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yטרם תורגם
ולדוברי האנגלית שבינינו,
ניתן להצטרף לחוויה הלימודית בפורומים הבאים ביאהו:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ABBASEEDBIRDSQANDA/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/COM_USA/?yguid=47202339
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ColorbredCanaries101Genetics/?yguid=47202339
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EuropeanGoldFinch/?yguid=47202339
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GPA101911/?yguid=47202339
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/timbrado/?yguid=47202339
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NFSS/?yguid=47202339
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Meet Mr. Clean! Tiziano Bassoli, who also
lives in Coreggio Reggio Emilia. I have known Tiziano for a couple
decades. Prior to his retirement, he was operating together with a
couple partners three very profitable and successful meat and other food
retail establishments. They supplied meat and other food to restaurants,
hotels, etc. and to the public as well.
Tiziano has been breeding Carduelan
Finches for a very long time. About three years ago, he retired from the
meat/food business and now he dedicates himself totally to the breeding
and importing rare, exotic Finches, primarily from Mexico. Tiziano is a
very meticulous individual and he has a very highly coordinated breeding
establishment. You can notice from the photo on his photo album located
on the Abba web site @ www.abbaseed.com <http://www.abbaseed.com/> ,
click on Euro Photos then on Bassoli. You will see the neatness and
uniformity of his breeding cages. His bird rooms (a total of four
located at the 4th floor of his house) plus a quarantined room facility
located at a considerably distant location from his house and breeding
rooms, at the time of my visit were clean and spotless. You couldn't
even find a spec of dust on any cage or on the floor for that matter. I
have been visiting him for several years, at all times, his rooms were
always clean and neat. I didn't feel itchy and I didn't have to scratch
myself.
He breeds many varieties of Carduelan
Finches. This year I noticed Venezuelan Black hooded red Siskins, normal
and mutation, black Siskins, South American black head Siskins, also
black chested Siskins from Mexico, the American Goldfinches, plus many
other varieties of Carduelans. One species of bird that stood out in his
bird rooms was the Alario Finches from Africa. He breeds the Alario is
purity and cross bred with Canaries as well as other birds that in turn
produce fantastic and melodious singers. He breeds so many varieties of
Mules and other cross bred that every year at the Reggio Emilia
exhibition, he stands out triumphant in achieving high awards and
selling his high in demand surplus. In fact, every year within a couple
hours of the opening of the Reggio Emilia exhibition, Tiziano is
completely sold out of all his birds. His birds are demanding high
prices and bird fanciers pay for the quality without hesitation.
At the time of my visit, his breeding
season was almost in full swing. I refrained on my own will, not to take
pictures or close ups of the nests to avoid disturbing the birds. The
birds are located on the fourth floor, hundreds of steps up; this
discourages many visitors. Poor old me climbed the stairs twice on this
trip and I still feel pain in my legs. The environment of Tiziano's
breeding facility was dry, well ventilated, and well lit, naturally and
artificially.
An electronic timer controls the
artificial light. (I wish we could make the timers work here in the USA.
The European electricity is 220-50 cycle; the North America electricity
is 115-60 cycle). I have been asking the manufacturer of these timers to
make them to fit the North American electricity, but when you hear the
price of these gadgets, I don't think many American fanciers will pay
the price. Some of these units are selling for up to 200 Euros each
($270.00 US dollars each) anyone interested in them?
Meet another Mr. Clean! Lauro Bonacini
also lives in Coreggio, Reggio Emilia. He breeds Razza Espagnola, (I
don't think that Razza Espagnola is widely bred in the USA?).
Personally, I have been wishing to get a hold of at least a couple pairs
of Razza Espagnola that are plentifully available everywhere in Europe.
This cute little Canary can be purchased at a very reasonable price at
the Reggio Emilia exhibition, also from any breeder or bird shop. This
breed of Canary is an aggressive feeder of any youngster, including the
Carduelan. In fact, most of the Carduelan breeders that I visited own
several pairs of Razza Espagnola to foster the rare species of
Carduelans. I've bred and I've seen most of the known Canaries, but I've
never seen any type of Canaries so prolific and so reliable.
As you can see from the photo album on
the Abba web site @ www.abbaseed.com <http://www.abbaseed.com/> , of
Lauro's breeding room, which is very small in size and he has well
coordinated breeding cages. At the time of my visit, he had youngsters
everywhere, nests full of 4, 5, even 6 youngsters well fed, well
nourished, growing healthy. The youngsters were so well fed that he held
the nest of 4 or 5 youngsters fully feathered in his hand, I took a
photo with a flash and the birds did not even move. It was a pleasure to
look at such a breeding success. Look at every nest, the pattern is
always the same. Also, look at the photo of his flight cage full of
youngsters. If I remember correctly, Lauro, at the time of my visit,
mentioned that he had over 400 youngsters out of just a few pairs!
The Razza Espagnola is also a cheerful
and melodious singer. They are alert, active, and love to sing. In fact,
I extended my visit at Lauro's place just to hear and enjoy the Razza
Espagnola's melodious song.
A good environment, sensible management,
careful administration of genuine food coupled with Lauro's tender love
and care, the result was obvious. In the photo, Lauro is on the left
side in the green shirt and Tiziano (my guide) is on the right side. I
may add that Lauro, as well as Tiziano, do not feed garbage to their
birds, only genuine, well made, fresh food and a well balanced seed
diet. Fresh cuttlebone plus a cup full of mineral grit was visible in
every cage. Do anyone of you in the USA breed the Razza Espagnola? I
would be interested in purchasing a pair or two and I will travel
anywhere in the USA to get them.
Overnight, in this area of the Garden
State, we experienced a considerable amount of badly needed rain.
Hopefully the wild greens will flare up again. The chickweed, the
dandelions and other wild greens because of the dry conditions simply
disappeared. Thank God for my garden where I have growing escarole,
chicory, cultivated dandelions, boragina, lettuce, kale, broccoli rabe,
and other greens that I have a constant supply of fresh, organically
grown greens for all our birds.
I have been picking lots of grasses in
the seeding stages such as rye and fescue. All the Gouldians,
Carduelans, and the Canaries are enjoying the feast practically every
day. It is fun looking at the Gouldians and Carduelans picking every
little seed of the rye and fescue grasses. I had a couple fields where I
used to pick these grasses, but unfortunately the city made the owner
cut the field down. Now I have to endanger myself in areas along side
the road. The other day while I was cutting greens on the side of the
Garden State Parkway, a trooper approached me and asked what I was
doing. I told him I was picking grass for my birds. For that reason, he
stayed behind my SUV and allowed me to pick lots more than that and
promised he would come and visit me one day. That was great!
By talking to various people in many
parts of North America, in some areas the city water has been believed
to cause mortality among youngsters as well as adult birds. As for
myself, I have been filling a 5 gallon jug with very hot water, letting
it evaporate for a couple days, then to each gallon of drinking or
bathing water, we put 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. Hopefully,
this will eliminate some of the impurity in the city water that some
days taste simply terrible. I suggest to check the water and see that it
will not harm your birds.
At this time, hopefully my man will
complete the project of installing a filtration system that will remove
all the impurities from the city water. That is going to be a very
expensive project between the labor and the material.
Mankind, for years, has been abusing the
environment. Too much garbage and dangerous chemicals are polluting our
water system. I remember over 50 years ago, I was able to drink from
many streams and rivers without getting a bellyache. Today, I am afraid
to wash my hands in the streams and rivers.
If you are not a member of the following
groups, please join and be part of the learning experience.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ABBASEEDBIRDSQANDA/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/COM_USA/?yguid=47202339
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ColorbredCanaries101Genetics/?yguid=472023\
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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EuropeanGoldFinch/?yguid=47202339
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GPA101911/?yguid=47202339
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NFSS/?yguid=47202339
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/timbrado/?yguid=47202339
Best regards to all,
G.A. Abbate
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