Post by Marianne Marlow on Nov 28, 2011 19:23:09 GMT
John Rasmussen Breeder and Exhibitor from Assens, Denmark
Q. When did you first start to become interested in budgies and what sparked it off?
A. My grandfather and several of my uncles had birds, pigeons and chickens, I did not want chickens I wanted a pair of budgerigars and my dream came true on my birthday , the year was 1960 my first beginning into this wonderful hobby.
Q. What did your first Aviary/Breeding room look like?
A. My first birdhouse was in my uncle's basement, where I was allowed to put the cages up to my uncle's delight.
Q. Where and when did you acquire your first birds?
A. The first English budgies I bought came from the pet store and they came from a local budgerigar breeder, after arriving home and checking the ring numbers I found I was the proud owner of a Kirkby Mason Lutino hen.
Q. Do you still have birds from these bloodlines?
A. No, I no longer have anything from the original birds.
Q. Which Bloodlines have given you the most impact on your stud?
A. The birds acquired that helped move me forwards were certainly birds from Jim Moffat and an Opaline sky blue bird from Chris Snell, the Opaline sky was a brother of one of their winning birds.
In 1988, I had to give up my birds hold due to work in Greenland, but when I returned to Denmark in 1997, I got some Moffat blood through a now deceased Danish breeder named Erik Andsager, he had meanwhile crossed Jac Cuyten blood onto his bloodline. Subsequently, I have since crossed some blood from George Jenkins and from four different German breeders. My birds are not finished, I still need to add a few more building blocks before I can sit back and relax.There are two things that are hard to reconcile, but the challenge is so much bigger.
Q. Do you have a specific way of preparing your birds for the breeding season?
A. I increase the day light hours and turn my heater thermostat up a little.
Q. Do you pair your birds by Visual appearance/Bloodline or both?
A. Most of my birds in the family are related having created my own bloodline , I do purchase a new outcross about every four years. My breeding pairs are related but the visual really means a lot when I put the pair together.
Q. What are your views on paring up related birds? Have you had any success with this?
A. I never breed brother and sister or parent to their off spring, but uncles to nieces is a pairing I use that it is easier to maintain the good properties.
Q. How many chicks and clutches are your birds allowed?
A. My preferred nest is usually three to four chicks, sometimes a few pairs have been allowed to keep five youngsters, but it is exceptional.
Q. What differences are there in your feeding programme in the breeding and non-breeding seasons?
A. My birds get the same thing to eat throughout the year but they get more egg feed during the breeding season.
Q. What would you change about your set up if you had the chance (and infinite money to do so?)
A. If I had unlimited money available, I'd visit to Paul Stannard and buy both his golden face Spangle males and then go down to Jo Mannes and buy two birds with the widest masks he had in his birdhouse ha ha ... ....
A guy can dream
Q. Do you believe in preventative medication? If so what do you use?
A. I do not use preventive medicine; I use KD-water Cleanser and Turbo Booster, that's all.
Q. How do you deal with birds with feather disorders?
A. throughout the years I have bad experiences with the repair of diseased birds.
Q. Do you have a favourite mutation or variety?
A. Favourite? I do not know, I think I prefer the normal variety. I do not care much about Spangle but must admit that there are many good birds found in this mutation and I have even bought them a few years ago.
Q. What was the best bird you ever bred?
A. The best bird I've ever bred was a bright green “Tarzan”, I'm not a moment in doubt that he was Denmark's best male at the time but I never exhibited him, he was too good.
Q. What was the best bird that you have seen from someone else's stud?
A. I have seen many good birds and many birds with power around, the best bird I've seen are with my German friend Kurt Martens, he builds birds which are just my taste, beautiful and well balanced.
Q. What is the most important piece of advice you could give a beginner just starting out in the hobby?
A. Take it easy, do not think you can be top breeder of five years, it requires you to buy top birds from the start, no one will sell them and it takes time to spot the good in the less good birds as you can buy. Find a clever breeder you feel confident and hold so firmly on the friendship, and then you probably enjoy the hobby.
Q. What more do you believe we can do to promote the hobby?
A. We must treat our new members properly and not think of them as customers in the store.
Q. What do you enjoy most about the hobby? Are you still as enthusiastic as when you first started?
A. My greatest joy in budgerigar breeding is to develop my birds, with a little progress year after year. And so I enjoy talking to people who have an eye for detail. The excitement has subsided, with all the turmoil we have experienced in the club, so I am no longer as enthusiastic as I once was. But experience also comes into play, I myself have been calmer and serene with the failure that may lie just around the corner. In my younger days I could get up at 5 o'clock in the morning to go out to look for that super-chick who had hatched and was still alive, I can do no more ha ha ...
Thank you for taking part John. .
©2006 barrieshuttbudgerigars S3872.
Q. When did you first start to become interested in budgies and what sparked it off?
A. My grandfather and several of my uncles had birds, pigeons and chickens, I did not want chickens I wanted a pair of budgerigars and my dream came true on my birthday , the year was 1960 my first beginning into this wonderful hobby.
Q. What did your first Aviary/Breeding room look like?
A. My first birdhouse was in my uncle's basement, where I was allowed to put the cages up to my uncle's delight.
Q. Where and when did you acquire your first birds?
A. The first English budgies I bought came from the pet store and they came from a local budgerigar breeder, after arriving home and checking the ring numbers I found I was the proud owner of a Kirkby Mason Lutino hen.
Q. Do you still have birds from these bloodlines?
A. No, I no longer have anything from the original birds.
Q. Which Bloodlines have given you the most impact on your stud?
A. The birds acquired that helped move me forwards were certainly birds from Jim Moffat and an Opaline sky blue bird from Chris Snell, the Opaline sky was a brother of one of their winning birds.
In 1988, I had to give up my birds hold due to work in Greenland, but when I returned to Denmark in 1997, I got some Moffat blood through a now deceased Danish breeder named Erik Andsager, he had meanwhile crossed Jac Cuyten blood onto his bloodline. Subsequently, I have since crossed some blood from George Jenkins and from four different German breeders. My birds are not finished, I still need to add a few more building blocks before I can sit back and relax.There are two things that are hard to reconcile, but the challenge is so much bigger.
Q. Do you have a specific way of preparing your birds for the breeding season?
A. I increase the day light hours and turn my heater thermostat up a little.
Q. Do you pair your birds by Visual appearance/Bloodline or both?
A. Most of my birds in the family are related having created my own bloodline , I do purchase a new outcross about every four years. My breeding pairs are related but the visual really means a lot when I put the pair together.
Q. What are your views on paring up related birds? Have you had any success with this?
A. I never breed brother and sister or parent to their off spring, but uncles to nieces is a pairing I use that it is easier to maintain the good properties.
Q. How many chicks and clutches are your birds allowed?
A. My preferred nest is usually three to four chicks, sometimes a few pairs have been allowed to keep five youngsters, but it is exceptional.
Q. What differences are there in your feeding programme in the breeding and non-breeding seasons?
A. My birds get the same thing to eat throughout the year but they get more egg feed during the breeding season.
Q. What would you change about your set up if you had the chance (and infinite money to do so?)
A. If I had unlimited money available, I'd visit to Paul Stannard and buy both his golden face Spangle males and then go down to Jo Mannes and buy two birds with the widest masks he had in his birdhouse ha ha ... ....
A guy can dream
Q. Do you believe in preventative medication? If so what do you use?
A. I do not use preventive medicine; I use KD-water Cleanser and Turbo Booster, that's all.
Q. How do you deal with birds with feather disorders?
A. throughout the years I have bad experiences with the repair of diseased birds.
Q. Do you have a favourite mutation or variety?
A. Favourite? I do not know, I think I prefer the normal variety. I do not care much about Spangle but must admit that there are many good birds found in this mutation and I have even bought them a few years ago.
Q. What was the best bird you ever bred?
A. The best bird I've ever bred was a bright green “Tarzan”, I'm not a moment in doubt that he was Denmark's best male at the time but I never exhibited him, he was too good.
Q. What was the best bird that you have seen from someone else's stud?
A. I have seen many good birds and many birds with power around, the best bird I've seen are with my German friend Kurt Martens, he builds birds which are just my taste, beautiful and well balanced.
Q. What is the most important piece of advice you could give a beginner just starting out in the hobby?
A. Take it easy, do not think you can be top breeder of five years, it requires you to buy top birds from the start, no one will sell them and it takes time to spot the good in the less good birds as you can buy. Find a clever breeder you feel confident and hold so firmly on the friendship, and then you probably enjoy the hobby.
Q. What more do you believe we can do to promote the hobby?
A. We must treat our new members properly and not think of them as customers in the store.
Q. What do you enjoy most about the hobby? Are you still as enthusiastic as when you first started?
A. My greatest joy in budgerigar breeding is to develop my birds, with a little progress year after year. And so I enjoy talking to people who have an eye for detail. The excitement has subsided, with all the turmoil we have experienced in the club, so I am no longer as enthusiastic as I once was. But experience also comes into play, I myself have been calmer and serene with the failure that may lie just around the corner. In my younger days I could get up at 5 o'clock in the morning to go out to look for that super-chick who had hatched and was still alive, I can do no more ha ha ...
Thank you for taking part John. .
©2006 barrieshuttbudgerigars S3872.