They then cancel another week, assuming the first egg will be laid in that time. All this, makes for a final decision, that the day they pair up has therefore to be on the last day of November, or the first day in December. That date firmly fixed, and bear in mind the object of this exercise is to have one's chicks ready for the early shows. They must be as advanced and as big as possible - bigger than everyone else's, of course, so then off we go, full of enthusiasm, pairing the best ones up first. For those abroad who are not aware of our average weather pattern here, let me tell you that in January and February and occasionally March, we tend to have our coldest period.
Low temperatures are for brief periods, down to zero at night, sometimes sub zero.
From March onwards, we approach our Springtime, when the indigenous bird population is breeding. June until August tends to be our Summer, if we are lucky, and from then onwards, when our major shows take place, we go through our Autumn until the last important show events occur in late November and early December. Breeders will now appreciate why it is virtually impossible to purchase good stock between December and May - everyone is breeding. All this early breeding, can, and does come unstuck, and indeed there are some breeders in the U.K. who are now disregarding showing their birds at the B.S. Club Show World Championships, because they are so keen to commence. This is partly due to the condition of the studs in early November, when they tend to be at peak.