FEATURE
work and when in 1981 I stumbled on Gloster canaries I couldn’t believe what I saw – a bird with a crest. Amazing! I thought “just a few birds” in the
garden, great! How many fanciers could tell a similar tale, quite a few. Breed a few birds, gain a few friends
and then the question is “are they any good?” So much for a few birds in the garden- before you know you are hooked. As the name suggests a Specialist
society caters for one variety and on joining, if over the age of 16, you will become a Novice Exhibitor, able to exhibit in competition against other novice exhibitors for 5 years, after 5 years you will automatically become a Champion Exhibitor, competing against fanciers who may have 30 plus years behind them.
I had joined the
IGBA (International Gloster Breeders Association) in 1981 so my “novice clock” was running. In those days the novice period for Gloster fanciers was 5 years; as it still is for most other varieties, however a
BIRD SCENE 09
few years ago the novice period for Glosters was extended to 7 years; the competition in Glosters is very strong so novices have been given 2 extra years to prepare to compete against established Champions. I often compare keeping a stud of birds to managing a football team- the move from Novice to Champion is like joining the Premiership! This is where my comment regarding
aims and ambitions become relevant and each fancier can only answer these questions for themselves:- a) Why do I want to keep birds? b) Do I want to exhibit my birds? c) Would I like to judge in the future? d) What level of commitment and contribution am I prepared to make? e) And finally How Much TIME, SPACE and MONEY do I have available?
The answers to these questions will vary from person to person
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