Choosing Stock

There are a number of questions to answer when you first start out - this section of the site concentrates on my experiences and advice on buying your first birds. The first question to ask is

What do you want from your birds?

If, like me, your intention is to exhibit your birds at local and specialist shows I'd advise making your first purchase very carefully by checking who is doing consistently well on the showbench at the many specialist Fife shows. If you want a mixed aviary collection or simply a single pet bird your local pet shop would be a good starting point

How much to pay and How to go about making the contacts

The Fife is frequently available at sensible prices - although I have heard of people offering three figured sums for individual specimens. The classified adverts and bargain box in cage and aviary birds will give you a flavour of the current pricing - broadly prices range from £30 to £80 per pair.

General advice is to visit local specialist shows (see exhibiting section) and local Cage Bird societies. I have mixed views on this - to the newcomer a specialist show can be quite daunting, as can attending a local cage bird society (again club meetings and show dates are published weekly in Cage and Aviary birds) but don't be put off.

I did follow the advice and in October 2001 following a visit to the North West Fife Fancy specialist show I was lucky enough to be pointed in the direction of the late Pat Fenlon - Pat became my mentor and indeed my first successful clear line (which produced my 2003 best novice clear at the North of England show) was directly from Pat's bloodline. Although a renowned Border canary breeder Pat had a small quality stud of Fife canaries and enjoyed success at specialist shows and in the final year of his life won best fife and second best exhibit and the Scottish National. Many of my current practices are based on the early advice I received from Pat.

Where to buy from and what to look out for

General advice on the acquisition of birds is to avoid purchasing from numerous different sources- as with any livestock pedigree is important. My stud is now almost entirely based on Gerald Spencers birds, with an outcross of Albert Clamps stock, obtained through the Robroy partnership, in the clear and lightly variegated line.

Assuming you're looking to exhibit your birds look for people who are doing consistently well in the specialist Fife fancy shows, by this I mean exhibitors who have a large percentage of their birds in the top seven, rather than the individual who has won a major prize but is nowhere with their other birds.

Studying the "catalogues" of the top fife fancy show (The North of England), and many of the leading specialist Fife shows highlighted both the consistency (over a number of years) and range (in different classes) of Gerald's show team - and although stock wasn't available immediately I was able to acquire a number of birds to create a strong dark and variegated line. Over the last 9 years I've built up a good relationship with Gerald and will bring in related birds from his stud on a regular basis to improve the overall quality of my breeding team.

It's important to think about the long term when acquiring your first birds, developing your own line of birds takes a number of years, and during that time depending on the number and quality of birds you've bred it's more than likely that you'll want and need to go back to the original source of your birds to make related additions to your team.

Stock is generally available from early October onwards where birds are offered as flighted or unflighted. Basically unflighted birds are those bred that season, flighted (or over year birds) are birds from previous seasons. As a general rule fife hens will breed for 3 to 4 years (although there will of course always be exceptions!) fife cocks 4 to 5 years. I have always purchased a mixture of flighted and unflighted birds.

What to Buy - Colours

The fife canary is available in a range of colours yellow (or clear as it is known), variegated (yellow and green), cinnamon, blue (more of a slate grey) and white. My only advice to the would be exhibitor is buy the best quality no matter the colour.

Flighted

On the assumption that the bird is bred by the owner (rather than an outcross brought in) then there is usually a very good reason why they have retained the bird, either for obvious visual qualities or very strong pedigree, in either case there is a good chance that such an acquisition will improve the quality of your own stud. As a general rule I like to bring in a flighted cock related to my own stud each year.

Unflighted

Obviously the key factor in unflighted birds is the overall quality, this and where you are able to ascertain it, the pedigree of the bird. As a general rule unflighted birds are popular as they have a longer breeding life.

How many?

The final point is the number of birds to purchase - A lot will depend on the number of cages you have, the Fife is generally a good breeder, although as the quality of the birds improve this seems to have an impact on the number of young bred. For example in my first season from 6 hens I bred over 40 young, a ratio of 7 young per hen, this year the ratio was closer to 3.2 young per hen.

Generally speaking 4-8 pairs ( I started out with 6 pairs and now run with a ten to a dozen cocks and 20 - 24 hens) will give you the diversity to get going.

As you develop your stud consider the ratio of cocks to hens - I work on the basis of 1 cock for every 2 hens. For the newcomer in their first season I'd recommend running with straight pairs rather than cock birds to multiple hens - see the pairing up section of the site for more details