DE WATERSLAGER: OPKOOIEN (CAGING UP THE WATERSLAGER)
By
Frank Garrit
(Posted on BirdWeb, a Dutch website)
Translated by Alta Vista’s Bablefish and re-edited by Sebastian Vallelunga

Re-edited slightly to pull most important content for web posting by Darrell Horst

The course of time still brings questions asked concerning the “caging up” period and the effect this has on the song of song birds. What I wish to pass on are those possibilities which lead to the result in which the birds sing during a song contest or song demonstration. There is nothing more miserable than to find an "NG" (the abbreviation for the Dutch term “no song”—SV) on a score sheet or that a breeder sits during the important contest day with sweaty hands because his birds do not wish to sing.

THE DATE FOR CAGING UP
There are no fixed rules; nearly all handbooks state that it must be approximately mid-October. That is, however, no law. For myself, I always leave the birds free in their aviary or flight cage late; generally until around November 1st. The caging up must strictly coincide with the date of your first contest. To produce steady singing birds, you’ll need approximately a minimum of four weeks. But....... a bird must also have achieved a certain age to be able to bring forth its complete song. We forget this sometimes and attempt to cage up a bird the moment the bird starts practicing its song. To be able to bring out that song in all its facets—and there is quite a bit of scientific research on this—it is necessary for a bird to have a full year. At first my birds remain in the same series of flight cages in which they are also born, beside the flights in which sit their female siblings. Preferably I put brothers beside each other. They are within hearing range of each other. Annually, I raise about 40 young waterslager males. They are kept without dividers between them and only a small distance from each other. The caging up is a complete and major intervention in the bird’s upbringing, and it is significant that they should be allowed to undergo this experience jointly by allowing them to see each other. In this case, they will frequently sing already after one or two days. Afterwards they will be housed in song cages within cupboards or song cabinets or boxes, without solid dividers and possibly with brothers and half-brothers beside each other.

TO SET UP
The birds are placed by me into their classroom, but it is not yet darkened. On the same day that they have been placed in the house they also for the first time "are setup". I use plywood of about 150 cm length and the breadth of a song cage—say about 20 cm—to form shelves and I put a group of seven cages next to each shelf. You can set up 21 cages this way! One shelf on top of the other. The birds do not see each other therefore. They are placed under artificial light, but the chamber does not really need to be darkened. Heavy curtains on the windows are sufficient. I sit myself there, at the most a meter away, in a chair with a notebook, books, and a newspaper. With red ochre the ring number is written on the side of the cage and also a "BATTERY" or group number (i.e.: each bird within each group is additionally numbered 1 to 7). I record the cage number of which bird sings: two, three, etc… Each day they are stacked in the same way on the table. Always - by battery - note the number of the singing birds on my song list. A number of them frequently sing on the first day and that number increases each day. In the cupboard or song case they are still kept WITHOUT dividers between them and NO darkening. However, always put the same birds beside each other in the cupboard. That prevents mutual fooling around. Whether they have sung or not, they are placed on the board for 10 minutes. After putting them back in the cupboard, the REWARD comes with a bit of egg or niger seed (a few grains). It is possible to change the pace with a few peeled oats also.

CONTEST TRAINING
On the song list you have, meanwhile, made records concerning the most frequent, second most frequent, etc. singer in each group. The next step are the most lusty or enthusiastic singers (that is, mostly the number 1 most frequent singers in each group) come to be placed with each other in a team, and so on down the line. Furthermore, I pay strong attention to the family relationships of these birds. As from that moment, these birds are placed in the cupboard beside each other (or within the same song cabinet or box), which although the birds are not entirely unknown to each other, is nevertheless somewhat strange for them. The inclination is for them to fly at or attack each other, and as from that moment I use dividers. The bird is, thus, more in confinement, is also without the diversion of a neighbor to squabble with, and has more quiet study opportunities.

DARKENING
A day is, for me, between 8.00 A.M. and 5.00 P.M. In the evening hours I do nothing with the birds. This is of course problematic for many people. Still, you must restrict the day length to a maximum number of 9 hours. That only succeeds when you adapt the birds beforehand to 9 hours per day. This is the moment when the cupboard will begin to be darkened. At first, this is done in the morning hours for an hour or two or three. This is done during the morning on some days while the same is done in the afternoon of other days. For darkening I use a wool curtain. Behind that curtain the birds do not sit in complete darkness. It is slightly permeable. The birds behind the curtain must sing CONTINUOUSLY. This darkening starts about FOURTEEN days before the contest day. The use of additional darkening material is recommended.. I have made a couple of blades of plywood which fit exactly between the shelves in the cupboard. The length of such a blade is the same length of the shelves. In these blades sits a groove for each divider. At contests the birds are frequently held in a cabinet which is closed this way. In this way it is appropriate to gradually get the birds used to changes in the daily pattern. DAYLIGHT LENGTH is important. To give the birds too much light and especially too LONG a light period brings them into BREEDING CONDITION; as a result they will sing HARDER and especially MORE SHRILLY. Watch the hours of daylight especially well. For me morning begins at eight o'clock in the chamber with a half hour of full light. I feed them then and refresh the drinking water. The rest of the day moves along for them with the light intensity set to the twilight level. Too long days make the birds SLOW to sing. The same applies to TOO LONG A PERIOD WHEN THE LIGHTS ARE TURNED OFF. By the 10-minute training method you get birds which DURING staging will already sing. As soon as they come to the judge’s table, they will already sing in the first minutes and earn themselves the reputation of being "easy singers”. (Although the author doesn’t mention it, in order to set the birds’ internal clocks to a 9 hour day, a second period of full light corresponding to the one in the morning should be necessary; it should end at 5:00 P.M.--SV)

STAGING
From that moment in the training the birds are placed on the table by teams of 4 (possibly with a fifth as a reserve). They are staged on the table for no longer then 10 MINUTES (the setting up and putting away time is not counted in!). I put the bird which always starts singing first in the lowest cage. Undoubtedly, you will discover differences between the birds. Try as much as possible to place near each other THOSE birds, which can bring forth a frequent and identical song. This is especially important in the team classes. Eventually you will reap rewards for this in the form of the granting of points for team harmony. Correctly placing the birds in teams can earn that ONE point more which can allow you to become the breeder of the champions in the team class. Thus, a breeder should make the occasion to stage and listen to his birds several times per day. Do that then. If at all possible do try not to put them out for irregular time periods—during ten minutes by the clock—the cabinets to be opened or fully stage them on a table. Missing a day of staging is also not awful, but try to prevent it.

LISTENING
The birds should be placed a meter from you, at the most, from the beginning. You should continue to behave normally. Read the newspaper or a book. You should keep notepaper at hand. Do especially ordinary things. Should several persons be allowed nearby....? Gladly! Birds get used to movement and also unexpected movements and CONTINUE singing. A judge does not sit absolutely quiet. TIP: during meal times place your plate right on the table while the birds are singing (at least if there is space); this remains a very effective method of training. Keep the staging time period, however, in hand.

ARTIFICIAL LIGHT
Listening must happen, however, in artificial light. Curtains on the classroom should therefore be heavy. One or more lamps should be lit at the beginning of staging. Listen to the birds as quietly as possible in the same space where they are being kept. Some breeders keep their birds in their breeding room. They must obtain them from there for listening. They should also be brought into the house to be listened to and be placed into the song cabinets or boxes in which they will go to the contest. All this is so that the birds will get used to these conditions. For them to a go to a contest calmly, familiarization is necessary. Once put into such traveling containers, they learn that the time in such strange surroundings for them means to "wait" for the staging which will follow. Use those boxes also to go around town with the birds. The traveling box should be put down none to gently and if it gets bumped against so much the better. All of this can possibly happen when going to.... and during a contest. Giving your birds these experiences may prevent an "NG" due to their not being correctly prepared for this component of every contest.

REWARDS
Each animal is happy with a reward. A bird also, but...... is a pat on the shoulder appropriate? Of course not. After staging—whether they have sung or not makes no difference.... The birds should be rewarded by you with scrap of egg.... Stimulating? ...perhaps. It works, however, and the impact of: "the glad expectancy of what it desires" incites the bird to several songs. It really works!

VISIT THE NEIGHBORS
You should visit the neighbors with your birds: go to a colleague or a fellow breeder or a neighbor man who shows interest in the sport. A change of surroundings during staging is necessary to get the birds used to other locations, situations, and temperatures and fills them with confidence. At home you can listen to them in other spaces in the house. At that visit to the neighbor’s or that change of space at home, it is best talk some and also to move. There, other sounds also which belong to a contest room may be used... a pen which falls on the ground, a rustling newspaper, a cup that is put down hard onto the saucer. All this promotes STEADY birds!

RESULTS
Birds which start singing directly during a contest have a connection with the judge, especially when they start possibly all at once and continually sing; he then has his hands full to get all the points on paper and frequently this will earn you then an even higher appreciation for your birds, which never break throughout their performance. There is on the judge’s part no kindness toward birds which, when listened to during the half hour, sing only broken up songs that give the judge only a little bit here and there. And, eventually, the points for your easy singers will add up, therefore, to a good end appraisal on the score sheet. It’s this result that counts and it will follow THAT YOUR BIRDS WILL SUCCEED BEYOND THOSE OF YOUR COLLEAGUES! Many breeders do not participate in only one contest but take part in several. When placed in another contest, the birds have frequently had many more hours of work and have gotten more used to such situations. However, one should also give the birds, for this reason, one day’s rest after each contest. Open the curtains a couple of times for about 10 minutes under artificial light. Provide clean drinking water the first time and at the second time extra rewards (the egg treat).

CONTESTS
Taking part in contests brings with it, however, some problems. That is the surroundings, light level reduction, upheaval, feeding, temperature can all vary. Let’s talk concerning a couple of these matters. Birds sing more rapidly when they are taken from fresher (colder) surroundings and come into a warmer area. They not only improve their stance and are tighter in their feathers, but it also stimulates the song desire. Hence the rule: the holding room must have a lower temperature than listening/judging room. Feeding: use seed in which there is NO HEMP. Hemp is a delicacy which is peeled laboriously only. You are unfortunately dead when you come to a contest where the birds are just inspected on the second or third day after introducing them to the holding room. You can sometimes meet a contest feed attendant/caregiver who is not well EXPERIENCED who provides seed approved and intended for color birds (with hemp); at that point you will see all you have done concerning song training shaken. Your birds will continue searching for and hulling hemp! It has sometimes happened to me that I have found considerable layers of hemp hulls in the cages at a contest.

ALL YOUR TRAINING FOR NOTHING?
Not really, because eventually you yourself will develop the knack for knowing what your birds are worth and how good your results will be. Training and contests are only one PART of your hobby: loving birds in every respect!
Frank Garrit