Koos Jacobs has always been a bird man, but when he lost both legs and his left arm in a horror accident, birds became his therapy. He now keeps 199 colourful budgies at his Gonubie home.
Jacobs life changed forever in 2001 when his body was shocked by 22000 volts during an Eskom repair job while the electricity supply was on.
“I was up on a 10m pole and the electricity entered under my left arm and exited through my toes and left me hanging unconscious from the safety harness.
“Both legs below my knees were like charcoal. My rescuers thought I was dead.”
But Jacobs, 47, survived the tragedy and while in hospital he heard about a woman selling fowls.
“I grew up with chickens and my dad kept ringnecks and canaries so I have always loved birds,” said Jacobs, who still works for Eskom, albeit in an office-based capacity.
His interest in fowls and later finches took a backseat when he discovered the beauty of budgerigars, which nibble his fingers when handled and whose energetic chirping is almost deafening.
“There are so many colours – about 29 or 30 of them. There are different greens and yellows and blues, so you get a cinnamon green and a green spangle and in blues there is the cobalt and violet.
“They all have different personalities, just like human beings,” said Jacobs, who has converted much of his backyard into spacious aviaries and installed ramped cement pathways to facilitate his wheelchair which he maneouvres expertly with his remaining arm.
He uses 100kg of mixed bird seed per month to feed the twittering creatures.
The build is a work in progress and he is being helped by his father Koos Jacobs Snr, 73, who has kept many bird species in his time.
Their interest in budgies is also shared by Jacobs Jnr’s son Ruan, who owns 25 budgies and likes to show them at East London Budgerigar Society mini-shows which are held as fundraisers and to encourage interest in the birds.
Together they ensure each bird is ringed, each one registered to the Budgerigar Society of South Africa with each breeders’ special code.
“The rings are a different colour depending on the year the birds are born. This year the rings are red.”
One wall is lined with cages of breeding pairs fitted with cosy nest boxes where the hens can lay their eggs which hatch 18 days later. Opening one nest box revealed a tiny pink newborn chick flailing next to her unborn brothers and sisters who were ensconced in their eggs, waiting to hatch.
Jacobs is the public relations officer for the East London Budgerigar Society which has eight members in the city and a few more sprinkled as far afield as Port Elizabeth and Port Alfred.
The society is one of just two in the Eastern Cape – the other is in the Karoo – and takes turns to host annual provincial budgerigar shows.
National competitions are held every year in Bloemfontein and Jacobs loads up dozens of cages containing his best specimens.
Pointing out a grey, award-winning budgie from the mass of chirping birds, Jacobs said it was special due to its size and large head.
“He is very good at shows and fluffs up his head feathers when a judge looks at him.”
Jacobs sells his birds for between R150 and R500, which is nothing like the R5000 top show breeders can charge.
“They are the people who win national championships,” said Jacobs.
Although his budgies do not talk because they have not been hand-reared, they perform a therapeutic function for their owner.
“If I’ve had a hard day at work it is so relaxing to come in here. They are like a therapy.
“There is never a dull moment – sometimes they are all chirping but as soon as it’s dark, they go to sleep and wake up chirping at 5am.”
lThe East London Budgerigar Society will be holding a budgie show at Kings Mall, Gonubie this Saturday from 9am to 5pm.
Budgie enthusiasts are welcome to join the society and birds will also be for sale. — barbarah@dispatch.co.za
Budgies give wheelchair wings
Jacobs life changed forever in 2001 when his body was shocked by 22000 volts during an Eskom repair job while the electricity supply was on.
“I was up on a 10m pole and the electricity entered under my left arm and exited through my toes and left me hanging unconscious from the safety harness.
“Both legs below my knees were like charcoal. My rescuers thought I was dead.”
But Jacobs, 47, survived the tragedy and while in hospital he heard about a woman selling fowls.
“I grew up with chickens and my dad kept ringnecks and canaries so I have always loved birds,” said Jacobs, who still works for Eskom, albeit in an office-based capacity.
His interest in fowls and later finches took a backseat when he discovered the beauty of budgerigars, which nibble his fingers when handled and whose energetic chirping is almost deafening.
“There are so many colours – about 29 or 30 of them. There are different greens and yellows and blues, so you get a cinnamon green and a green spangle and in blues there is the cobalt and violet.
“They all have different personalities, just like human beings,” said Jacobs, who has converted much of his backyard into spacious aviaries and installed ramped cement pathways to facilitate his wheelchair which he maneouvres expertly with his remaining arm.
He uses 100kg of mixed bird seed per month to feed the twittering creatures.
The build is a work in progress and he is being helped by his father Koos Jacobs Snr, 73, who has kept many bird species in his time.
Their interest in budgies is also shared by Jacobs Jnr’s son Ruan, who owns 25 budgies and likes to show them at East London Budgerigar Society mini-shows which are held as fundraisers and to encourage interest in the birds.
Together they ensure each bird is ringed, each one registered to the Budgerigar Society of South Africa with each breeders’ special code.
“The rings are a different colour depending on the year the birds are born. This year the rings are red.”
One wall is lined with cages of breeding pairs fitted with cosy nest boxes where the hens can lay their eggs which hatch 18 days later. Opening one nest box revealed a tiny pink newborn chick flailing next to her unborn brothers and sisters who were ensconced in their eggs, waiting to hatch.
Jacobs is the public relations officer for the East London Budgerigar Society which has eight members in the city and a few more sprinkled as far afield as Port Elizabeth and Port Alfred.
The society is one of just two in the Eastern Cape – the other is in the Karoo – and takes turns to host annual provincial budgerigar shows.
National competitions are held every year in Bloemfontein and Jacobs loads up dozens of cages containing his best specimens.
Pointing out a grey, award-winning budgie from the mass of chirping birds, Jacobs said it was special due to its size and large head.
“He is very good at shows and fluffs up his head feathers when a judge looks at him.”
Jacobs sells his birds for between R150 and R500, which is nothing like the R5000 top show breeders can charge.
“They are the people who win national championships,” said Jacobs.
Although his budgies do not talk because they have not been hand-reared, they perform a therapeutic function for their owner.
“If I’ve had a hard day at work it is so relaxing to come in here. They are like a therapy.
“There is never a dull moment – sometimes they are all chirping but as soon as it’s dark, they go to sleep and wake up chirping at 5am.”
lThe East London Budgerigar Society will be holding a budgie show at Kings Mall, Gonubie this Saturday from 9am to 5pm.
Budgie enthusiasts are welcome to join the society and birds will also be for sale. — barbarah@dispatch.co.za
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos