The Road to Master Breeder is Paved with Learning from Experienced Breeders at Bird Shows
Like many of you, once I got canary fever I immersed myself in reading, asking and trying to learn everything about the Fancy! It quickly became my passion to breed the most beautiful and the best singing birds ever bred. I wanted to be a Master Breeder. My family could not believe my new obsession and my focus changed so much that my husband even started referring to the earlier time in our marriage before I raised canaries as BC!
In my quest, I first found another fancier, the late Janice Klein, who answered my canary ad in the local paper. We both had the bug and were so happy to find another who wanted to talk about anything bird related, even the color, frequency and consistency of their poop! She had bought some birds from Margaret Perry (Fletcher) and so we went to see her birds and of course we bought some different kinds including my first pair of Borders.
Somehow one of us happened to see a notice of a bird club meeting being held at the local library and behold their were more people just like us who were equally infected with the fever. At one of the meetings, someone told us about a Bird Show in Oklahoma and even being 3 hours away, we could car pooled and even though we had never attended a bird show we took a few birds with us to show. I remember showing some colorbred, hartz, and even a border.
I was so proud to earned a class ribbon but more than the ribbon I was intrigued by the judges comment about my long legged border. It was like he was comparing my bird to a standard. What was the standard for my birds? I was somewhat embarrassed by the fact that I was breeding birds and had never seen the standard for any of my varieties.
To make a long story short, our local club began hosting bird shows and I joined several speciality clubs and started attending the National Cage Bird Show. If you have the fever, and you must to read this blog, I highly recommend you get involved with bird clubs at the local and national level. A wealth of knowledge is there just waiting for you to experience!
Check out the National Cage Bird Web Site, www.ncbs.org and click on Annual Show to see the above page and then click on show winners photos! What fantastic birds and to see them in person is the ultimate feast!
There is no better treatment for bird fever than attending bird shows and maybe like me, you will find a bird or two you just can't wait to take home!!
Blogging is fun but what I really would like is to talk birds directly with you at the shows!
Bloggers please post your local show information to this post!!
Be sure and read Rich's comments on this blog!! Thanks Rich!!
Hi Linda. I love hearing how people got started with birds, and how the passion continues even after many years at it. I found showing birds to be one of the best educational experiences, you learn so much from the other breeders and from their birds. The first National Cage Bird Show that I attended in Lansing was the turn around spot for me, my birds did really well and have been doing well consistantly since then. I visited with two friends in Columbus yesterday, and was wowed with all the beautiful birds in their birdrooms. My friend Ken Stubbart presented me with a pair of really beautiful silver Lizareds to add to the trio fo golds I already have. I also brought home a beautiful young blue Fife that was out of the best hen I rraised the year before and gave Ken. I am thinking I want to start showing Fifes and Lizards as well, I just need to learn the ins and outs of showing type birds now. There is nothing like visiting other breeders birdrooms to recharge your bird passion. Your blog with all the photos is a great way of visiting your birdroom, thank you for sharing it with us. Rich
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