Lineolated Parakeets Being Hand Fed

Here's a quick photo of the pair I've been hand feeding since the days they hatched, Dec. 10 and Dec. 11, 2013. Have done video's too, but slow to get them onto You Tube. They'll come later.

Linnie babies at 17 and 18 days of age.

Ugly little critters, aren't they? They're noisy too. And, they never want to stop eating. The Bourke babies I've hand fed quit eating when they're full. These guys won't quit and keep cheeping for more. Another Linnie breeder told me to be careful not to overfeed them. Now I know why.

 

The Linnies are maturing slower than my other birds. I've read that they are weaned at 8 weeks. Their eyes are open now, just napping in my hands above.

By contrast, here are Bourke youngsters at approx. the same age.

 

Peace and Blessings for a

Happy New Year!

 

Egg Incubation, Bourke Parakeets & Lady Gouldian Finches - Video of Live Eggs

Video of live Lady Gouldian eggs and Bourke Parakeet eggs taken yesterday. They are kept warm in a homemade incubator and turned every few hours ... even through the night. Temperature needs to remain at 98 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, or 35 to 36 degrees Celsius. A light bulb under a dish of water provides humidity. There's more detailed information on doing this in earlier posts. Search Incubation or check the Archive titles.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Peace & Blessings

Seed Eggs! A Bird Lover's Christmas Gift

Have to share an interesting Christmas gift that arrived in the mail yesterday. How fun is this? I ran right out and put them up. Didn't wait for the birds to find them before taking pictures.

 

MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS.

 

Keep your outdoor bird feeders full!

 

 



Incubating Small Exotic Bird Eggs

Baby Lineolated Parakeets at 10 and 11 days of age. Also in incubator are
Eggs from Lady Gouldian finches and Rosy Bourke Parakeets.

I've written before about incubating and hatching Lady Gouldian finch eggs in the homemade incubator my innovative husband created using a cockatiel nest box.  After hand feeding them from day one, I said I'd never do it again. Well... Never say never!

 

Just like last year, after three clutches our Lady Gouldian finch would not quit laying. Removing the nest box did no good. I had to separate her from her mate, or risk losing her.

 

But, what about all those fertile eggs? I retrieved them from the floor of her cage before moving her to a separate cage away from her mate and their earlier brood of six youngsters.

 

The larger eggs in the photo above are from Fuchsia and Flame, our prolific Rosy Bourke Parakeets. Because of family health issues, Fuchsia's box was not removed when it should have been. She's raised too many clutches this year already. So, I removed the nest box. These four eggs were all laid on the floor of her cage, so I retrieved them too.

 

My prolific pair deciding to mate even without a nest box.

At present, at least three Lady Gouldian eggs have live embryo's in them and so do at least two of the Bourke eggs. Later, I'll try to video the eggs with a light behind them. The little red embryo's already show a heart beating.

 

One Gouldian egg and one Bourke egg have damage to their shell, probably done when they were roughly laid. I don't expect them to hatch. Considered trying to repair their cracks, but haven't.

 

Looks like I will be hand feeding baby birds until the end of February! Probably five or more.

Flame above, Fuchsia (the hen) below.
Very tame, they don't mind an audience.
Rosie Birds has a video of them on You Tube.

 

Bird eggs have to be rolled frequently for 18 to 21 days. Newly hatched chicks require feedings every two hours, even through the night. With the baby Linnies I'm down to every three to four hours. But, still sleep deprived.

 

My husband suggested I throw out the eggs rather than incubate and hand feed because night feedings are so taxing. That's true, but the incubator was already set up for the Linnies and readily available. It was easy to add the eggs and turn them when I feed the baby Linnies.

 

Then, there's the fact that I'm stridently pro-life!

 

And, that participating in saving even little feathered lives makes me feel really good. Can't bring myself to heartlessly cast them away. May we end abortion and spare precious human lives too.

Peace, Blessings,
 and a
Merry Christmas!

HAND FEEDING LINEOLATED PARAKEETS



The pair of turquoise Lineolated Parakeets we purchased early last summer decided to lay a clutch in late fall. Two of her three eggs hatched Dec. 10 and Dec. 11, 2013. For whatever reason, the parents seemed to ignore them, pushing them aside to get cold and weren't feeding them. Hence, I'm now hand feeding the pair.

They are 7 and 8 days old in the video and doing fine. We brought the home made incubator up from the basement and installed it for them. It's the same one that we hatched Lady Gouldian eggs in and raised those babies. At least the Linnie eggs were incubated by their parents.

Above is video of them taken yesterday morning, 12/17/2013. The one below is of the home made incubator keeping them warm.

PEACE & BLESSINGS FOR A

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

Are Galatiels For Real? Check This Out.

After reading about a Galatiel at a Cockatiel website, I started searching for one. The photos and video below are borrowed from talkingbirds.com.au, and the article there is written by Lloyd Marshall. He claims it might be the only one in the world.

Marshal says, "It was bred accidentally by Nikki Wann, who lives at Brewarrina in outback Australia. She had five female cockatiels, six male cockatiels and a 12-year-old male galah in an aviary together."



Nikki Wann's Galatiel.



Parents of a Galatiel. Hen is the Cockatiel. The Gallah, or
Rose-Breasted Cockatoo, is the parent father.

Click on the link for a video of the Galatiel.

http://www.talkingbirds.com.au/galatiel.mov



This photo is certainly striking. It's possibly
a later photo of the same bird after it has matured.
Or, perhaps its merely photo enhanced.
Anyone know?



Peace & Blessings.

 

 

 

New Peeps in the House! Linnie Eggs Have Hatched.

Mama and Papa Linnie. Hen at left is more blue then her mate.

Peeked into the Linnie nest box this morning not expecting to see anything new. We acquired our first pair of Lineolated Parakeets early last summer. After two months to get used to us, I gave them a nest box. They immediately claimed it as their own, and slept in it at night.

But, it was several months before an egg was laid. I expected them to wait until the following Spring, so when I saw attempts at mating, I tried not to get too excited about it. Then when there was an egg, I knew there was a probability that they would be infertile. The previous owner had run into that with them.






Lineolated Parakeet Nest Box from other side of cage.



Our Papa and Mama Linnie had three eggs, but it felt like the wrong time of year for offspring and, even though the house is heated, it's been really cold and icy here lately. However, this morning a tiny baby lay an inch from the mother on its back with an empty crop. I was excited, but concerned. Was it dead? No, it moved slightly. I put the lid back down and left her alone. After about ten minutes I looked in again. Baby was still on its back with an empty crop, obviously cold and unmoving. It would expire if nothing was done and she didn't appear willing to pull him back under her.

Now, this pair is not one of our hand fed Rosy Bourkes, so reaching into the box worried me. But I knew, if necessary, I could hand feed the baby even from day one. I'd done it with Lady Gouldian finches we hatched in a homemade incubator, so day-old Linnie parakeets would be easy by comparison. I reached in and scooped up the baby. Mama Linnie retreated out of the box. Low and behold, under our turquoise blue Lineolated parakeet had been another baby!

 

Linnie cage and nest box. They share their cage with a
Lady Gouldian hen I hatched in an incubator & hand fed.

 

I picked it up too. I'd already alerted my husband to this possibility and handed the fuzzy little babies to him. His hands are always warm, mine aren't. He warmed the cold one with the sibling and it began to move slightly, although not with as much energy as the one that had been under its mom. Both began to peep while I prepared a thin mix of Exact Hand Feeding Formula...six parts hot water to one part formula.

Both babies ate like crazy. Now, should I put them back? Their mother had returned to the box and was sitting on the remaining egg. Would she hurt these if I returned them? I'd heard one horror story of that happening with a pair of Linnies. But, this pair seem so friendly and not flighty. To hand feed this young would mean feeding them every two hours for over a week.

What eventually helped me decide is that next week we have to make a 3-hour trip out of town to a doctor appointment, then drive three hours back. That's too long to leave them unfed. Taking them with us was a possibility...I've actually done that before. But, it's such a lot of trouble at this time of year when it's so cold. When I did it before I carried a thermos of very hot water, which worked for the first travel feeding and after that it cooled down and I had to reheat the water in a convenience store's microwave before mixing the formula. This time of year, keeping everything warm would be an issue.

Here is our beautiful cobalt blue Linnie, "Blue."
He or she will hopefully get a mate out of the other pair.

 

So, back into the nest box went my hand with the two babies in it. Mama Linnie immediately exited. I snuggled the babies feet side down next to the egg and closed the lid. Very shortly after, she returned to the box. When I looked inside she was covering everyone. Later, Papa Linnie joined her. Hopefully, they are feeding their offspring as well as keeping them warm.

On the stove, I'm boiling eggs to make fresh egg food mixture to encourage them to keep themselves and their babies strong.

So, Hip, Hip, Hurray! Baby Linnies! Maybe our cobalt blue, hand fed and noisy "Blue" will have a future mate from this clutch. It's what we'd hoped for.

 

Blue shares a cage with a tame Rosy Bourke bachelor
until they both find a suitable mate.

 

Peace & Blessings!