing C.C. With a Whitewing Violet Hen !
Another thing that pleased us was a C.C. we won for best Whitewing, with a Whitewing cock that was only 16 weeks old! This bird, at going to press, is still unbeaten. I can't wait to see what it's like next year. I also hope it will be a winner in the breeding cage! Its photo is on the "Recent Show Successes" page.
At any one time, we have about 150 birds. Although we would like more hens than cocks, it tends to work out about 50/50.
We feed our birds on 75% plain canary seed, and 25% mixed millet. We also give the birds soaked groats every day. We give them egg food mixed with grated cuttlefish bone, a vitamin supplement, and a few drops of iodine, every day.
We believe that the birds should be fed properly all year round, not just at the breeding time, or the moult.
Whilst I would never try to tell anyone how to feed their birds, the way we feed ours works for us, so we won't be changing it.
When it comes to the show season, we catch up about 10 of our best cocks an our 10 best hens, in young and adult. This is done about eight weeks prior to the first show.
The tails of all the birds are removed, so that they will have a brand new tail, fully grown, for the first show. They are given a thorough wash with baby shampoo, and then given a thorough spraying. They are then given a light spray two or three times a week.
The day before each show, each bird is caught up, and its head and face given a good wash. The rest of the bird is given a light spray. At this time, any tails that need straightening are dipped in hot water.
All we hope for now is a judge that doesn't give the C.C. to a large bird with a washed out colour, or one with very dark wings!
As every Clearwing breeder is aware, producing a large bird, with deep body colour, clear wings, good head and mask, is not easy, but I don't think that size should be the be-all and end-all at the expense of contrast, otherwise, the reason for breeding clearwings in the first place, will have defeated the object.
We do tend to put Violet into a lot of our whitewings. We have found that the sky blues bred from violets have a much deeper body colour, and the wings still remain quite clear (in most cases!)
To newcommers to breeding Clearwings, we would strongly recommend that they join the Clearwing Budgerigar Breeders Association.