One of the most popular cage and aviary bird anywhere in the world is the budgerigar. These delightful little Australian parakeets are now available in a huge array of colour variations and are ideal as both pets and for serious breeders and exhibitors.

In the wild the budgerigar is a prolific breeder whenever the rains fall in their semi-desert environment. However the modern domesticated budgie is far harder to breed than you might expect. Selection for specific colours and show traits has been achieved through rigorous line breeding and this has depressed the fertility of much of the stock. As a rule the bigger the bird the harder it will be to breed.

Breeding from unrelated birds will produce better fertility in their offspring but may make it harder to "fix" the particular show characteristics you are looking for. This is a constant dilemma for exhibition breeders.

Generally Budgies respond well to good nutrition. Pet birds will live longer, happier more vital lives if their seed is supplemented with Feast eggfood, Daily Essentials3 and Calcivet (CalciBoost). Breeder birds will be more fertile and productive if the eggfood is further enhanced with ProBoost SuperMax. For more information take this link to our products section.

It is not generally well known that the Queen has a collection of budgerigars at Windsor Castle. These birds are a free flying flock so they go out into the town during the day to forage. There has been no new blood for many years and fertility problems are beginning to become serious. So new blood is being introduced from other free flight budgie flocks in the UK and the birds are going on to a complete package of Birdcare Company supplements from late January 2001. It will take 2-3 years for the benefits of new bloddlines to show but we hope that the improved supplements package will bring results this year.

There are a number of diseases to which budgies are particularly prone. Megabacteria is top of the list and you will find an article on that subject in the navigation bar to the left of this page. The next most common is Trichomoniasis (canker). This can be both prevented and treated with Harkanker Soluble. You will find this drug in the sick bird section of the products pages.

You are currently in the articles section of the English language area of of our site. Browse the list of subjects on the left hand navigation bar and read any articles that catch your eye. Because our products are used in a very broad range of bird species these articles are mostly written in quite general terms.  If you have a particular question relating to budgerigars don't hesitate to contact us through: mailto:advice@BirdcareCo.com

Wherever you live we can supply you with the very best supplement products in the world. Take this link to our main home page . You will find access to our foreign sections and secure online ordering.