When you’re a newlywed birdman, setting up home with your wife isn’t the only consideration – the birds need a new home too! Northern Ireland fancier MARK CARSON explains to Dave Brown how it has worked out in his case…
Your birdroom roof needs fundamental repair. Do you call in a professional roofer? Not if you’re JON ASHBY! TWO things you definitely do not want in your birdroom are mice and damp and so maintaining the room in good order…
Photo: Les Rance. Safer all round: this budgerigar aviary at Les’s set-up has 16-gauge weld mesh all round LES RANCE concludes his three-part series on colony-breeding budgerigars with advice on wire gauges, perches and pests. For previous instalments, see February 7…
Above: A pair of orange-breasted chestnut-flanked white (CFW) zebra finches. Dave’s coveted pair also had the black-breasted mutation, an uncommon and interesting combination. Of course they had to be the ones to fall victim to rodents! Take your eye fractionally…
Photo: © Shutterstock.com/Paul Reeves Photography. This American goldfinch cock is mid-way through the moult; its old feathers will drop out and be replaced by new ones All avian species go through the moult, but what exactly does this annual process involve? PAUL…
Above: show-offs: no less than budgies or canaries, zebbies benefit from show training Never skimp on space for your birds to undertake show-cage training – it’s as important as breeding, says DAVE BROWN. Regardless of how good a show bird…
Photo: Dave Brown. From dental to ventral: gently brushing a canary’s underparts Got your cleaning checklist sorted for the winter? DAVE BROWN lists some of his must-have hygiene utensils. Regular cleaning of the aviary or birdroom is a must if we…
Rust Never Sleeps, as the Neil Young album reminds us, though inexplicably Neil doesn’t mention second-hand cages. DAVE BROWN offers his own tips to make up for it. Photo: Dave Brown That’s how to do it, Poppy! Helpful Miss Brown…