Preparing EGG FOOD for Breeding Birds or "Egg Food For Young" ... Grin.

Flame and Fuchsia's 3 well-fed youngsters. Photo taken today,
April 24, 2013. Babies growing strong with added egg food.



Egg Food is inexpensive, nutritious and easy to make. My birds love it and I feed it to them throughout the breeding season. The American Egg Board tells us that eggs contain many essential vitamins and minerals along with high quality protein. They are one of the few foods naturally rich in vitamin D, which plays a role in calcium absorption and formation of strong bones. So it’s good for Mama and her babies. In case you’ve never made Egg Food before, we’ve created a detailed step-by-step pictorial for you to follow. Remember, this is a supplemental food and should not be fed exclusively! If given in the morning, remove it in the evening, or sooner if the weather is very hot. Keep it fresh, and always have parakeet seed available, as well.

 

Before We Begin…

The first problem you’ll encounter when feeding hard-boiled eggs to small birds is getting it into a form that they can eat. Most of them don't pick up chunks of food. So your first task, after you’ve boiled your eggs is to convert them into a fine enough form that your birds will eat them.

We’ll accomplish this by mashing the cooked eggs and combining them with dry bread crumbs. When mashed, the yolks tend to become gummy and the dry bread provides texture. The laying and rearing process takes a lot out of the mother bird. Don’t be surprised if they begin to appear noticeably thinner. Bread flours are typically enriched, so the crumbs you mix in provide nutritional benefit as well as calories for energy. Be sure to save the shells when peeling your eggs; they are an important source of calcium.
 

You may be tempted to use a blender or food processor to make your Egg Food. I try to make mine in small batches so that it remains fresh and I’ve found the quantities involved to be too small for the blender to process efficiently. I also use a small coffee grinder to reduce the egg shells to a floury consistency. It’s probably not necessary, but it disperses in the mix easily that way. Be sure to dry the shells in the microwave or oven before grinding them.

With that out of the way, let’s make some Egg Food…



1. Gather Everything You'll Need

Egg Food is definitely a Lo-Tech project. All you need is a bowl; some fine, dry bread crumbs; your eggs, a fork, a potato masher, and a way to grind the shell. Instead of using a grinder, you could also put the dry shells in a plastic bag and go over them with a rolling pin.



2. Peel Your Eggs and Save the Shells

3. Coarsely Mash the Eggs

4. Use a Fork for Finer Texture

Keep working the tines of the fork through the mixture to break up the larger pieces of egg white and combine it with the yolk.



5. Oven-Dried Shells Ready for Grinding



6. Add the Shell and Blend

Spoon the powdered egg shells over the top of your pulverized eggs and use the fork to disperse it throughout. It is much easier to do this while the egg mixture is still a little gummy. The addition of dry shells will help give the mix a better texture.



7. Add Dry Bread Crumbs to the Mix 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You'll find recipes for Egg Food that give specific quantities of crumbs to eggs. I prefer to add a little at a time and test always following the cook's motto that it's easy to put it in, but hard to take it out. As a rule of thumb, I add about as much bread crumbs as eggs. You'll notice that I use a commercial product. You can, of course, make them yourself from bread crusts and loaves going stale. However, it's more work and saves very little money.
 

Store your Egg Food in an air-tight bowl in the refrigerator to keep it fresh. As I said earlier, I try not to make too much at a time so my birds always have a fresh supply. 





Close-Up of the Final Texture

The Result -  Happy and Healthy Birds. This is Rhett.

Rosie and Pretty Boy's four offspring. Also benefiting
from added egg food. Photo taken today, 4/24/2013.

Rhett and Cherry's three babies. Photo taken today, 4/24/2013.
Baby on top has pink eyes. Others have dark eyes.

 Peace and Blessings.

 

 

Food For New Bourke Parents, A Question & Answer

This Spray Millet has been worked over by the birds.
Not all the seeds are there any longer.

Question: My Rosie Bourke just had a baby hatch, this is our first. Do I need to give her special food? Is there anything I can do or should do? She has 2 more eggs in there with her!

Answer: Your Bourkes can exist on seed alone, however, there are healthy things you can add. I provide Petamine Breeding Formula because it has healthy vitamins. They don't need a lot of it, just some each day. It's not a requirement, however. They also like fresh vegetables ... spinach, broccoli, kale, lettuce. Also cooked mixed vegetables, cooked peas, cooked corn, cooked carrots (or fresh shredded carrots). Mine enjoy an occasional piece of bread, especially with added seeds in or on it (like sunflower or sesame, etc.).  Birds also enjoy rice.

A young Bourke eating Spray Millet. Parent birds below.

Spray millet is high in fat content and very good when birds are feeding their young. Parents typically lose weight during the weeks they're feeding babies, so spray millet is healthy then. The rest of the year, you want to only give it sparingly so they don't become obese ... that's not likely to happen when they're raising their families, however.

Again, you don't have to give them all (or any) of this ... but, a varied diet is healthy. Greens are especially good for Bourkes all year round.

Best of luck. If you can, send photos of your mother and babies. I'd love to see them.

Young Rosy Bourke Parakeets. Two with pink eyes.
For young birds Spray Millet is a good introduction to eating on their own.

Peace & Blessings.

PARAKEET FEEDING TIME with TAME ROSY BOURKES

Update: All five babies survived to become healthy, beautiful adults.

Tame birds offer so many advantages.

Especially when you want to photograph them. Smile.

Flame feeding his mate, Fuchsia. There are five babies in the nest.

Fuchsia with head out of nest box. Flame on perch.

I have one bird who requires twice daily hand feeding. All my other tame birds love to steal a bite of the Exact hand feeding formula from her whenever possible. Flame is the one most eager to do so. Since he's feeding his mate, who in turn is feeding FIVE babies, this morning I let him share in the prepared Exact. He loves it and ate all he was allowed to. 

As soon as I prompted him to go back to his cage, he called to Fuchsia. She came right to the nest box opening and he began feeding her. These photos are the result. This pair is not put off by having a camera shoved into their cage and, in spite of it, they didn't stop the feeding process.

From above. See Flame's deep, bright color ... hence his name.
I offer them a variety of foods to choose from.

Male Bourkes feed their hens on the nest. This allows the mothers more time with their babies, and also ensures that the food she's feeding the young is thoroughly dissolved. Most hens rarely leave the nest until their babies fledge. Once or twice a day they will exit the nest to deficate, and then quickly return. Older, experienced hens are more likely to spend time outside the nest, particularly when it's very warm. Young ones, however, seem afraid to leave their babies alone, even for a few moments.

Fuchsia asking what I'm doing up there.

Most recent hatchling in my hand. It's much smaller than the others,
 and needs to be watched. It may not compete well for its food.

I love small, exotic parakeets. They are adorable birds. In addition to bringing sweet birdsong to our home, ours provide much joy.

May you, too, experience happiness through all that you love and those that love you.

Peace & Blessings!

YOUNG PARAKEET ISN'T THRIVING ... A Question From Erik

Erik writes:

I am a regular reader of your bourke blog and have a couple of questions for you about my new bourke that I got yesterday. She is 8 weeks old and has spent most of this day sleeping. Is this a concern? Also her droppings were normal yesterday, but today it has seeds in it - is this  normal? I know this can be a problem in birds, but thought maybe she is  just a bit stressed and it will clear up in a day or two. She is eating and drinking regularly. I am very concerned at this point. I apologize in advance for asking you these questions, but you are very knowledgable and very experienced. Thank you for your time. Hope to hear from you soon.

----------------------------

Hello Erik,

Thank you for the compliments. I am always happy to share whatever I've learned about raising parakeets and to answer questions.

Young Pipsqueek should be eating
on her own by now, but isn't.

Eight weeks sounds young for a Bourke parakeet to be away from her parents. When birds leave the nest, they are fed for two or more weeks by their parents who help teach them to eat on their own. (Although handfed babies learn on their own with no help as soon as they're old enough).

Did the breeder tell you her hatch date and that's how you determined she's 8 weeks old? Or, has she been out of the nest 8 weeks? Have you witnessed her eating seeds, or attempting to? If she's alone, are there hulls in the seed to prove she's able to hull it on her own? Or, maybe she is reacting to a change in what she's being fed. Is the parakeet seed you are feeding her fresh? Hartz Mountain seed from a grocery store isn't the best place to buy parakeet seed as it may have been on the shelf too long. Also, hopefully, your parakeet seed is more than just white millet and oats.

For now, try offering her other soft foods, pieces of soft wheat bread, soft peas, corn, spinach, kale ... anything that she might like to eat. Nestling food is good if you have it, or can get it in a hurry. It's available online. Also, spray millet is easy for young birds to begin eating.

Don't want one to squirm away while the other is eating.

I suspect she may not be getting enough to eat because she was removed from her parents too soon. That, or the food may not agree with her. Taking birds away from their parents early requires handfeeding with an eye dropper. Exact Handfeeding Formula is what I use. Normally, if you're going to do that, they should be very young, not fully feathered. If she's fluffed up and looks sick, be sure she really is eating and not just pecking around and appearing to eat. Does her crop feel full? If she won't eat any of the soft foods we've suggested, and her crop seems empty, attempting to hand feed can't hurt and might save her ... if, in fact, she was taken away too soon.

But you said she appears to be eating and drinking. If eating is not her problem, and your concern is how much she's sleeping ... remember Bourkes are most active at dawn and dusk. They are early morning birds and sleep a lot during the day. So, maybe she's just exhibiting normal behavior. In the evening when the lights dim, she might become active. Check and see. Also, baby birds sleep more than adult birds, just like we humans.

Rarely a bird will hatch that--for whatever reason--isn't able to adequately feed itself. It is unlikely that this is the case with your bird. When it happens, however, parents will sometimes ruin their own health continuing to feed that youngster long past when it should be eating on its own. After decades of raising countless parakeet varieties, and more Bourkes than I can count, I've had three Bourkes handicapped in that way...so it is rare.  

We're full and sleepy now.

The first one was given away to someone willing to feed it, but it later died. The second, when I realized the father was becoming extremely thin due to feeding his offspring over-long, I removed it and sadly ended up dispatching the bird in a humane fashion rather than let it starve to death (it was not tame). The third bird, I noticed wasn't thriving in the nest and removed it to handfeed. I am still handfeeding this very tame, sweet little "Pipsqueek," a year later. I'm unable to kill her. She does manage to eat some nestling food and picks up the hulls of other birds and runs them through her beak. She only gets an Exact feeding in the morning and usually in the evening now. God willing, maybe she will eat enough on her own someday. I'm not eager to hand feed her for a dozen or more years, smile.

That said, the fact that Pipsqueek has to come out every day for a feeding means that I also let all my other tame birds out at the same time. They get to spend more time with me, and I'm forced to put aside any jobs and allow the birds to bring me joy. So, this bird is really a blessing in disguise.

"Pip" can eat cooked mixed vegetables. Maybe yours will too. A change in diet might be your problem and your solution. Let's hope so.

Young, full-grown Bourke likes snitching samples of the baby's food.
It's fattening though, so not too much!  

Best of Luck! I hope your little one will start to thrive soon.

Peace & Blessings

Answer to Deborah's Post

Deborah wrote:

"Hi, I wonder if you would be able to give me a little advice? I have a pair of Bourkes. The hen has hatched two sets of eggs but each time she has appeared to abandon the nest once they hatch and all the babies have died after a few days. She has now hatched another 4 chicks but seems to spend very little time in the nest box and I'm not sure if she is feeding them. I am out at work all day and it is possible she goes in the nest box during the day but whenever I am home I rarely see her in there and she does not spend the night in there. Is this normal or should she be in the box most of the time. I don't know how they are keeping warm! Do these little ones need hand rearing or should I leave our Ruby to look after them...and risk losing them again?"

Deborah,

Most Bourke hens spend a lot of time in the box with their young and do sleep with them all night. Mine only leave to defecate and grab a quick drink of water before heading back in. The male feeds the hen. If he isn't doing so, then he's a problem for her and she may need help feeding them.

I hope it isn't too late to help hand feed them. Find some "Kaytee Exact Hand Feeding Formula." It's available online, but you don't want to wait for it to arrive. Call around. Our local Grange carries it, as do a few other pet supply stores. Follow the package instructions. It's easier than you might think. You'd need a small dish and eye droppers. If all four survive, you will probably use half of a 5 lb. bag until they are eating on their own, but you can start with a smaller bag if that's all you find. Time is of the essence right now.

Don't be afraid to pick up the babies and look to see if they have food in their crops. It's pretty obvious. Their skin is thin and their crops will be very swelled with food. They are full when their crops are so full they are visible around (or over) their shoulders. Parents usually stuff them so full that I don't worry about over feeding them. They'll  refuse more food when they're full.

When I have babies in the nest I keep the room they are in about 70-72 degrees, so if mom leaves, they have a better chance of survival. With four they will help keep each other warm. Even eggs in the nest help warm the first babies that hatch. If she's hatched four, she must have fed the first one or two something to keep them alive until the others hatched.

Since you aren't home during the day, I'd feed the babies before going to work, but leave them in the nest and hope that she also feeds them. Then feed them again when you get home and before you go to bed. A small heater in the area of the nest box will help keep them warm too. If you're lucky, mom will do some of the feeding and you will only have to supplement them. As they grow, they can get along with fewer feedings, but when tiny they need to be fed every few hours. When mine are tiny, newly hatched, I get up in the middle of the night and feed them to be sure they are okay. However, if she's in the box with them I wouldn't disturb them. If she's not there, then feeding them during the night for a week or two will help keep them warm ... being under nourished makes them more susceptible to getting cold.

If you can get them through this, you will be glad you did. Hand fed babies are so tame and affectionate. Bourkes are easy to tame, but being hand fed makes them really special.

If you have other questions, you can also reach me via email at:  rosie.birds@gmail.com

Good luck!

Problem bird ... slow to grow up!

The baby Bourke in my left hand has been slow to learn to eat. In the nest he was much smaller than his healthy sibling, and his lack of growth worried me. Therefore, I pulled him to hand feed. He caught up quickly in size, flies okay, but he's still asking to be handfed when others his age are eating on their own.

I've cut him down to two feedings a day and I notice he "nibbles" in the seed bowl and at the bottom of the cage. He appears to be trying to eat, and maybe even succeeding sometimes. But, he still begs to be fed and eats a lot each time. He likes cut up green Kale and when I gave the tame birds shredded wheat cereal one morning (they wanted to share mine)... he ate some of that. So, there are things he can eat besides Exact handfeeding formula, but parakeet seed or even spray millet seem to be a puzzle to him.

All my birds love corn, but he won't touch it. I even squeezed it open and put it to his mouth. There's no reason he couldn't eat it ... just as easy as the Exact formula ... but he would have nothing to do with it! I've decided to call him Pipsqueek, or Pip for short. He does squeek to be fed and is a pip of a problem. Pun intended, smile.

Anyone else have a slow grower like this?

More on Parenting

As I watched my male Splendid taking a bath this morning, ...of course he finished before I got the camera... I thought about how caring he's always been to his mates. Yes, mates. He's had three.

Rainbow was hatched to Merlin & Millet almost six years ago. He's now the patriarch of our Splendid Scarlet-chested parakeets (I know, it's either or, but I like the play on words). His first hen, Jewel, produced three lovely male Splendids. With her 2nd clutch a few months later, I noticed that her first two eggs seemed larger than typical. One morning, with no warning, she was dead. A third egg, even larger than the first two was stuck. She died of egg binding. (In another post, I'll try to talk about what can be done to save the hen, although I've posted on it before, it's important).

Maybe this is the best place to mention that Bourke hens go right back to the nest and lay more eggs as soon as their offspring are fledged...sometimes even sooner. In my experience, Splendids allow themselves more time between clutches.

Rainbow's 2nd hen, Jewel-2,  seemed to please him and he fed her, but they never mated. Her eggs for the past two years have been infertile. So have the eggs of a Splendid hen in with Rainbow's son from Jewel. For that reason, I swapped hens this year. Rainbow now has Rivkah, and Rainbow Jr. has Jewel-2.

Rainbow and Rivkah have hit it off and appeared to be mating on several occasions, or at least attempting to. I'm hopeful everything came together as it was meant to. Smile.

My experience with Splendids is that the males spend a lot of time with their hens in the nest box, encouraging and feeding them. When the eggs hatch, they help feed the babies and spend almost as much time with the nestlings as does their mother.

With Bourkes it seems to be different. Male Bourke parakeets remain outside the box, apparently guarding it from predators. They will stand on a perch or hang from the opening to feed the hen who comes to the opening. She usually only leaves to defecate, maybe grabbing a drink and possibly a quick bite or two. But, she primarily depends on her mate for sustenance while she's brooding.

What the two varieties of parakeets do have in common is that the males of both species check out the nest box days before she enters it. A male will make several reconnaissance trips before his hen ventures into the box. 

An exception to this rule for Bourkes is with my male, Chitter, who enters his hen's box while she's on eggs. He is also the father of the babies I've had to pull and hand feed to protect them from one of their parents harming them. It seems likely that it's him since he is also exhibiting unusual behavior by entering the box while his hen is on eggs. Most male Bourkes won't help feed their young directly until after they leave the box. He feeds the hen and she feeds the babies until they leave the box. Then he takes over the majority of their feedings, although she still helps.

Disclaimer: Every bird has a distinct personality all their own. What I've said here may not always prove true. It is my observation of my own birds; currently, six Splendids and 22 Bourke parakeets.  

Peace & Blessing to You and Your Birds! 

Keep Smiling!

Good Morning Young Bourkes!

Actually, only the three in back are youngsters. The one or two in front are tame adults from earlier clutches. They still like to beg a bite or two once in a while. Something about the Exact's taste, or maybe they just like the extra attention they get when being fed.

I missed a good picture this morning, but by the time I got the digital camera on, the scene had ended. One of our young birds landed on a chair arm and Chinook, our big old malamute mix...mala-mutt...sauntered over and put a nose up to him. The baby nibbled his nose a bit, but by the time I had the digital camera on, their introduction was over.

Never leave other pets, or young children, unattended with your birds. Even the most reliable can have an "accident" or forget to be careful. Chinook is more curious than anything, but I watch him around the birds. He knows he's not to hurt them, and I doubt he ever would, but pets can do the unexpected.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, one morning we made a shopping trip to Eugene about a three-hour drive away. We were gone nearly 12 hours and when we arrived home, our oldest cat had been asleep in a window seat and left there all day. He never bothered the birds, but I would not intentionally let a cat stay alone in the same room with them all day.

We live in the country and usually put the cats outside when we leave...where the other two were. Although, one night one of our adult children was visiting and let another cat inside with the birds. About 1 a.m. she meowed outside our bedroom door wanting to come in with us. Who knows how long she was in the same rooms with the birds. She never bothered them either, and she's a stray we took in two years previous to that incident. She isn't a cat we raised ourselves, yet she's probably grateful to be rescued. She quickly accepted our big dog, and responded by looking away any time she glanced at a cage and was told sharply, "No Birds!"

As another aside. We love the wild birds around our place too, and when I'm outside and there are birds at feeders, I tell the cats, "No Birds!" and they seem to leave them alone too. They catch mice, moles and voles and I had to rescue a chipmunk from one of the cats a few months ago. But, I've never seen them go after wild birds ... a benefit of their indoor training, I'm sure. 

My tame birds like to fly around and visit their relatives in their breeding cages. The birds in the cages have gotten used to it, but they don't particularly like having someone walking around over their heads.

May God Bless You and our Beloved Pets. 

Feed me, Feed me ... & More on Breeding

In this first photo, all the birds want out to be fed at once. Sometimes I let them all out together, but it's easier to feed them one at a time (and less messy).

The three babies I'm feeding right now are almost weaned. They're scratching around and appear to be trying to eat seed. Hopefully, they are. Spray millet is the easiest, and I've given them nestling formula, as well as typical adult parakeet seed mix.

Once they are eating on their own, they will still want to be fed occasionally. Maybe it's only comfort food, or maybe it's needed to augment what they are eating on their own. No matter. I don't want them to go without, so I'll feed them until I'm certain they no longer need it or want it.

The three photos above are of three different babies. Although similar, I can easily tell them apart.

The picture in the lower right is of Rosie crowding into the box with the babies. See her long tail sticking out? The babies' tails are shorter. Rosie has been asking her brother, Flame, to breed so maybe she thinks she's ready for a nest box. She's not! Only three months old, she won't be ready until a minimum of 10-12 months of age ... best at two years old.  In a week or less, the tissue box will be history and the babies will be ready to sell.

As beautiful as Flame is (that's why I kept him), I may go ahead and sell him. Rosie needs a mate, and it shouldn't be him. I already have enough pairs, so keeping Flame and getting a mate for him simply adds more birds. I had considered keeping him because of his color and selling Rosie, but have decided I like Rosie too much, even if she's not as dark pink as Flame. 

Although distantly related, one of these babies may stay instead. However, at this point it's a guess which one is male. I hope to choose correctly. One looks just like Rhett, his father, and I think that might be the one to keep. He flies to my finger like Rosie does ... a good quality. The fact that I can call Rosie, hold up my finger and have her fly to it from anywhere in the room, is the main reason she's my favorite. Smile.

More on Breeding:

Three of my hens have had their three clutches in the last few months and deserve a rest to maintain good health. In the past, I've only allowed my hens to breed once a year. I put up nest boxes in Feb. or March and took them down after two or three clutches per hen. All came down in the Fall irregardless. Last year, however - because of noisy disruptions - we didn't have successful clutches in Spring or Summer. When things quieted down, the hens decided to go back to their nests in the Fall before the boxes came off, so I let them. Indoors with lights on in the evening, the day length didn't affect them much. Now, they want to continue to breed since the weather's sunny & warm.  

In discussing this with bird expert, Bob Nelson, he said that a two or three month rest period should be adequate. His recommendation? Close off the boxes until the Fourth of July and reopen them then. Sounds like a plan!

For us, this year has already proven to be a bountiful one for baby Bourkes, and may get better. Two other young hens have laid fertile eggs that didn't hatch. Maybe they will succeed next time, so their boxes will stay up. We have seven pairs of Bourkes altogether (not counting babies or Rosie or Flame).

Splendids, as mentioned in another post, haven't done well for the past two years. All eggs have been infertile. I moved males around recently, and am hopeful a change will create success ... even if only with one of the pairs! I have two extra males and it would be nice to have hens for them.

Peace & Blessings.

Just Because It's Cute

Wanted to share some cute photos. Rosie is the sweetest bird I own. She's not the darkest pink or the prettiest, but her personality is fabulous. She's playful and affectionate and always flies to my finger when I call her. If I reach into her cage, she is on my hand or arm every single time. Rosie loves to be fed treats and usually shares a muffin or bagel with me each morning. I admit to spoiling her, but she's worth it. Others are sweet, but she's the best!  Smile.

The babies are temporarily in a plastic container while I clean their box. These three are being hand fed. Although I think Rosie might like to help!

Flame is also free flying here (for a little while), but his interest in babies isn't as intense as Rosie's.

Albino Baby

I've just started hand-feeding this little guy. His bigger siblings have been grabbing all the food and he's too small to compete, He's fesity though. Looks like he's ready to fly away, doesn't he?

In the photo in the lower left notice the lack of pigment in the eyes of one baby Bourke vs. the other. They are from the same clutch. In previous years, two other babies from the same parents who were born with pink eyes like the one I've begun feeding did not survive. God willing, this little pink-eyed baby will. All prayers appreciated...

I'm curious to see what he/she will look like.  Other pink-eyed adults I've seen were not all white, but did have white faces. Their bodies were pink and wing feathers dark.

These babies hatched April 1, 3 & 4. As an Easter chick, he's not growing very quickly and starting today I'm going to hand feed him so that he doesn't have to compete with his two siblings. I've done a few supplimental feedings, but that only seemed to make his mother less inclined to feed him. Perhaps she's aware that something is wrong with him? Notice how dark his belly is. It's darker than the others. I hope that's not indicative of some defect or other.

I'll keep you informed of his progress, or lack thereof.

Today's Bourke Baby Photo

Taken today, March 27, 2010. This hen, Bonnie, has had her picture appear here before. She's one of my calm mothers and it's easy to photograph her.

The baby she's feeding here is four days old. A two-day-old baby is snuggled beneath her, along with two eggs. Bourke eggs are typically laid every other day and hatch that way too, although exceptions aren't unusual.

Mother and baby are beak to beak in this photo. Broken eggs shells are probably from baby #2. Since the egg shells from #1 disappeared, and I think she ate them for their calcium.

Bonnie & Clyde are excellent parents. Bonnie Blue is out of Rhett & Scarlett. Not all Rosy Bourkes have a blue rump like she does, although it is common. When Clyde was purchased, his name went with Bonnie (famous outlaws). Clyde doesn't have a blue rump. He's almost all Rosie except for wing tips and tail and their youngsters usually don't show blue rumps either.

Healthy Additions for your Bird’s Diet

I have a cage of tame Bourkes who get preferential treatment. Whenever we cook vegetables, they often get some, and I’m learning a lot from them.

Along with seeds, I’ve always offered my birds extra vegetables or fruit, usually raw. They favor most veggies over fresh fruit. (Go figure, I like fresh fruit myself). However, our birds seem to prefer cooked vegetables, over raw. An exception to this is Spinach or Kale, which are favorites. They also like lettuce, but it doesn’t have the same nutritional value. They love sweet corn, petite peas and steamed broccoli, just as we do. I also offer them bits of bread of any variety we’re having for lunch or dinner. They enjoy taking the treats from my fingers as much as I enjoy offering them.

Here’s a list of foods that will introduce more calcium into your bird’s diet – especially valuable for breeding hens, or young birds.

Calcium in mg From Highest to Lowest:
Turnip Greens 694
Mustard Greens 582
Cabbage (outside green leaves) 429
Chinese Cabbage 400
Kale 390

Kohlrabi 390

Broccoli Leaves 349
Chard 300
Beet Greens 188
Dandelion Greens 168

Spinach 156
Okra 144
Turnips 112
Broccoli Stem 111
Endive 104

Rutabaga 99
Carrots 90
Raspberries 82
Strawberries 68
Cantaloupe 64

Yellow Wax Beans 63
Green Beans 55
Watercress 53
Oranges or Tangerines 48
Parsley 46

Cabbage (inside white leaves) 46
Celery 44
Yams 44
Blackberries 43
Squash 36

Watermelon 33
Blueberries 33
Lettuce Dark Green Leaf 25
Guavas 15
Pears 15

Collards (cooked) 14
Apples 10

Defeating Moths

Moth eggs and larvae seem to always be in parakeet seed, probably in other forms of bird seed too. When introduced into your house they can be real pests, and some even damage wool clothing. 

This morning I opened a bag of crushed oyster shell and was surprised to find a live moth in it! How it got there is anybody's guess. Probably transferred from bird seed to the oyster shell and then locked in the bag. That got me thinking that maybe I should share my experience about moths with you.

This green moth (a luna moth?) is not the same kind you find in seed. It  was on the side of our barn and pretty. Moths that infest seed are small and brownish.

In order to rid our home of them I used to put a light dusting of an insecticide powder in the bottom tray of my bird cages. The tray is under a wire floor, so there's no way they can reach the powder and there's newspaper over it too. This helped. We also bought moth traps and caught a few that way, but never all.

Then we found a better way!

We have a large upright freezer in the basement and every bag of bird seed, millet or any other bird product is put in the freezer for at least 24 hours (preferably 48 hours). This insures that all insects, their eggs, larvae or pupae are killed. It works wonderfully! I then bring the bags back into the house and let them return to room temperature (so the moisture is expelled) before transferring the seed into the plastic, lidded containers used to store the seed until I dish it out for the birds.

We no longer see moths anywhere in our home. Smile. I hope you can find room in your freezer for your bird seed.

Hand Feeding Answers…

I’ve been asked if I have a way of knowing the appropriate weight of baby parakeets as they grow (specifically Splendids). Honestly, I’ve never weighed my babies. We could, and have a postal scale to use for items sold on eBay. (We’re 45egl, but nothing’s offered at present).

Food and warmth are what baby birds need. A soft voice is helpful too. While small, I feed ours every 3 hours and let them eat as much as they can. Parents stuff the babies so full that they look like they'll pop, so I don't think we can over feed them. After leaving their parents, the first 2-3 feedings should be very thin to encourage things to move through. The material I've read says to let their crops empty before filling to avoid sour crop. However, I've never had a problem feeding them when they still have some food left in their crops. As long as it's soft, they're fine. You don't want them to weaken from not eating enough. If the crop feels hard, massage it gently to see if you can get the food to move around and eventually on through … always be careful and gentle. No pushing!

After the first week of age, I try to feed our babies at least four times a day, or 5 times in 24 hours ... more often when newly hatched…maybe at 2-3 hr intervals. By about 3 weeks, they can wait to be fed every 4-6 hrs between feedings. I've been getting up at 2am to feed my current two ... I think they could go all night now, but they're still small and I want them to do well. When they finish feeding, their crops are wider than they are and look like little balloons.

I use Exact hand feeding formula. It gets hard when it dries, so I try to dab as much of it off the birds as possible after each feeding. I use a warm damp tissue. It's easier to remove it while it’s wet than after it has dried. I most recently purchased Exact at Petsolutions.com.

I always boil the water before mixing it with the Exact. The package gives recommendations for the amount of powder & water based on the bird's age. As the mixture cools I keep checking it against my wrist. The Exact package gives preferred temperatures, but a drop on the wrist works fine...just like with a baby's bottle. When the small dish I've mixed it in begins to cool down, I place it into a larger dish of the previously boiled water to warm it back up. Works fine.

Our hand fed babies are kept in a small cardboard box. It’s secured to the tabletop with duct tape with a small space heater on the floor below. There's a thermometer nearby, and the temp in their part of the room is usually around 78 degrees. One side of the box extends over the edge of the table allowing the heater to warm the bottom. I spread a layer of pine shavings inside the box and cover it with a clean paper towel. I replace the towel each time I feed them. After feeding, I always return the babies to the warm corner. Later I sometimes find them elsewhere in the box. They’re old enough to move about now and this is how they regulate the temperature to stay within their comfort zone.

We had a 4-hour power outage due to a windstorm last Sunday, so I put a wool sock over the babies to help keep them warm. Luckily, the house never got very cold.

Other people keep baby birds in glass aquariums with a heating pad over it and draped down one side of the outside of the aquarium. A thermometer is kept inside to monitor the temp. Pine shavings or newspaper in the bottom helps keep it clean and dry.

If you keep baby birds warm (ideally in a box where one corner is warmer so they can move to, or away from, the heat), and make sure they are well fed, they should do fine.

Once the babies feather, they still need to be fed. Typically, parents feed them for two weeks or more after they leave the nest. When they are fully feathered, I fear they may fly into a window or something, so I move them to a cage, but continue to feed them every 4-6 hours until I’m sure they’re eating on their own.

Several food sources are introduced at this time: nesting food, if you have it, assorted parakeet seed and especially spray millet – the easiest thing for a baby to learn to eat. My fully-feathered babies also sample whatever I have available that’s safe for them: bread, peas, corn, spinach, celery tops, carrots, fresh fruit (NEVER AVOCADO!). However, seed is always present. So is fresh water, replaced daily, if not more often.

Even when they begin to scratch around and appear to eat, I offer them Exact formula. Most eventually refuse soft food in preference for seed. Occasionally, you’ll get one who likes to be babied and wants to continue to be fed. Then you’ll have to decide when enough is enough… smile.