Budgerigar Breeders in South Africa

The Nel Brothers Stud is a partnerhip between John and Ian Nel.
They became members of the Northern Transvaal Budgerigar Society ( NTBS ) in 1996.
Initially they showed separately but later decided to form a partnership.
They became founding members of the Jacaranda Show Budgie Society (JSBS) in October 1998. They are currently Novice breeders.
John is married to Renee and Ian is single,both work in the telecommunications field and live in Pretoria
John's other interests include computers and is Ian is a keen music fan.

This is how they became involved in the hobby and how they have progressed so far.

How did your interest in the hobby start?
John. Back in 1991 I started with a couple of pairs of normals and bought some show budgies at a pet shop. I started finding out about show budgies and clubs but due to the unavailability of birds I packed it in until 1996. I found that birds were freely available due to Reinhard Molkentin immigrating to the country and making quality birds available.

Where did you learn the basics in birdkeeping?
John. From various books and research on the Internet and practice.

Where did you buy your first birds?
Molkentin Stud, Reinhard and Holgar Molkentin

Who do you go to for advice?
We normally work it out ourselves or ask various fanciers, and then decide what to do due to fanciers having their own method of handling things

What is your local climate like.
The climate varies from about 10 degrees Celsius to just below 40 degrees Celsius in summer. We also have summer rains and no frost and very little wind.

Is humidity a major factor, and if so, how does it effect your birds?
Humidity is not really a problem as we place water in the flights at least 2 to 3 times a week, for the birds to bath in.

What is your birdroom and aviary made of and its size. ?
Our aviary measures 5.5 meters by 3.6 meters by 2.2 meters high. There are 3 flights each measuring 3.6 meters by 90 cm. The rest of the area is used for our breeding room, which has 20 breeding cages and a work area.
Power is laid on and lights come on at 6 in the morning and switch off at 9 at night all year round. The aviary is made of square tubing and covered with metal sheets with welded mesh from 1.2 meters to roof height in front.
One side has a 1-meter x 1.8 meter welded mesh opening on the western side for airflow. The aviary is totally closed, all year round, with flaps that flip up and are locked into place at roof level at night. This protects the birds from the elements and from disturbances at night (lights, etc). The floor is tiled, which makes cleaning easier.

What type of breeding cages do you use, wooden or wire?
We use canary double breeders, which are made from metal. We also use external breeding box within a box nests.

What items would we find in your birdroom that assists you in the management of your birds?
Virkon S, Dovine ( disinfectant ), Dovastof ( for mites and insects ), Dovaspray ( for cleaning of nests ), Dovakalk (calcium), Grit, Iodine blocks, Cuttlefish, Tweezers ( for despotting ), Detol ( in case scalyface appears ), Baby oil ( to brighten up feet and ceres before shows ), and Baby shampoo ( for washing birds before shows ).

What medicines would we normally find in your medicine cabinet ?
Dovatric (Trichomoniasis), Dovabiotic (one-eyed cold, going light, etc). Only used when required.

If you purchase a new bird ,what is your quarantine procedure?
Normally none, because if the aviary we purchase from is not spotless with all birds looking healthy and a lot of noise in the aviary, we will not make a purchase. We also have not made a purchase since early 1997.

Where is your seed grown and what type of seed mixture do you feed your birds ?
Most seed is locally grown but when there is a shortage seed is imported from Canada. Our mixture is 25% Canary, 50% White Millet, 19% Jap Millet and 6% Red Manna.

What extras do you give your birds ?
We feed a locally produced softfood twice a day to breeding pairs and twice weekly to flighted birds. Calcium, Iodine blocks and grit is always available.

What do you feed your birds in the way of high protein?
Nothing extra.

When does your breeding season start and finish?
Our breeding season started in September 1996 and has not stopped. We breed all the time, rotating pairs. The normal breeding season starts in August to about April, depending on the weather.

Do you pair your own birds for the breeding season, or do you get some advice with the pairings?
After looking at breeders in the fancy, we decided very early on to make our own decisions due to the very different points of view of breeders. We decided we had to eventually learn to make our own decisions and decided we would learn from our own mistakes. We therefore pair our own birds because after all who knows your birds and their background better than the breeder does. It also helps that we are two.

When you put your birds down to breed, what procedure do you use, cock in first or hen in first?
Both in at the same time.

Do you inbreed, linebreed or outcross your birds, which do you do and why?
We inbreed at the moment to get rid of any bad recessive traits and try and bring out the good. We breed 2 lines of different breeders and do not mix them.

How do you keep your records, manually or by computer. ?
We have a manual system in the aviary that is transferred to "The Budgie Program" bought from Jeff Stone.

How do you go about training your young birds for the show cage?
All our young are transferred to a wire cage were they are kept for about a month before being transferred to the flight. There is a Show Cage attached which always has grit and calcium in to get the young to enter it. Training is only done before shows as we feel it is a waste of time to train all the young and only a certain percent is taken to shows.

What features have to be improved in your birds at the moment, what are they, and what will you do to improve them ?
We have all the features we require in various birds and will be working to bring them together.
In 1996 we bred to get numbers to breed with as we only started with 6 pairs. In 1997 we bred for size and head. In 1998 we bred for low masks. In 1999 we are looking at breeding normals and putting bigger spots on our birds. In 2000 we will be looking at combining all the features.

General interest questions
What is your local club, and your involvement with it. ?
Our local club is the Jacaranda Show Budgie Society.
John - Secretary
Ian - Show Secretary

Do you show many times in a season and how far do you travel to show your birds?
We try and attend as many shows as possible. In 1998 we attended 3 championship shows out of the possible 6, travelling 700 kilometers to the furthest show.
In 1999 we have attended 3 championship shows to date ( July ) and will be attending 1 more.
Our club also holds 6 mini shows for club members, which we attend.

Your best win to date at a show?
Best Beginner on Show twice in 1998, Best Novice on Show once in 1998, Best Novice Any Age on Show (1999), 3 Challenge Certificates for a Yellow Face Grey cock which has become the third Champion bird in South Africa since Challenge Certificates have be implemented, and 1 Challenge Certificate for a Dark Green Cock.

Do you have ambitions to be a Champion breeder in the future?
John - Yes
Ian - Yes

Do you have ambitions to be a judge in the future?
John - Not at this stage
Ian - No

We all know about brotherly love, but you must have different views on something's, let us discover some of them.
Who or what is your favourite?

Variety:
John, Cinnamon
Ian, Does not matter

Colour
John, Blue series
Ian, Does not matter as long as the bird is decent

Show
John, – All shows
Ian, All shows

Breeder
John, Reinhard Molkentin
Ian, No favourite

Judge
John, Dion Davie
Ian, No favourite

Music
John, Country
Ian, Country

Book
John, The Challenge
Ian, No favourite

Author
John, Haven't really got a favourite
Ian, No favourite

Actor
John, Liam Neesan
Ian, Jim Carry, Bruce Willis, Steven Segal, Nicholas Cage

Food
John, Pasta
Ian, Chicken

Movie
John, Schindlers List
Ian, Ace Ventura – Pet Detective, Die Hard, Glimmer Man

TV show
John, Anything worthwhile
Ian, Anything worthwhile

For further information on John,Ian or their club,  The Jacaranda Show Budgie Society
Or while your here,come and take a look at Pretoria

I would like to thank you both for your time in responding to this interview.We hope you continue to strive forward in the conquest to breed some top birds in the year 2000 and beyond,regards Geoff Lowe