Birdkeeping Or Bird Farming?

Looking after our birds is much like a farmer tending to their livestock, writes not so old (Mac)Donald Skinner-reid

- Donald Skinner-Reid

There are two Facebook groups based in Italy dedicated to the Scots fancy. I was struck by a phrase used by several of the members of one group referring to themselves as “farmers”. It struck me as an odd way to describe our hobby.

Then I got thinking. My brother has a small farm in the Scottish Borders where he raises cows, sheep and keeps horses. And I realised that, actually, the Italian description of what we do in bird breeding is exactly that – farming.

My daily routine starts with softfood making and feeding the birds, checking on each cage and taking any action required to remedy problems. It might be a bird looking a bit out of sorts or something more serious, such as fighting, which needs a cage’s occupants to be separated. In other words, like any farmer, I see to the livestock first since they can’t see to themselves.