With the show season upon us in New Zealand one of the most frequent questions I get asked is “How to you prepare a bird for a show”?

 

Truth be told a lot of bird breeders guard the secrets of presentation to themselves. I have heard of canary breeders putting glycerine in the water and spraying the birds every night for a week prior to showing all the way to breeders gathering rain water for a full shampoo and rinse. All I can pass on is the limited experience that I have had to date ( I only show the novice class and still have a lot to learn)however this is the advice i can give as to how I prepare my birds.

 

Stage 1 – The selection process

 

I guess first things first is the selection process. I will spend many a hour watching the birds and narrowing down to a team of eight or nine birds to choose from out of the aviary. When selecting the team of show Budgies I am normally looking for the following which is based on the show standards of the county you are showing in (In my case New Zealand):-

 

The “description of perfection” can normally by found from the society of the bird that you intend to show in this case “The Budgerigar Society of New Zealand”

 

 

 

Condition: The bird should be clean and sleek, complete in feather, showing vitality and good health with no sign of injury or disease

 

Type: The bird is to taper gracefully and be well proportioned according to the pictorial at the time, (see Pic Left)standing well off the perch, at an angle of approx. 30 degrees from vertical, with beak tucked deep into mask backline sweeping gently, in a slight concave from the back of skull to the tip of the tail. Body line to curve out from the beak through the mask to the chest, and then taper back to the lower tail converts of the tail.

 

Length: The ideal length is 240mm measured from the crown of the head to the tip of the tail. (standard on left shows 216mm but NZ standard is 140mm)

 

Wings: Firmly braced close to the body, neat and not showing too much back. The tips of the primary flights to meet at or just above the cushion of tail. Seven or eight visual primary flights on each wing are acceptable.

 

Tail: Straight & tight with two primary feathers in proportion to the size of the bird. The ideal length is 35% of the length of the bird.

 

Head: The head is to be large, rounded and wide when viewed from any angle; curvature of the head is to commence at the cere and lift outward and upward, continuing over the top in one graceful sweep and merge into the backline and shoulders.

 

Eyes: Bright, set deep in the head, well down from the crown and slightly nearer to the beak than the back of the head.

 

Cere: Neat and shapely, of a solid and even colour.

 

Beak: To be smooth and clean.

 

Mask and Spots: The mask is to be clear, wide and deep, (not cleft) extending beyond two large cheek patches. Where required by variety standards, the mask is to be ornamented by six evenly spaced, large, round throat spots, the outer two being partially covered by the base of the cheek patches.

 

Feet and Legs: To be clean, with two front and two rear toes and claws gripping the perch.

 

Markings: Where required by the standards are to be well defined.

 

Colour: Colour is in all cases to be pure and uniform in tone except where otherwise allowed in variety standards.

 

Stage 2 – The preparation

 

Once the birds are selected i remove them to a separate cage about two weeks before the show, this allows we to catch the easily to train them to the show cages and also allows we to spray the birds regularly forcing the birds to preen and straighten their feathers. As i mentioned above there are lots of methods to spraying the birds in preparation for a show but i do the following:-

 

In a plastic spray bottle i put warm water with a couple of drops of Johnston's Baby shampoo. I turn the nozzle to the finest mist spray and soak the birds toughly, ensuring you get both sides of the birds. I then leave the birds to dry and preen

Two day later the birds get the same treatment without the shampoo just warm water

Two days later they get the shampoo treatment again and so on depending how long you have before your show

All the time i am rotating the birds in 1 hour spells in the show cages to ensure they feel comfortable in the show cages.

The final day before the show I check the feet and claws (Clipping if required) and then a final warm water spray and a light hair drying (Careful not to burn the birds)

As i said above I am just showing in the novice classes for I don't pull tail feathers 6 weeks before a show or remove primaries or de-spot (Some of the more advanced techniques when showing champion classes or as you become more experienced)

 

More to follow after this weeks show hopefully with some winning news…..

 

Update from show season 2013 to date

 

Capital and Valley Cities Annual Bird Show 2013 (Sat 11th & Sun 12th May)

 

Class 604 – Novice Any Age – Normal Grey Cock -  1st Place

 

Class 612 – Novice Any Age – AOV Spangle including Double Factor Cock – 1st Place

 

Class 616 – Novice Any Age – Dominant Pied Cock – 2nd Place

 

Class 636 – Novice Any Age – Dominant Pied Hen – 3rd Place

 

Class 656 – CYCR BBE – Opaline Grey Green Cock – 1st Place

 

Wairarapa Bird Club Inc. Annual Show 2013 (Sat 18th & Sun 19th May

 

Class 604 – Novice Any Age – Normal Grey Cock -  To be Judged

 

Class 612 – Novice Any Age – AOV Spangle including Double Factor Cock – To be Judged

 

Class 616 – Novice Any Age – Dominant Pied Cock – To be Judged

 

Class 634 – Novice Any Age – Lutino Hen – To be Judged

 

Class 656 – CYCR BBE – Opaline Grey Green Cock – To be Judged