Flock Talk
She should never have hatched in the first place. I have never been able to imagine how it happened; the fact that it did lends me proof that miracles do too still happen. It was like this… SPRINGTIME It was one of those bitterly cold and startlingly clear days when the wind frisks across the sky chasing high scraps of cumulus, and everywhere you hear the dripping of water as winter begins to lose its hold on the land. Up in my […]
NOT AGAIN!!! Her air sac problem healed just in time for the next emergency. One of my older birds came down with a virus; although the diagnosis was not positive, as I’d caught it quite early, there were too many similarities with the dreaded avian disease known as canary pox for comfort, and I was faced with vaccinating the entire flock. Usually, this would not be a problem, the breeding season is fairly well over, but my vet was worried that the […]
AUTUMN GAMES It took me awhile to catch Turker in the act of releasing herself from her cage to play, and in the meantime, she had free run of the house whenever she felt like it. Her escapades more often than not had me with my heart in my mouth as I reckoned the odds with which she toyed so lightly. She led me no mean dance as I tried, in my clumsy human way, to follow her reasoning and discover how […]
I received a question from a young novice to the fancy; the question was about the color of nestlings and the pairing of breeding birds. This question prompted me to write this article. This article will (I hope) help the novice breeder understand a little about Canary colors and the pairing of birds for breeding. All Canaries To begin with, “All” canaries come as “Hard” feather or “Soft” feathered birds. It doesn’t matter what “variety” or “color” we talk about. It could be […]
Now that I no longer breed canaries, and my overall pet population has decreased to a still crazy but somewhat more manageable level, I actually get to travel. But I remember those days. The biggest drawback I faced then, other than the food bill, was the fact that I couldn’t go anywhere because I had too many critters to care for. Taking a day or two away was a major ordeal and involved copious amounts of written and verbal instructions for the […]
Of all the people I have ever met who keep birds, most if not all were first introduced to birdkeeping by somebody more familiar with the pleasures these small beauties can bring into a human’s life. They took the time and effort to see that our first introduction was a fulfilling one, and they made themselves available for the inevitable spate of questions and learning which follows. Many of us feel that it is up to us to, in our turn, pass […]
This week I’d like to discuss the main focus of this website, small companion pet birds. Although such easily found birds as budgies and finches are still considered exotic by many people, the range of small birds species available to us as pets and companions encompasses a dazzling array of personality, color, song, and behavior. Even though reliable information on their needs and behavior is not always easy to find, many of us have found ourselves enchanted by these small creatures and […]
Summer vacation time is here so if your feathered friend will be joining you, here are a few pointers to keep in mind! (Note: If birds are not vacationing with you, be sure to board them with a qualified bird-sitter. Birds CANNOT be left alone — even for a night or two!!) If staying in a motel, be sure to check ahead to ensure your birdie is allowed and welcome there! When flying, check WELL in advance with the airlines to be […]
The “face” of aviculture as it appears today is slowly maturing. Sitting in the lecture rooms at the Vegas Pet Expo in February, listening to the speakers and looking around the room at attendees, I was struck by the actuality of this statement. The average age of people in the room appeared to be 40-50, although certainly, some were younger and some older. With few exceptions, the speakers also fell into this same classification. This was a frightening realization. We might assume […]