money-making hobby

My penchant for anything cute and cuddly started when I was a young boy. I distinctly remember spending my free time going in and around Aranque and Cartimar areas just looking at various pet shops to update myself with the newest trends and fads of the time. I would often ask shop-keepers how much a particular bird or perhaps a dog or a kitten would cost eventhough in reality i didn't even have enough money for the trip back home. I would also ask fellow hobbyists flocking around these same areas how to maintain and keep various animals/ pets.I thought to myself the knowledge i woukd gain asking these experts would definitely help me out when i do get the opportunity to purchase a pet of my own or perhaps some good soul would be kind enough to give me one. This routine of mine for years lasted for years until finally i was able to purchase my very own pet- a pair of lovebirds! I named them Buddy, a male Normal Australian Green Pied variety and Japs, a female of the "Japanese pied" pastel variety. These 2 birds started what was to become my lifelong relationship with the feathered kind.

Having my very first pair of parakeets was indeed a lot of fun. I even had a to ask my older brother to help me out make a cage to accommodate them. In no time at all, Buddy and Japs produced their first clutch of 6 eggs but unfortunately not one hatched. We later found out we were using the wrong kind of nest box and so we made proper adjustments with the help of a neighbor who had more experience breeding lovebirds. Almost immediately, we found success in our efforts. in as short as two months, Buddy and Japs produced a brood of at least 10 birds and within a year, I was giving away pet birds to friends and from time to time sell them. The minimal income I earned from these birds eventually paid for the maintainance of my stock and sometimes some more to take care a portion of the ever-increasing school expenses as I was already in high school at this time. At this particular time in my life, I know I am already a hobbyist-businessman however it was not until a few more years after that I truly considered bird-keeping as a full-time business.

The year was 1999. I have been in and out of college for 5 years but still hasn't earned a degree. I was struggling for money and I didn't know what to do. Then an very good idea hit me. I decided to stop schooling one more time and concentrate on business. I decided to go on commercial breeding of lovebirds. It was timely since the pet industry during that time was booming. You can see petshops springing like mushrooms everywhere! I chose 8 of my best breeder pairs of parakeets as my base stock and infused new acquisitions to improve the bloodline. All-in-all, i had 24 pairs. With the help of my brothers we managed to create a decent aviary complete with 3 flight cages that can accommodate 150 heads each. We acquired 100 breeding cages from a reputable manufacturer who happened to be a fellow hobbyist as well. I said to myself, I'm in it for the bigtime! And true enough after a year, my initial stock of 24 pairs grew to about 300 breeding pairs, another 500 heads for grow-out and potential breeder selection. We were producing between 800-1000 heads a months which we supply to various pet shops within the metro and a few to fellow bird enthusiasts that visit our aviary, "The Bird Room" The coolest thing about this initial success was that I was finally able to send myself to school without even my parents knowing. I got my degree in 2002, ten years after graduating high school.

The moral of this story is simple. A simple hobby, if viewed from the right perspective and given the right opprtunity can give its practitioner more than just enjoyment. It may present a real chance for the enthusiast to earn and even make a full time business out of it. After all, earning and having fun should always go hand in hand shouldn't it? "Look for a job that you really like and you will never work a single day ever again" so the saying goes.