Q-2. Are you involve in this fancy as just for a hobby or now it is your professional?

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1 An Interview with Partner Mick Freakley & Ian Ainley, Budgerigar breeders from UK and World Champion 2007 & 2008, by Mobassir s Sattar Khan Pakistan in Introductions Q-1. I know that you are very experience and well known Budgerigars breeder, but for new comers please give us your brief introduction. I started in exhibition budgies in 1987, my wife Jackie ha decided she wanted a pet bird, seeing as I kept a few budgies in the 1960 s I decided to look up the local breeders, I found a man who became a very good friend, his name was Frank Harmer, he sold us a Dominant pied sky cock for 5.00, but more importantly invited Jackie and myself to the members show the following Sunday. It was here we were introduced to the World of exhibition budgerigars, and we are very pleased we were. Q-2. Are you involve in this fancy as just for a hobby or now it is your professional? We are purely hobbyists who enjoy the challenge of breeding quality exhibition budgies, and have made some wonderful friends over the time, we have also bred some wonderful budgies. Basic Information Q-1. What is your basic profession and where do you live, also tell us where your aviary is located? I am a local government officer with the local Council, I served my time as an Electrician. I live in Leicestershire, in a small village called Kilby, my bird room is in my garden overlooking the beautiful Leicestershire Countryside. Q-2. How did you get interested in the fancy and what attracted you to the Budgerigar? See introduction. Q-3. Do you have a Standard of bird that you desire to breed in Exhibition Budgerigars? Both Ian and I see birds the same, and we have set out to breed birds with great depth of masks and width of face, two of the hardest features to fix on budgerigars and the easiest to lose. We like buff feathering as we feel this is the feather that will win consistently on the show bench Q-4. Are you member of any Budgerigars or Mics bird s club/society?

2 The only society we are members of is The Budgerigar Society, it is the best small livestock society in the World, we have our own office property and a paid full time secretary, without the society we would not have a hobby Q-5. How many birds do you keep in your stock every year? Both Ian and I start the breeding season with approximately 80 birds, but concentrate on the best 15 or so cocks, we are very tough on the quality of our cocks, we are more forgiving when it comes to the hens, smaller well bred hens are tolerated, but we do love to use large buff hens, they do not breed as well, but we find we breed some stunning birds from them. Q-6. Which color or variety your most favorites are. We favour the more Normal varieties i.e. grey, blue, grey green, cinnamon, but have some excellent Dominant pieds and Spangles. Ian ideally would have a bird room full of greys and I would have a bird room full of grey greens, they are our favorite colours. Q-7. Please also brief use about start and end time of your breeding and none breeding season your areas, and at what period your birds start molting? We start our breeding season around mid October and continue through to around May Q-8. Basic information about weather conditions in your area s and how weather effects on your birds? The weather in the UK is very varied, we have high winds, frost, snow, oh yes a little sunshine, but our bird rooms are heated so we can control the atmosphere during the breeding season (winter) during the summer it can be very hot. Background Q-1. Please share something with our readers about your background in the Budgerigars hobby how and when you initially started and what period of time have you been involved with this hobby? I have been in the hobby for over 20 years now, gaining Champion status and also being a BS full panel judge, and also on the International judges panel. Q-2. Where did your initial stock come from? And when you feel that you need to introduce good blood line from any well reputed champion breeder. Our bloodline have been created over a long time, both Ian and I used to get birds from similar sources, the like of Geoff Bowley and Dave Toplis. We are always on the look out for a good outcross, but unfortunately they are not redily available. We find we have to swap one of our better birds to bring in fresh blood. Q-3. What common problems you faced at the earlier stage of your hobby? and when you start feeling that you are now comfortable with this hobby and you can handle most common problem related with Budgerigars.

3 I suppose we have experienced most of the problems we have in the hobby, from dead in shell, clear eggs, etc. French molt is an ongoing issue we all have to deal with. Experience has helped us deal with it better than we used to, and having each other to talk to when times get hard is a great help. It must be difficult for those who are isolated and have no one to share their problems with. Management Q-1. Basic introduction about your aviary management program? Our management is the same in both aviaries. We are very hot on bio security, and cleanliness within the bird rooms, we use a fogger weekly using F10, this helps to keep the bacteria down to a manageable level. Seed is 50/50 canary and mixed millets, with a small amount of tonic seed. Millet sprays, the French type are given freely, especially to the babies. We also use a daily supplement in the water, this is the only way in our opinion we can make sure the birds get the intake we want them to. Q-2. Would you please share some thing in brief with us about one year planning of your bird s management program? The management program never changes, but from a pairing situation this is ongoing. We are always thinking how we can breed a better budgie, we talk on the phone for hours, Ian lives 130 miles from me, about 2 hours away, so we use the phone a lot. We are at the present time, planning a strategy to win the World show for a 3 rd time. Q-3. How do you maintain your record? For that are you are using any professional bird s management software or you prefer manual record keeping. We keep only manual written records, apart that is what we retain in our heads. We believe in pedigree s and use the records to help us make pairs. We do not worry about records from years ago, just the last two years. Q-4. Do you mark eggs if yes then tell us what style of marking are you using? Yes we always mark eggs, this will indicate to us when the chick is due to hatch, and we sometime help them out the egg. If you intend to mark eggs, you must use a water based pen. Ordinary felt pens have toxins that will kill the embryo at day one, you may think it was a clear egg, it was probably the pen that killed it. Q-5. What type of marker or pen do you use for marking and do you ever experience when hen refuses marked eggs? A water based pen. Q-6. Do you use fosters, if yes then please share your fostering experience with us, especially how do you select fostering couples? We do use fosters, infact I had a foster pair down and the first two rounds of their own eggs I disposed of, when the third round came I let them rear their own chicks, I bred the best grey green hen I have ever bred, oh how I wish I had not thrown the first two round away. Our fosters are basically our lesser birds, which are usually very good birds in their own right, that is why we can breed excellent birds from them. Q-7. How do you handle the chicks in the nest and in early ages, especially in case of mother death or feeding refusal by parents then how do you mange a day old chick?

4 Well the answer is to have options, if the mother dies, we can usually find another nest to foster to, day olds we feed ourselves with a proprietary hand rearing food, we hope that when they build up a little strength we can successfully foster them on. We spend a lot of time handling chicks, especially the better ones. It is most important for them to be handled if you intend to show them. Q-8. At what age you ring your chicks? We always prefer to ring our chicks sooner rather than later, if the ring comes off, it is no problem to put them back on again. Q-9. How do you plane for safety of your birds from different weather conditions We have no outside flights and consequently can control the environment with the rooms. The windows and doors are double glazed, and the building is fully insulated, this keeps it warmer in winter and cooler in summer. Heating is set at around 50 degrees in the winter, and the lights are extended as we have very early nightfall in the winter. Q-10. Any suggestions from you for all new comers that how they should plane their management program to reduce risk of common basic problems. We would suggest that the bird room is kept as clean as possible, drinkers should be cleaned and disinfected regularly, perches and food pots should also be kept clean. This coupled with a good basic diet is all that is needed to keep the birds in good health. One other thing I feel is very important is to have a routine, the birds will get used to this and feel very happy knowing they will be fed at the same time each day, the same applies to nest box inspection, routine is very important. Breeding Q-1. At what time do you start breeding each year? I have already answered that above, it is mid October. Q-2. Are you breeding all Mics color or you are specializing in any specific variety/varieties. If you are breeding any specific variety then please tell us how and why did you chose that colors and what about your success in that specified area? As stated earlier, we prefer the more Normal varieties, but have been breeding Dominant pied for a very long time. We have infect just won the Budgerigar Society club show with a Dominant Pied, a feat never achieved before. We cull the pieds very hard and any that do not carry a full compliment of spots will be disposed of. What are the roles of normal budgerigars in your success, do you also use normal budgerigars for the improvement of size and quality of any other variety?

5 Normals are very important to us, infact I would say our stud is approximately 95% normals. Q-3. How many pair do you prepare each ear for breeding and what are the ratio of extra cocks and hens do keep ready incase of any urgent requirements? We can pair up 35 pairs between us, so as you can see we are a very small stud, I have 24 breeding cages and Ian has 21, we do not usually use them all, we concentrate on the top 15 cocks at each establishment, we keep around 10 spare cocks each to create noise. Q-4. How many birds do you breed each year and how many clutches do you take from one pair. We would like to breed a hundred each per year, in reality we breed about 150 between us. If we have a pair producing exceptional birds we just keep them going, we have one pair at present on their eighth round, they are breeding some fantastic budgies. Q-5. Do you select your pair for breeding by their visual quality or genetically? And also mansion if you have any other criteria of selections when pairing up? Visual plays a big part in our pairings, especially with the cocks, we will not use a cock bird that does not come up to our very high standard, we are less fussy with the hens, but they need to be well bred. Both visual and pedigree play and equal part in our minds. Q-6. And what important thing you consider when you put the birds into the breeding cages? That each pair complements each other, it is no good putting two faults together, it will just perpetuate the problem. We hope to breed a best in show from each pair; it doesn t always work out like that though. Q-7. Do you use inbreeding or line-breeding system? And what are your opinions on line breeding? I do not believe there is much difference between the two; line breeding is very difficult as the modern exhibition budgerigar does not live long enough. It is most important to work in families. In breeding is the way but do not go too close, I have only once paired Father to Daughter and would not recommend it. Cousins, Father to Grandaughter etc. Q-8. What basic points of pairings do you recommend to consider new comers to produce the best exhibition? Q-9. How do you go about obtaining suitable out-crosses from other fanciers? Q-10. How do you differentiates between controlled and uncontrolled breeding systems, and would you please share you personal experience about both systems? Diseases / medication Q-1. Would you please point out names of most common diseases in Budgerigars, and as per your practical experience which disease are most dangerous in budgerigars?

6 Canker is common but easily treated, but if left can cause major problems. Mega bacteria is another common disease, and not so easily treated, most stud have it and lose a small amount of birds each year due to it, but as long as the bacteria levels are kept at a manageable level, they will build up a natural immunity level, it is only when this is neglected, the secondary problems occur. Q-2. How do you monitor your aviary for any active sign of any illness or disease? It is a visual thing and keeping a close eye on the stock, it is easy to spot a bird that is not in good health. Q-3. What immediate action you take at the time of first sign of any illness? Just to isolate the bird, do not reach for the medicine straight away. Keep it quite and give just seed and plain water. We have a heated platform, a little heat can be of great benefit to a sick bird. Q-4. How much effort do you put into trying to cure a sick bird? We will not spend too much time, as most never recover, if they do, as soon as they are put under stress i.e. breeding etc, they fall ill again. Also we do not want to have a sick bird within the bird room. Q-5. Do you use preventative medication during breeding and none breeding seasons? If yes then please tell us which medicines do you use, why do you selected these medicines and how do you schedule them. We do not use preventative medicine, we see know point in treating something that is not present, if you choose the preventative route, you will find when you do need to treat an illness, it will not work. Q-6. What action you take to minimize health risk, I mean how do you prevent your aviary from diseases? As stated earlier, we use a fogger, it will spray disinfected water in tiny globules all around the bird room keeping bacteria levels low. We also make sure we do not walk into the room with our everyday shoes, we keep a pair just for the aviary. Q-7. As per your personal experience what are the key factor to maintain good health in your flock. It is completely down to good management. Q-8. What medicines or medical related instrument should be always present in aviary? A dosing tube is a must, it has so many uses from crop feeding to giving medical treatment directly into the crop. Q-9. Do you or any of your friends have experience of uses of homeopathic or herbal medicine for birds, if yes please share that experience with us. Q-10. No sorry Q-11. At end of medical related question I would like you to tell us about side effect of medicines which we normally use for preventions or treatment around the year, as I heard that excessive use of medicines can increase infertility problems?

7 As I said we do not use preventative treatments, so I can t answer I m afraid My Setup Q-1. Do you remember what was your first setup was look like? My first aviary was a brick out building detached from my cottage, it was very small, I had 9 breeding cages and a small flight. My second aviary was a purpose brick built aviary measuring 28 feet x 10 feet Q-2. Please explain your current aviary design. (I will appreciate if you brief it with picture), would please also tell us that did you design your aviary with your own idea or you hired some to do it for you? I have recently moved to a smaller property with a view to retire from work, so I have scaled down my bird room, my current one measures 19 x 9 It is designed with all the experience of my time in the hobby, it is compact, has easy to clean surfaces, sink, seed storage etc. See photo s Q-3. In how many cages are you breeding today? And would you please explain design and size of your breeding cage and what are the benefits of your current design? My breeding cages measure 24 x 18 x18, they are made from plastic coated timber, making cleaning easy, and with no maintenance, Q-4. How many indoor and outdoor flights do you have and how many birds you keep in one flight, please also explain sizes and design of these flights. I have one indoor flight measuring nine feet x three feet, I keep around 30 birds in that flight. I have two stock cages at the other end of the room opposite the flight, they measure four feet x two feet and can easily hold 20 birds in each. I do not believe in using outside flights as we cannot control the environment in them. Q-5. Please also tell us how do you divide your stock in different flights, I mean by cocks and hens or by adult and young birds? Cock and hens are mixed for most of the year, but will be split prior to the breeding season to break any pair bonds. Barheads are kept where ever possible together to lesson the stress, especially with the pecking order. Q-6. Tell us something about your hospital and quarantine cages, how many do you have and what area of your aviary you specified for treatment and quarantine process? I will appreciate if you please tell new comers benefits of quarantine process. All ready answerd Q-7. Do you think that fresh air should also pass through your aviary and how do you control and manage air ventilation in your aviary Fresh air is most important, our doors and windows are open as often as possible, even during the cold weather, be careful not to create draughts.

8 Q-8. How important lighting play a role for healthy flock and fertility, and what type of lighting system do you use, sun light or any artificial lighting system. Lighting is very important, and should not be underestimated. I have two fluorescent lights with day light tubes, these are on from 7am to 10 pm with an hour period around midday when the lights go off. Q-9. How do you maintain temperature within your aviary? With a panel radiator, this easily keeps our bird room at an even temperature. Q-10. Now after your huge experience of this hobby if you got a chance to build your aviary once again (Complete new setup), will you still go for your current aviary design or you have some latest idea s which fulfill your latest requirement? I am happy with my bird room now, it suits my needs. Some years ago I would have answered this question differently and would have a very large establishment, I m not so silly now, not so much to keep clean. Q-11. Ok, with your huge experience at the end of Aviary setup section please guide if a new comer ask you to design a new setup for him for about 10 breeding pairs, So how you will design it with all current facilities and future expansions?. Just make the best of the space available. I would say you need to design your bird room with yourself in mind, it is no good me doing it for you, but if possible, keep things tidy, have wipe clean surfaces with no too many nooks and crannies where redmite etc can thrive. Nutrition Q-1. We all know that good nutrition is key of success, so tell us about importance of good and controlled nutrition in your point if view? Again it is down to good management and diet, seed alone is not enough, we feed green food in the form of cabbage, broccoli, carrot, sweet corn etc. We also supplement the water with a vitamin supplements. Q-2. What about you re feeding program, and what are the differences in your feeding compared to other studs? Q-3. What mix do you use? And where do you source your seed from? We use the bs Bucktons mixes Q-4. What is difference between your birds diet in breeding and non-breeding seasons? And how do you schedule it in both seasons. Our feeding regime is the same all year round apart from the breeding season when soft food is given Q-5. Seed mix can only fulfill less then 50% needs of budgerigars body, do you agree with this comment? And how important do you think the constituents of the seed mix are?

9 Seed alone is not enough for exhibition budgies to thrive, that is why we need to supplement the diet Q-6. What are the importance of supplements in budgerigars in your opinion and tell us about any well known supplements you may use. Supplements are most important, we use water soluble supplements from the Vydex range, ie Carbosol and Ascorbivite. Fresh vegetables are also a important way to provide extra vitamins. Q-7. How do you schedule multivitamins in breeding and none breeding season and share with us what brand name you use? see above Q-8. Importance of grit in budgerigars in your pint of view, and how do you offer it to your birds? Grit is readily available all year round, in dishes in the flights, and sprinkled on the floor of the breeding cages, which are cleaned every two weeks Q-9. Calcium is also most important part of nutrition, how do you fulfill need of calcium of your birds? Calciam is provided in a good diet, we only give a calcium supplement to individual birds when required. Q-10. Do offer greens to your birds, please explain what selective greens you offer in breeding and none breeding seasons and how do you schedule it? Q-11. Almost in all established countries a range of Multivitamins/minerals/supplements are available for birds in different brands, would you like share any good name with your successful experience? Q-12. What soft food do you use, any readymade formula from market or you prepare your own soft food mixture? Please also share any home made soft food recipe with our readers for those who can any buy formula. Q-13. Are you satisfied about water quality in your country or do use nay water purifies system such as water cleaning medicines? Also tell us how you schedule fresh water (without any supplements) in your aviary in both breeding and none-breeding seasons because in our area most of the fancier remove water container from cages in winter, so do you?. We feed water direct from the tap. Society & Shows Q-1. For how long have you been involved with a Budgerigar society or club, and what are your roles now in your society? Would you also please tell us what your ring code numbers are? We have been members of the Budgerigar society for over 20 years, I am the Official photographer for the BS and provide most of the photo s for the magazine. Our ring number is FA1 (Freakley & Ainley)

10 Q-2. What are the benefits of becoming a member of any bird s society in your opinion? And which part of the hobby do you prefer, showing or breeding? The benefits are huge, by belonging to a society you will learn all there is to learn to help you gain success in the hobby, you should also become involed in helping to run the society, it is a great way to learn. Q-3. How many budgerigars societies/clubs are actively working in your country/area at the moment? Q-4. What is the benefit of having the National show each year? Every fancier who show his birds always want to become a national and World Champion, so what are you plane for it? The National show is most important, it is where the best birds come together, it is the shop window for the fancy. Having won the BS World show for the past two years we would like very much to win it for a 3 rd time, to do the hat trick. Q-5. In which shows do you participate normally? And how many birds would you typically show. And it is true that you have never shown a bought bird? Do you also consider age factor before selection of show team. We show at around 3 shows before we start to prepare our birds for the National they can be anywhere in the Country, our show team consist of around 10 birds. We do not show bought birds. Q-6. Tell us something about your both 2007 & 2008 world champion birds, those birds are really the best bird in your stud in your show team of that year? Was it from a winning family or a blood line from another champion breeder? Our two winning birds are very good birds, but are not the best in our stud, our stud is our own line and has been created over a lot of years, there is no European blood in our main line, it is created from only English blood. Q-7. Has these Budgerigar society winners birds won before? What is the background of that champion bird? Do you think that bird was a lucky winner? Not sure what you are saying about being a lucky winner, we have won 2 times, both with top class exhibition budgies, shown in excellent condition, they were very difficult to fault. Q-8. How many birds would you typically show? What are the criteria about selections of your show team, and at what age you start consideration an individual bird for a member of next show team because I believe every fancier who participate in shows also a judge because he judge his own birds for best selections of show team. Q-9. What s your experience says about a good ratio of your winning birds always came through a champion family or a visually low quality pair can also produce a show winner. We only use very good visual pairs so our birds come from good visual pairs, even our lesser birds are good budgies, we keep a very high standard of bird, this is created by culling very hard over the years. We only use the best visual birds in our stud to breed. Q-10. Would you please like to describe briefly that what preparation would your team have and do you use any specific training methods? Note: (for all above question I requested for short answer but here I would like ask for detailed information from training and final preparation to showing your bird.)

11 Q-11. What do you do when you return from a show, I mean what you do for the quick recovery of show/traveling stress. And how do make it assure that birds you are taking back from the show are not carrying any disease with them. It is always a problem when showing birds that you may pick something up, but with the high bio security in place at the UK shows it is kept to a minimum. On return the birds are kepy in the same groups they were in before the show. Clean water with plenty of millet sprays are given. Q-12. How many Challenge Certificates, Variety champion awards and show winner awards do you have till now? Sorry I don t know the answer, we don t keep count. Q-13. Dose your societies also allow sale/purchase during or after show? And do you also have any experience of buying some good blood line from show or plane for buying from a show participant in future? We have never bought a bird from a show. Q-14. How important is wining for any fancier and how should he/she react when get beaten, and what is you personal experience on this topic You will lose more than you win, especially on your way through the sections, shake the hand of the winner and say well done, it will be your turn to win one day. It is a lovely feeling when you do. Q-15.. Have you ever participates in shows as show manager, judge, or any other member of show management team, if yes please shares your experience with us. We are both BS full panel judges and have judged all over the Country. We are also International judges, and have judged many times in Europe Q-16. What views do you hold on this subject that at the moment there are many different Budgerigars standards are in all over the word, don t you think it shouldn t be now centralized I mean isn t possible that every society should follow one standard. For example if every society starts follows WBO or any other international organization. Then will it not give us more advantages and success in this fancy? I do not like the WBO new ideal, and do not feel we can have one ideal, I think the top breeders of the day should be consulted more when a new ideal is proposed. Q-17. At the end of Society & Shows section if you feel any other related topic still need to discuss, and then please feel free to mention it. Otherwise please tell us Now you if are a champion breeder so what is the next challenge that you are going to plane? Our ambition remains the same, to win the BS World show for a 3 rd time next year. That would be something to be very proud of and be very difficult for anyone to beat in the future. You can bet we will be doing our best to produce another winner for next year. Problems & issues Q-1. Infertility is one of the hottest issues for every fancier may at the early stage of his hobby. So what is your opinion on that, I also want you to please explain what common causes of infertility are, and what preventative action can reduce infertility? Q-2. If you found multiple infertile clutches from a pair then how do you diagnose real issues and if one of the partners diagnose infertile then what best treatment you do for this problem. And as per you knowledge and experience the high ratio of infertility appear in hens or cocks? All you can do with regard to fertility is to pair your birds when breeding fit, also with the feather we have on the birds in the UK, it is important to trim the vents on both the cock and the hen.

12 Q-3. Egg binding and another big issue as earlier stage of fancy, what are the ratios of egg binding in your aviary, please also tell our members causes and preventative method of egg binding? We suffer very little from this issue, good health and diet will prevent this. Q-4. Please tell us some thing about excessive or chronic egg lying (when a hen is not stopping laying egg without mating with cock). Why some hens behave like this? Not experienced this problem. Q-5. Hernia problem (Swelling of vent Area), after a clutch/clutches some hens appears in this condition. Can you guide our reader why some hens faces this problem, please also share your personal experience how to tackle when a hen appear in this condition and how do you treat her? Some hens suffer this way, they are best discarded. Q-6. Feather Plucking is also a known problem and some time one the parent bird found plucking feathers of their young s. What is your experience on this? If we know a hen feather plucks, we either move her eggs as laid, or move her chicks after she has hatched them, we do not bother trying to stop the hen doing it because in our experience they continue to do it whatever you try. Q-7. Some time we found an injured bird with broken leg, wings or in bleeding conditions, so what is your experience of treating injured birds? The best way in our opinion of treating an injured bird is to remove it to a cage on it s own and keep it quite. Injured legs seem to heal themselves. Q-8. What are your opinion on feather duster, is it a problem or a budgerigars variety. I also read some different comment on internet about feather duster for example if any of you pair produces a feather duster its mean very soon you can also get a show winner from this par or feather duster is problem and we should diagnose and cull that bird that is carrying this problem. Please also share you personal experience. We breed the odd feather duster, but do not worry too much by it, if you are breeding a lot of them then you need to look why, but as I say the odd one is not a problem. I don t go along with the idea that a duster is next to being a good budgie. We have at present a half sider, blue/grey the blue side is a feather duster. Sales, Value and pricing Q-1. What criteria do you use for the selection of your surpluses birds, I mean how do you grade your young/adult birds about their quality for planning either you will keep this bird or will be added in sale stock? We do not sort out any birds until they are through the moult, we do not sell barheads. They are selected on visual, as they all carry the same genetic make up. Q-2. At what minimum or maximum price do you normally sell one pair? And do allow buyer to select his favorite color or quality from sell stock or you just ask for specification from buyer and then you select as per their choice. We select the birds for sale and then they are for sale to anyone who comes, we set a price which we feel is fair and that price is fixed for beginner and champion alike. Q-3. Budgerigar s prices are different from country to country and a fancier to fancier, but if you got a chance to implementation of a price standard what price you will decide for a fancier should expect to pay for a quality budgerigar?

13 It is not possible to do this, as the breeding behind the bird has to be taken into account, we have many years and many quality winning birds behind us, and these have all played a part in creating what we have. We set our price scales on that alone. We do feel that some fanciers set too high a price. Q-4. What views do you hold on current much uncontrolled situation of these very high prices of single Budgerigars which start from 300 Euro to 1000 Euro or above? Do you still think Budgerigars fancy is still pure hobby, don t you agree with me that very high commercial factor is now Involved. If a bird is for sale and a price is set, it is up to the potential buyer to say yes or no. Good birds are available on the continent and there is a demand for them, if breeders want to go down this route it is up to them, the problem is when beginner take this route, buying bird when they have no experience. They have the money, but not the eye for a bird. The problem is everybody wants instant success, it doesn t work like that though. Q-5. Now days buying a budgerigar from champion breeder (especially Champion fanciers) is equal or more expansive then buying a diamond necklace for you wife, so how we can still say that keeping and breeding Budgerigars is a pure hobby. So in current situation don t you think WBO and other equal organizations should work for standardizations of price and they should send standard price circulates to every budgerigar s society/clubs for their members? I believe in this way a genuine hobbyist will agree but all commercial breeders will be against of this rule. But we can easily differentiate between a hobbyist and commercial fancier. We are not commercial breeders and will never be so, we are hobbyists, we have surplus birds at times for sale, but I will not have any outside body telling me what I can sell it for, we set our price. The buyers have the opportunity to say no, simple as that. At least the so called breeders are supplying a need. General Q-1. Have you been to visit breeders in other countries? Yes we have and seen some very good budgerigars. Q-2. What is the next challenge that you are going to take in coming years? To continue to breed top class exhibition budgies, and as stated to win the BS World show again. Q-3. What was the best source of your knowledge about budgerigars and as per you experience what is the best source of knowledge now days? Are there any Budgerigars books that have given you inspiration and you wants to recommend it to others? I don t think books are the answer, better to listen and watch good breeders. Listen and learn. Q-4. What do you know about Sex linked, Dominant and Recessive varieties, and what are the benefits of breeding budgerigars after understanding these factors? We have a basic knowledge, no more than that is needed. Q-5. what method you use for Identification of fertile or infertile eggs We use a light torch available from Budgerigar World Q-6. What are your experience on hand feeding of sick birds and few day old budgerigars baby? Please also tell our reader that what size of crop needle you use for hand feeding of budgerigars chicks. We use a standard crop tube for barheads, with day olds we let it suck from a teaspoon. Q-7. What is the best breeding period of his age in Budgerigars, and in what minimum and maximum age you start allow or end breeding from you birds. Please tell in both hens and cocks. How do you deal with an older none breeder bird?

14 We have used both cocks and hens at 6 months old, older none breeders have no use to us. Q-8. What opinion do you hold on this topic that some diseases from Budgerigars or other birds can transfers to human, what are your personal experience on this very serious and important topic? No experience on this subject. Q-9. Would you please also like share who is your ideal Budgerigars breeder in current budgerigars world, and if you get a chance rating of top 3 budgerigars from all over the world then what name you will chose? My budgie partner Ian is my top breeder, in the past names like Dave Toplis, current breeder would be Huxley & Marchant Q-10. Where can you see the fancy heading especially with so many fanciers leaving the hobby? The fancy I am afraid will die, we need to look after the people we have at present and enjoy what we have. Politics will ruin any hobby Q-11. What is the best tip that you have ever been given? What is best tip you want to give other with you experience? Be patient, you can not create a stud of birds over night. And for beginners, do not spend big money, you will have know experience what to do with the birds you buy. Any other points you would like to mention which hasn't been covered in topics discussed above? First of all I would like to appreciate your patience and no doubt that you continue proves your professionalism and commitment with work, I know that it was very lengthy and time taking process but you completed it with very successfully. Thanks and once again I appreciate it very much you not only prove your self a true fancier who wants to help other in this fancy but also your name and information will be now always part of this new Budgerigars information system. 109 At the end of the interview, Please give a note on your experience being with me during this new 109- Questions by Mobassir s Interview system 2006, how did you like this new interview system. How did you complete whole interview, and how did you quote it for new comers in sense of knowledge and help. I also would like to welcome if you want to say some thing about my self or my work for the promotions of Budgerigars hobby. You re Comments: End of 109-Questions by Mobassir s Interview 2006 Interview system 2006 I would like to say that you have come up with some very interesting questions, maybe a few too many for one interview, trying to cover so many issues in one go. I admire your enthusiasm, and the hard work you put into the hobby in your Country, and I wish you every success for the future, both personally and to all your fellow budgie Countrymen. Good luck to you all from Freakley & Ainley Mick & Ian.