An Interview with Hans C. østergaard A champion Budgerigar breeder and international Judge from Denmark By Mobassir Sattar Khan from Pakistan May, 2011 Introductions Q 1. I know that you are very experience and well known Budgerigars breeder, but for new comers please give us a brief introduction about yourself. Answer: I am a Tradesman, Tool maker and developer. Retired from work. Born on a Sunday morning in the summer of 1950. I m Lecture and have been education Judge. Is a International Judge under WBO and have Judge abroad. Speak English and not very good at Germen but understand the most. But very good at Danish. Q 2. Are you involve in this fancy as just for a hobby or now it is your profession? Answer: It s a life style. Just think that I can t live without it and it s very much a hobby. Basic Information Q 1. What is your basic profession and where do you live, also tell us where your aviary is located? Answer: My wife and I live in Denmark. In the middle of the main country Jutland. Jutland is the top. It s on the top of Germany ;O) Our bird room is close to the living room. Q 2. How did you get interested in the fancy and what attracted you to the Budgerigar? Answer: Got my first pet Budgerigar when I was 8 year old and the Show type a little bit later. I do have keep Parakeets, Parrots and different kind of Finches, Canaries. Pigeons, Pigs, Horses, Hens, Rabbits, Dog s and vise versa. It s the Budgerigar that give me the biggest challenge. They don t take that much space either.
Q 3. Do you have a Standard of bird that you desire to breed in Exhibition Budgerigars? Answer: Yes indeed With a head like an ping pong ball head and With a mask at the same size. As many long broad feather as possible and lots of down in the same area. The feather will be shorter and shorter and fewer and fewer from the bottom of the mash and down on With a carrot like bottom end. That s what I say around 20 ears ago. Today I prefer a Tennis ball as a goal. ;0) Q 4. Are you member of any Budgerigar or Misc bird s club/society? Answer: Yes Danish Show Budgerigar Club: Called DUU and also a German Club. Q 5. How many birds do you keep in your stock every year? Answer: Answer: I got 46 breeding cages, but in average I use around 30 of them to breed in. So I keep for myself around 45 Cock bird and around 65 Hens, plus reserve birds. If anything whent wrong I got some reserve. Now I get myself in trob. Put the numbers together Around 140 bird s Q 6. Which color or variety is your most favorite? Answer: The one that is a carrier of most wanted quality. No seriously, I keep nearly all variety, mix them all together, but like Normal s best.
Q 7. Please also brief use about start and end time of your breeding and non breeding season in your area, and at what period your birds start moulting? Answer: Let s start with the end of breeding season. Every year I planned to stop breeding season around May. But I always got some one that I ll try to pair together. All those late breed bird s are telling me how to use the families for next breeding season or let s say, they telling me if my theories about years planning is right. So there some late breed in July to. In June I turn on the light from 06 am to 22 pm, just a small night light. Those non breeding birds is only feed With dry food and baby bird s is feeding twice a day With soft food to. Reason whey just to start the big molt and I get more time for the family and garden. The show season in Denmark is in September. So in mid august I start preparing with gradual more light and food for show and breeding. The breeding start around end September. Q 8. Basic information about weather conditions in your area and the weather effects on your birds? Answer: My birds is indoor all years. No outside fights, no sunshine and desire from wild bird s. But my ventilators take the weather in and out again. So if it s wet outside, the humidity raes and the same way if it s dry, I adjust it so it s around 60. In the winter time Iw use a fan heater and keep the temperature around 17 degree C. Of Course the moon pase or when it s high or low presser in the area, it mean something for the bird s. 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?
Answer: As already told. I started as a boy with Budgerigar. As I remember I got my first show Budgerigar around 50 years ago. In 1970 I became a member of a Budgerigar Club and it has gone on since and it has been lots of BIS since and other top awards. 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. Answer: My first so called Show Budgerigar I bound in the local pet shop. After next visit to the pet shop I found out of that there was two local Champion Breeder s in my town. It was easy to buy and get advise from Them. A few years later I bound mostly from the top breeder in Skandinavien, in the 70 and the start of the 80, Ole H. Gade. After that it was GB, then Mannes and Mannes relater bird s in Germany and Denmark. I worked with those birds from the midst 90 until 2006 when I got my first Jac Cuyten bird. I found that those Cuyten birds work very well with mine. So over the years I got some more to make progress with. It has worked very well. BREEDING
I start breeding in late September or early October. When the birds are in super condition I already got the breeding cages ready, With nest box, cuttlefish bone, iodine block and finger drawers filled With calcium/d3 vitamin. Grit and very small stone in the bottom of the cage. The nest box is filled With 2 handful of sawdust so that the hen got something to work with. Remember to trim the vent and nail on both. I got an advice from Gerald Binks around 25 years ago. Place in the hen first, let the hen work with the cage for 2 3days and introduce the cock. Both got to show interest for each otter and best is if the hen want to be mate. If she want and the cock is not interested. I ll take him out and then trey after an hour or later on. When they are really interested in each other and they are flying from perch to perch and maybe mate. I ll let the cock stay with her. If not, I ll go on with taken the cock out and in again. Ther got to be sympati. FEATHER: In general I ll say that a budgerigar s quality is counted in 95% feather and the rest 5% is size/length style and bone structure. Big bone gives space for more feathers and more space to work on with the feather. The legs got to be strong and placed in the bottom of the body, so that the body is in nearly a vertical line, from the perch. I nearly said the legs got to stick out of the west area. After I m said that. I mean that!! The bird looks and is then taller. The bird looks also more elegant. On today s modern Budgerigar it s all matters about feather. Think nearly all top breeders in the world, got flight and tail problems. This comes from using to much soft feathers and of course the use of all knowing feather type on a bit wrong way. This can make problem to the main tail and flight feather to break the skin, when those broad soft feathers are growing, they are not
strong (hard) info to break the skin and this is the reason why the new feather turns around in the feather sack and cause feather problem. If you have that problem (like most have) use a scissor or a scarp knife, to break the skin. Or better: I ll suggest that we think more about breeding more narrow, hard and slim feather in the flight and big tail feather. Concentrate on lots of down, broad filly long soft feather in head, shoulder, neck and mask area. Lots and many more feather in that area. Trey and give it a chance. Think about it!! I got different family of birds to work With. In general: The improvement lay in feathers in Budgerigars! Keping and breeding Budgerigars is a great hobby and a trill to me so Any other points you would like to mention which hasn't been covered in topics discussed above? Dear Mobassir Sattar Kahn. Thanks for being a part of this. I ll announce that theirs Copy right on this and no one is allowed to reproduce without written permission. Hans Chr. Oestergaard DK. Hope that you got something out of reading this.
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. 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: