I've always wanted to write this somewhere, and here seems rather appropriate

Even a journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step!  Well you've already taken the first step in that you either have or are seriously considering getting a budgie.  We will assume that you are thinking of starting, and therefore, at present have none.

Age

The first thing that must be addressed is how long does a budgie live?  I would like to be able to write a simple X amount of years type answer, but things aren't that straight forward.    There's a few points to be considered here...

Everything aside the average for outdoor aviary birds is about 6-7 years, whilst those inside about 10 years.  The reasons behind this are many and mostly speculative so I won't waste your time going into them, a search on the internet would probably turn up a few answers if you're interested.  The next time I find a relevant bit on a site I'll add a link.  Without belabouring the point too much, please keep in mind that a budgie does have a life span of years!

Buying a bird...

Always look for bright eyed birds that seem full of life.  Do not look at birds that seem to hide at the back of the cage, appear sleepy or dull witted, and especially avoid a bird that appears to fluffed up almost ball shaped.  If you can view the bird close up, the eyes should be clear, as should be the cere (the coloured bit just above the beak).  Feathering should make the bird look relatively sleek and the vent should be clean, if the feathers are matted with droppings round the vent do not buy this bird.

Handling

If you're not familiar with the handling of budgies you should study this picture carefully.  If you hold a bird in this fashion the bird cannot harm itself or bite you!  The wings will be pinned firmly to the birds body, by keeping the birds head firmly between the index and middle finger the bird will be unable to turn its head enough in any direction to bite you (once this has happened a few times you will be keen enough to perfect your grip).  If you put your little finger and thumb in the right position the bird will grasp these with its feet, this seems to have a calming influence on the bird, so I would therefore recommend you do it.

Even when your bird is hand tame there will be times when you may well need to hold your bird like this, for clipping toe nails and beak for example.

Pet Birds

If its a pet bird that you're thinking of then there are a couple of places that you can purchase a bird.  Pet shops are a usual source for breeders to get rid of excess stock, and in view of the fact that pet shops will usually only buy young birds (bar heads)  you can be quite confident that the bird you buy will be a young bird, but they are quite expensive, you can expect to pay about £15, sometimes more.  The alternative is to contact a breeder, ads can usually be found in local papers. The draw back to this method, especially if you're inexperienced, you have to trust that the breeder is selling you a young bird.  I've never had a bad experience buying from breeders so perhaps my distrust is misplaced.  If you read my piece on Breeding there's a bit there that will help you identify a bar head, this is especially important with regards to pet birds, if you buy an adult bird the chances of ever taming it are virtually nil - its not impossible but it would require A LOT of time and effort.

If you're going to be out of the house quite a lot, it would be a good idea to get 2 birds, budgies are sociable birds who live in huge colonies in the wild, they are not solitary by nature.  The drawback to this is if you want your bird to speak, if you have 2 they will not be so responsive to your efforts.

Another useful tip for when your bird is alone, leave a radio on, the talking and music will occupy it to a certain extent.

Birds are rated by breeders on a sort of show related basis.  For a small pet bird a fair price to pay would be in the region of £5, definitely no more than £10. 

Pet Cages

This type of cage is so common, so readily available, and there is so many different kinds, where do you start? 

There are a few things to keep in mind with regards to budgies...

Quite a few of the so called budgie cages available in pet shops are more suited to other birds such as canaries or finches.  So I would recommend you have a clear picture of what you want before going out to buy one

Basically...THE BIGGER THE BETTER !

Where to put the cage?

There are a few don'ts that come into play here, but they are simple

To summarise- somewhere not draughty with a constant temperature.

The ideal room would be the living room, as this is where people are likely to be, and the more human contact the better.  Kitchens should be avoided unless you are happy to remove the bird whilst you are cooking.  Bedrooms are fine but not really suitable on a social scale as you're likely to be the only person in there.

Pet Accessories

There are so many things you can buy these days to entertain a budgie, and to be perfectly honest with you most of them are little better than decorations that make the cage look attractive.  For instance, have you ever seen a budgie actually walk up one of those little plastic ladders?  No neither have I !  So therefore why waste your money buying one?  I personally would recommend either shiny bell type toys, swings, ropes and mirrors.  You don't need a great heap of toys in the cage, your bird will probably pick its favourite, quite often a mirror, and spent hours chatting to himself.  In the case of little bells they tend to mimic the sound.   Don't clutter the cage.  If you can have two sets of toys and work them on a rotor, when you clean the cage change the toys.  Think of the cage as the budgies living room, then compare it to your living room, why do you move the furniture round every now and then for no apparent reason?  Why do you repaint the walls a different colour? As well as this you could move the birds cage to a different position in the room. 

Some but very few budgies ever use those clip on bird baths, so again save your money and buy one of those spray things you get for plants.  Spray your bird every morning, I guarantee it will love it!  Spraying only in the morning is important, this will allow the bird to dry out thoroughly before night, a wet bird at night has a very good chance of getting a chill, that could eventually have very fatal consequences - death!

Aviary Birds

The most important thing to mention here is the transition of moving birds from inside to out.  The time of year is very important as birds will have to acclimatise before winter sets in, and this takes a while.  This of course depends on the weather conditions in the region that you live, I live in NE Scotland so my advise would be applicable to most of UK.  From April to October, and that is earliest to latest.  By April the worst of the frost and late snow should be past, and October should be sufficiently ahead of early frosts.

Another important thing to remember - and applies to all birds new to an aviary - release them inside the shed where the food and water are, it might take them a few days to venture out but the alternative could be death by starvation!  I once had a cockatiel that I kept with my budgies, I released it straight into the outside flight, and it nearly did starve.  Fortunately I noticed, captured the bird a put it inside, after gorging itself and having an afternoon kip it went back outside.  After that it came and went without incident.

Is it going to be an Ornamental Aviary? or a Practical Aviary where you stock can get some exercise and enjoy the elements?

If its an ornamental addition to the garden I would again recommend the smaller type birds, with a preference going to cock birds.  Cock birds being more amicable and not quite as destructive.

Buying To Breed

If you are buying with the intention of breeding I would recommend you stay with blue and white birds, this is based on selling excess stock.  For some reason green birds aren't very popular and pet shops are reluctant to buy them.  So if you do breed greens or greys you could be stuck with a lot of birds you don't want.

If you're buying for breeding do not be tempted by cheap birds over the age of 2 until you're more experienced.

If your experience is limited, here's a very useful piece of information, start with smaller pet type birds, firstly the clutches from these types of birds are usually larger.  Secondly, you will experience fewer problems as smaller type birds are more eager to breed.

For a reasonable beginner breeding bird I would set the limit at £20.  It is not unknown for new birds to die not long after coming home for no apparent reason, so until you've experienced all the ups and downs, don't throw your money away.

Aviaries

Outside flights

The minimum size for an outside flight would be about 6` (1.8m) long by 3` (0.9m) wide.  Height isn't really an issue but high enough for you to walk through would be common sense so for the record we'll say 6` (1.8m) high.  A 2" x 2" (50x50mm) frame is sufficient with ½" x ½" (12 x 12mm) 19g wire mesh, I have seen quite a few flights covered with ½" x 1" (12 x 25mm) mesh, in my opinion it is a bit flimsy, but it is cheaper.  Most aviaries are built with a limited budget, so if your pocket will only stretch to the cheaper wire then don't let that stop you.

Outside lights are important if your birds might be out a night.  Cats and other things might disturb the birds at night could well result in finding your favourite with a broken neck the following morning.

I intend to add another flight to this end of the shed either this year or next.

These are a couple of pictures of "My Budgie Shed" and outside flight.  the shed measures 18` x 10`, the flight is about 8` x 10` and about 7` high.  Although you can't see it very well the safety porch covers both shed and flight door.

This shed has flights attached to both ends.  The main flight (above) and two smaller flights at the other end (left).  The shed is a standard 8` x 6` garden shed.  These type of sheds are readily available, and are ideal for this purpose. 

Positioning perches in the corner of the flight allows maximum flight space.

If you intend to let your birds have a free run, in other words you're not going to shut them in a night I would recommend covering the top of the flight.  The minus to this is it keeps the rain off the birds during the day.  The plus is that they don't get wet at night, I've lost several birds due to this and fully intend this year to cover the top of my flight, also risk of catching diseases from wild birds will be further reduced.

Perches in the outside flight should be spaced to allow maximum flight area, and - see Perches - of varying thicknesses.

Sheds & Inside Flights

It doesn't matter what size of shed you start with - eventually it won't be big enough !

I thought mine would do for life when I planned it, now I wish it was twice the size.

Inside your shed you will need an inside flight, for your birds to feed and roost in and some cages for breeding and housing stock that for one reason or another you want to separate.  If you intend to colony breed you will only need stock cages.  At present I only have 9 cages - 7 breeding cages & 2 stock cages.

Do not feed your birds in the outside flight, this will only serve to attract vermin !

You will also want as much floor space as possible, you will have visitors for a variety of reasons.  I have been in bird rooms where everything is crammed in, and you can hardly move, its not a nice experience.

I have 2 inside flights, the first (above left) measures 10` in length and is 3` wide.  At present all of my birds are housed here.  There is a hole through the wall allowing access to the outside flight.  The second (above right) measures 6` in length and again 3` wide.  At present I have 4 canaries and 8 zebra finches in there, a new venture.  This flight will eventually house my cock budgies, with access to a 10` x 6` flight that I'm hoping to build this year.

Lighting is imperative!  You will need 2 lights, a main light, this could be one 100 watt bulb or more depending on the size of your shed.  I have two double 5` fluorescent tube lights, and a night light.  I use a single 12 watt bulb for this.  If your birds get disturbed at night you will have casualties if they are in darkness.  There are other reasons that I will cover else where on this site.

You will also need space to store your seed, plastic bins are ideal for this.  If you look at the picture on the left above you will see I have 5 seed bins stored below my cages.  Also somewhere to store utensils, such as seed dishes and drinkers, and other useful junk that I guarantee you will acquire.  Carrying cages are another.  So you see if you can fit one in a cupboard would be a good idea.

One of the best things I ever did in my shed was to fit a sink with running water - I only have cold, I never got round to buying a water heater.  Several people have told me its a waste of space and I could have had more breeding cages, but its a decision I have never regretted!  For replenishing water and washing dishes its unbeatable.  If I ever move and build another shed it will definitely have a sink with running water.

An extractor fan is a good idea, especially if its attached to a timer switch.  I  also have a fan that I use in the summer months. 

A sink that was being thrown out and cheap units from B&Q.  The junk is optional...

Ionisers are optional there's arguments for and against...

I'll let you make up your own mind on this account, but I do have one in my shed.  If anyone can provide any information on this I would like to hear it.

How many budgies?

The easiest way to work out how many budgies you can have is to work on the basis that every budgie requires 9".  In my inside flight I have 8 perches each measuring 36" (3`) so therefore...

...in my flight I can comfortably house at least 32 budgies.  I actually usually have about 40.  This is only a guide, but it does give you a rough idea.  If I wanted say 60 birds I would have to introduce more perches to accommodate them.  Note:  outside flights are not included in these calculations.

Heating

I do not have any heating in my shed as I don't think its necessary, as often as not heating is more for the comfort of the person than of any real benefit to the birds.  In my opinion a warm shed just causes problems for birds going outside during the colder months.  My shed is fully insulated with 100mm (4") glass wool.  That's walls, floor and ceiling. 

Breeding / Stock Cages

In my opinion breeding cages can never be big enough!  A pair of budgies will be in this cage for about 3 months!  Seems a long time doesn't it ?  I'll cover the details in my breeding bit, for now though you'll just have to take my word for it.

As I said before (somewhere?) I have 7 breeding cages, they are all 40" (just over a metre) long, 17"-18" high and 17" deep.  .  Each cage has 3 perches  and a short perch for allowing access to the hole through which they can get to the external next box. I have 2 stock cages, these cages are not equipped to have a nest box attached so I always have a cage spare if needed. To convert my breeding cages to stock cages I simply plug up the hole.  I did originally intend my breeding cages to be 48" long and made from plastic coated chip board (conti-board), but at the time I couldn't afford it.  Then a friend gave me a heap of ¾" (18mm) plywood, how could I refuse?

None of my cages have pull out cleaning trays, I did consider this when I built them but decided against it.  A regular hovering is fine, the birds become accustomed to the noise.

The insides are painted with emulsion every year with whatever (white-ish coloured) old paint I have laying about, or can pick up on sale somewhere.

Some breeders use cages as small as 24" (600mm) long, this size is (in my opinion anyway) far too small and confining.  From my own observations I have noticed that breeders using smaller cages tend to have more problems and poorer results.  For a stock cage, so long as it is only short term, then great.   

Although I've never used them I like the idea of all wire cages, firstly all the mess falls through and can be easily collected and removed, secondly it allows the birds to see each other, and considering the colony nature of budgies I think this is a good thing.  I would like to extend an invitation to those with experience in wire cages (if you haven't got bored and gone away yet) to write a few words on them and send it to me.

Materials

My first choice for making a budgie cage would have to be plastic coated chipboard.  It comes pre-finished (in a variety of colours) so there's no need to waste valuable time with a paintbrush.  Its very easy to clean.  And very hard for the birds to damage in anyway, unless of course it gets wet and swells to twice its size. 

MDF (medium density fibre board) is also very good.  It has a good hard wearing surface, and takes paint well.  It is, however, not very resilient to water, so great care must be taken to seal all edges.  I would rate MDF above chipboard mainly because it has a far smoother surface.  Sterling board, can be used for sides (not really recommended though) although because if its flaky surface there's a good chance your budgie will have hours of fun making holes, this problem can be partially alleviated with about 3 good coats of varnish.  If you do decide to use any of this type of material I recommend that all joints are screwed as opposed to nailed, pilot holes are drilled to reduce the chance of splitting, and use plenty of glue.  And don't use material thinner than ½" (12mm) unless you want to make a sub-frame that your budgies will probably destroy.

Plywood is a good material for cages, it is hard wearing but unless you're being really posh and buying veneer plywood it will probably need a fair bit of sanding.  Again I would recommend glue and screws.

Perches

There's more to perches than a couple of twigs jammed into the cage.

Firstly perches should be at least ½" (12.5mm) in diameter minimum, ⅝" (15mm) is better.  Square, round or rectangular isn't important.  But they need to be fixed or wedged for stability, a perch that spins, wobbles or just generally moves when the bird is on, or more like tries to get on is useless.  No two perches should have the same diameter, your second and third perches should be bigger.  This will keep the birds feet supple, as they have to flex in order to grip the different sized perches.

If you decide to go with real tree branches, ensure that the tree they are taken from is not poisonous to budgies (at this time I don't have a list) as the will eventually chew it.  If you can get, then I would highly recommend Willow branches, I've never tried them (there's no willow trees round here) but apparently they are the best.

Perches should be positioned to allow the bird - or birds - to turn freely, not too high, not too close to the sides, and not too close to the floor.  If you are going to keep more than one budgie in a cage, try to position the perches so that one of the birds can't chew the tail feathers of its cage mate.

Feeders & Drinkers

This is a rather broad subject, whatever I do it will either be too much or not enough.  I'll just scribble away and we'll see what happens...

Drinkers

Here's one thing I don't have to write much about. 

There are three options as far as drinkers go...

1.    Pictured left, the standard, readily available drinker.  The one is the picture is the sort that just fit onto the bars.  the other type use the clip that you can see above the drinker in the photo.  The also come in a huge variety of colours, but for some reason budgies prefer white drinkers.  It is important to change the water daily as some husks and other debris that gets stuck to the birds beak gets into the drinker, thus contaminating the water.

Gravity feeders (below right) are very similar to drinkers.

2.    The dish on the floor of the cage (note the clay dish in the photo below) or a D-cup (also in the picture below) hanging on the side of the cage.  Not highly recommended because the water can get dirtied too easily.  Unless of course you want to take the time and effort to change it every time the bird flaps its wings ?  Didn't think so!

3.    Lastly the type of drinkers or water bottles you usually associate with rabbits and hamsters (will get a picture soon).  I have no experience if these, but I have seen them being used.  From what I gather they are actually the best type to use as the water cannot become contaminated.  How you go about getting the birds to use them I don't know, I might try it, if I do I'll let you know.

Dishes

As you can see there's quite a few different kinds of dishes that can be used, about the only thing that I didn't get in this picture was your standard run of the mill saucer.  Whatever you decide to use make sure they are easily cleaned, that is why glass, plastic and ceramic dishes are so popular.

The gravity feeder (on the right) is a rather simple thing, simply buy one and find a jar that will fit onto it.  If the cage is big enough they are ideal for seed, grit and water.

The glass ash trays I use for soft food and other moist foods such as grated carrot or broccoli.

Cuttlefish Holders

Very simple plastic holders that will fasten a cuttlefish to the side of the cage and prevent it getting dirty and soiled on the floor of the cage.  Alternatively you can use a piece of wire, I managed like this for a few years.

Feeding In The Flight

There are a few options here...

Firstly, what I use Gutter Feeders, pictured here.  A piece of guttering about 18" long, with a wooden block cut to shape in each end as a stopper.  A couple of plastic gutter brackets screwed to the wall and you're away.  They're cheap to make, easy to clean and very durable.  The feeders in the picture are about 3 years old and still going strong.

Seed dishes on the ground of a flight are a common sight, and can be used for years without incident, however there is an element of danger here, especially in any bird that gains weight and becomes heavy (quite common in hens).  There is a chance of a bad landing that could result in a broken leg or two.  Not worth the risk in my opinion.

Finally you have seed hoppers (yet another thing I will have to try and find a picture of).  Seed hoppers are very useful if your time is limited, they allow you to put out vast quantities of seed at a time, thus considerably speeding up your nightly visit.  The draw back to them, and I experienced this personally (I used hoppers for about a year and a half), is that every now and then you get a bird that will take great pleasure in raking out all of the seed.  That's not much fun for you as you may well have a few quid's worth of seed on the floor, that once full of husks and covered with droppings is useless!  The theory of a seed hopper is very similar to a drinker or gravity feeder, just on a bigger scale.