Record Keeping
In a colony system record keeping is neither practical or warranted. For those wishing to track parentage and pedigree information cage breeding is the only option.
When cage breeding budgerigars, record keeping is essential for several reasons. The first is to keep track of birds bred, so you can follow the lines back if for example a feature is lost. It also provides a check to ensure you do not breed too closely. It provides details about outcrosses you may have introduced in the past and most importantly it means you do not have to rely on your memory.
Breeders use many ways to keep track of their bird’s pedigrees; from nest box cards to an index system and even commercially bought computer programmes.