Once a common occurrence, backyard aviaries are becoming a thing of the past in cities as breeders spread their wings in a search for greener pastures. RICK BAYNE discovers why the future of this hobby is in the country.
Peter Thurn’s four-acre block near Koroit in south-west Victoria is home to three steers, 12 chooks, a dog, 12 finches … and 300 budgies.
When Peter and his wife Nerida moved there in 2022, having a bit of space was one of the big attractions.
In fact, it’s wide-open spaces that hold the key to his hobby.
As president of the Budgerigar Council of Victoria, Peter sees the future of budgie breeding as being based in the country, not cities.
“When I was a kid, a lot of people had backyard aviaries, but you go in the city these days and you’re hard-pressed to find a dog, let alone an aviary in the backyard,” he said.
“We see the future of our hobby as being in the outer-urban and rural areas where people have a bit of space.”
Peter says that like most of these sorts of hobbies, budgie breeding is slowly declining but still has a committed fan base.
“There is an issue around block sizes which has an impact on people’s ability to have an aviary in the backyard in urban areas,” he said.
“There is also a growing disconnect between young people and animals, which is disappointing, and less people have a link to a farm. Electronic games have filled a lot of that space.
“We find it’s a hobby people get into once their kids have left home. It’s an older guy’s hobby, but we’re always trying to change that.”
Peter’s passion for breeding isn’t restricted to budgies. In his day job, he is DataGene’s stakeholder relations specialist, working with farmer customers, artificial insemination companies, genetics and data service providers. He joined four years ago after a 34-year career with Genetics Australia.
Peter’s parents had come off dairy farms in the Camden region in NSW and his grandparents were farming until he was in his teens.
“I had birds when I was a kid and enjoyed the breeding side of it, and that transferred to the cows to some extent,” he said.
“I’d go out to the farm and read the sale catalogues and see pedigrees and that sparked an interest.”
He maintained that breeding focus through studies in agriculture into his professional career.
The Thurns had been based at Bacchus Marsh before moving to their current home.
“We have a daughter in Portland and were visiting and saw this open house. We drove in and looked around and thought ‘this is us’,” he said.
“We had a biggish block in Bacchus Marsh, 1400sqm, but this is nearly four acres and we enjoy the space.”
Peter works remotely, usually visiting DataGene’s Bundoora office fortnightly.
He has three steers, owned in partnership with farmers Tim and Maree Humphris.
“I only needed them to keep the grass down, but that is non-existent this year,” Peter said.
“I enjoy having them around but at the moment I have to get hay from Tim’s place and pellets to feed them. We will take them back to Tim’s bush block and if the feed comes back, we’ll bring them back here, sell two and put the other in the freezer.”
Peter got into budgie breeding in 2003, building a backyard aviary from recycled materials.
“When you put two birds together, it’s sometimes a mystery bag as to what you might get from them,” he said.
“You’ve got the fun of what the varieties are going to turn out like from two different looking birds. Sometimes you get surprises, sometimes your pedigrees might not be as good as you think they are.”
With his focus on breeding, every bird in Peter’s aviary has a pedigree with the information stretching back to the first breeding in 2003.
A good budgie has a combination of the varieties — the colours and markings — and confirmation — its shape and physical structure.
“I want a bird that looks like a fattish carrot — wide through the head and shoulder and with a bit of style to it and when you look at it side-on, it tapers down to its tail,” Peter said.
Budgie breeders don’t have the breeding tools available for dairy farmers, but that’s okay with Peter.
“We’ve got pedigrees and what we can see and a bit of knowledge of what a bird has bred for you before,” he said.
“It’s like what animal breeders did before artificial insemination. I see both sides of it and that’s part of the appeal for me. I understand how we have benefited from technology, but it’s nice to strip it away and go back to the basics and just test yourself as a breeder.”
A wild budgie is small and green with yellow and black wing marking and usually found in semi-arid areas.
“They are described as a live-fast, die-young species,” Peter said.
“The oldest I’ve got at the moment is six but budgies in a cage in a house will last up to 10 years.”
It’s not just about breeding, there’s a competitive side to it as well and Peter is very successful, becoming one of about 20 breeders in the Australian National Budgerigar Council Hall of Fame for Breeder Excellence. He’s also the Victorian branch president.
There’s an annual national competition to judge 28 different classes of budgies and local clubs host regular sales.
Every year, Peter sells about 100 birds, helping to fund his hobby.
At the moment, good budgies make about $700.
“They can sell for thousands if they have done well at a national show or they’re progeny of national winners,” Peter said.
“But you can buy plenty of good birds for $20 to $100 when you’re starting out and often club members will give birds for free to get someone started.”
Peter uses an existing shed for his aviary, but it doesn’t need to be elaborate, especially at the entry level.
Likewise, feeding can be simple or complex.
“It can be what you want to make it,” Peter said.
“I’ve made it easier with what I choose to feed them. I used to make fancy concoctions, but I’ve pruned it back to a wide range of seeds, no chopping up vegetables and adding potions.
“I want a system that’s going to work when I’m away and I’ve seen no difference in the quality of the birds since making the change.”
Budgie breeding has a lot in common with farming.
“It’s like farming on a smaller scale. There is the breeding side, the nutrition and feeding and the husbandry (including the odd vet bill) — just like any farm,” Peter said.
While enjoying his hobby and his small parcel of land, Peter would like to see younger people take up the interest.
A Budgies in the Bool event earlier this year in Warrnambool aimed to introduce new people to the hobby and Budgie Fest in South Australia gets hundreds of people through the doors.