Question: When Will a Bourke Hen Lay Eggs?

 

I get questions on my YouTube videos nearly every day. Thought this common response is worth sharing on this Blog too, so here it is.

All our birds love these swings.

Bourke's Parakeet hens should be at least a year and a half old before laying eggs (18 months). Some may want to lay as early as one year old, but there is a risk of egg binding in a hen that is too young. Best age for breeding and laying eggs in Bourke's is two years of age. For the first year they are still building their own bones and should not use calcium to lay eggs before they are fully mature.

If your question is about how long after you see them mating will they lay eggs ... I don't know. It can be different for each hen. Even hens without a mate can lay eggs. They won't hatch, of course. It is day length (day light) that triggers egg laying in all birds and fowl. Wild birds lay when it is warmest during spring or summer. As days shorten, they don't raise babies. Our domestic birds are the same way. Even indoor lighting can trigger them to want to lay eggs. It is called circadian rhythm. 

We can control their urge to lay eggs by limiting the amount of light they get to only 8 to 10 hours per day.  Or, to encourage them to lay, provide indoor lighting that lasts at least 14 hours per day.  But, be sure to allow them some night time, at least 8 hours.

It is also important to provide good calcium sources. Cuttlebone is essential. We have two cuttlebones for each pair of our Bourkes. We buy 6 to 8 inch sized cuttlebones, not the tiny ones found in too many pet stores. If you do an online search you will find them. We also provide a white mineral block, but even more important, we add a brown rabbit salt block. These salt blocks have iodine and other trace minerals that are advantageous for birds. Don't worry about the salt. Your birds will only use as much as they need. Keep the salt blocks away from cage wires, however, or they will damage them. We place ours on the floor with newspaper under them, and away from overhead perches. 

As an FYI: Since adding these brown rabbit salt blocks several years ago, we've not had a single egg binding incident. These were recommended to us by a long-time bird breeder who used to travel across the USA and Europe giving speeches about small exotic birds. He knows his stuff, and we're happy to share it with you. They also increased the size and success of our birds' clutches. 

Some recently weaned 2020 Bourke's Parakeets.

PEACE AND BLESSINGS!

Mating Rosy Bourke Parakeets, a Video

This is Flame and Fuchsia, our highly successful breeding pair of Rosy Bourke parakeets. It's their third season together and they've raised many young birds. They're good parents and very fond of each other.

I took the video. My husband did the editing and added the music. It's also on YouTube.

Peace and Blessings.

Bourke Pairing & Nest Boxes ... Question from Noah

Noah asks: "I had a question about a pair of my bourkes and was hoping you'd be able to help.

Around 5 months ago my wife and I bought a pair of bourkes from a bird fair. We were told they were a proven pair and had just recently come off eggs (chicks taken for hand-feeding). Their age is said to be 2 years. Well, in the 5 months we've had them, we have not even seen any mating tendencies between them. They have a nest box and a constant stream of fresh foods we give them daily but they don’t touch ANY of the fresh foods.

Long story short, I'm confused. Cant quite figure out how or what I need to do to get them 'going' if they were said to be a proven pair. That, or we got lied to. If needed, I'll snap some pictures. Both are rosies.

Thank you! And my wife and I love your blog."

Noah, Thank you for the compliment. You made my day! My first pair came from a bird show too, but that’s another story.

If your pair is truly only two years old, that’s a perfect age for reproducing. However, there is the potential that the breeder wanted to rid him or herself of an older pair who were no longer productive. Sad, but possible.

If they aren’t eating fresh foods, it might be they never had them before. My Bourkes don’t like fruit and I don’t know why. But, they love vegetables. Their favorite is fresh Kale sliced into small pieces. They also like fresh spinach, lettuce, corn, carrots, peas, and broccoli. Be sure seed is always present.

About Breeding: If they’ve been with you five months that should be more than enough time to get used to their surroundings and feel secure. Could they have been in an aviary before and moving to a cage bothers them? That seems unlikely, however.

My guess would be that it is something about the nest box that puts them off. Is the opening big enough? My swallow boxes outside have an opening big enough for swallows, but too small to allow a sparrow to enter. A Bourke wouldn’t be able to get into them either. Our parakeet boxes have round openings two inches across. Some of my Bourkes are even using cockatiel boxes because I had some available. Too big is better than too small.

Although I’ve known people who had a pair nest in a Quaker Oats box on the floor of their cage, most Bourkes prefer a box with its opening near the top of their cage. But, where there’s motivation, most anything will do. What your birds need is motivation. Smile.

Are you using pine shavings in the bottom of the box? About an inch to two inches thick is good. Do NOT use cedar shavings…the odor will put them off. Budgerigars don’t use shavings, but Bourkes and Splendids do.

If you have a successful pair the male should be feeding the female. He should also be investigating the box to be sure it is “safe” before she enters. In rare instances, a female will enter first if the male hasn’t been attentive enough. But, correct sequence of events is that he checks it out first.

Lastly, but MOST IMPORTANT: Are they getting enough light? Day length triggers the breeding response. They should have over 12 hours of day light each day, preferably 14-16 hours. Artificial light works too. Where I live in Southern Oregon it’s currently still light at 9pm and light again by 5am. Artificial lighting isn’t necessary as our birds are all near windows.

If you read my earlier blogs, last summer we had several visitors that upset our Bourkes and they didn’t breed. Hence, we used artificial lighting in the following fall and raised several clutches then. We turned lights on when we got up at 6am and they stayed on until the sun came up. In the evenings, the lights stayed on until 9 or 10pm. That triggered the birds to begin breeding.

Are your birds in a quiet place? They can get used to children or pets, but it might take a while if they were used to solitude before you bought them. Is the nest box secure enough that it doesn’t wobble?

Be sure your birds have calcium sources: cuttlebone and mineral block. I also like to give mine small amounts of Petamine breeding formula almost daily during breeding season. It’s a treat they love and should give them extra vitamins, etc.

I hope this helps. I’ll post later about my experience with my first pair from a bird show. It was much like yours. Good Luck!

Bird Tales … on Changing Mates

A couple of months ago I talked about shuffling four pairs of Bourkes and two pairs of Splendids around for various reasons. This is an update on how effective that was.

Chitter left Brandy after they’d produced three clutches together, and she deserved a long rest. Chitter joined Bella who’d never had fertile eggs with her first mate, Rory. With Chitter, Bella laid two eggs and recently hatched one, her first baby. Finally successful, this hen’s future clutches with Chitter will probably be larger.

Rory was put with Brandy so she wouldn’t be alone, but her nest box was closed off so she could rest. After ten weeks, I reopened her nest box yesterday, and Rory is investigating it – as a good male should. Hopefully, Rory will do better with Brandy than he did with Bella. If not, Chitter is going to be kept busy hopping back to Brandy in a few months.

Candy, too, had once been with Chitter, and raised three lovely birds with him. But, she was constantly scolding him…an annoying sound. Dolph was a young, extra male and Candy took to him immediately. Last year and this year they cheerfully raised babies together. Although they were content, they produced less than beautiful offspring (in my opinion).

Bonnie & Clyde were the other Bourke pair I split up. Although perfect together, Bonnie needed a rest after three clutches.

Dolph and Candy switched mates with Bonnie & Clyde. With Dolph gone, Candy began asking Clyde to mate, but for ten weeks he refused her, sometimes even scolding. He never sang and sat quietly, sometimes with his head down…obviously unhappy.

Meanwhile, I opened Brandy’s nest box. She and Dolph both ignored it.

Taking a clue from these two pairs, I returned Clyde to Bonnie and witnessed instant bliss! Clyde perked right up and started strutting for her. Dolph went back to Candy and immediately began feeding her. These two pairs were apparently not intended to be split apart. In this case, both males knew who their mates were and remained loyal to them, unlike the promiscuous and productive Chitter.

As for the Splendids, Rainbow and Rivkah have eggs that are due to hatch and I hope they will. Rainbow Jr. and Jewel are still ignoring each other. However, nothing has been lost there as neither of them had fertile eggs with their previous mates anyway. If Rainbow and Rivkah produce, the swap will have been well worth it.

So, sometimes swaps work and sometimes they don’t … Fortunately, in this instance the two pairs that didn’t work out were both switched with each other and easily switched back.

May all your couples remain happy together and produce beautiful baby birds!

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!

Bourke Behaviors

Thanks to “Sags” for his comment on the last post. I thought I’d address some of the ideas he raised. He said he’s been told another way to sex Bourkes is by looking at two birds sitting “together; a hen will generally sit flat to the perch, whilst the male will be more upright.” I believe this goes along with my observation that males “strut” their stuff during breeding season. They may sit higher to stay alert and protect their mate. However, at other times during the year, I see no difference in how they sit on a perch.

My bird pairs are mostly in cages of their own, 30 inches long by 18 inches wide and 18 inches high. The length allows Bourkes to fly in circles, something they do well.

Sags also says he thinks “hens will bite with a vengeance, much more than males when held.” I haven’t noticed any difference. However, I’ve learned how to catch or hold them so that I won’t be bitten. When reaching into a cage, I may use a washrag to capture birds I feel are likely to bite with “a vengeance.” Then they can bite the rag all they want to. I also keep a bird net handy in case one escapes, but I seldom need it. Of course, tame birds don’t bite!

When I was a kid my grandfather taught me how to hold wild budgerigar parakeets to avoid nips. You pin their head between the second knuckles of your first and second fingers so that they can't turn their head to bite. This hold works fine on Bourkes and Splendids too. See photo example at left.

Note that in the UK Bourkes are called Rosa Bourkes and in the U.S. we call them Rosy Bourkes – same birds. Sags added, “As you say Rosa is sex-linked, but a rosa hen paired to normal male will only produce normal looking coloured birds, the young males being split for rosa...unless the father is split for rosa (only males can be split) then you get both rosa and normals in the young males and hens.”

I didn’t know that only males could be splits. I have Normal males who produce Rosy hens, and realize they are splits (heterozygous), their father was a Rosy. All my Normal hens have only produced Normal males and Rosy hens. Their mates have all been Rosies. I expected that a Rosy hen with a Normal male would produce Rosy males and Normal hens. That’s what I had interpreted from what I’d read, but have not put it into practice before.

Recently, for the first time, I have a Rosy hen with a Normal male. Their first clutch was fertile, but the eggs didn’t hatch. If Sags is right, then all their young will be Normals. It will be interesting to watch this happen, if they manage to hatch their eggs. That hen is starting a new clutch now.

Sags said, “… I just wish I was as successful in breeding my birds. Things are not going too well so far (only last night I removed a dead chick, a lutino splendid)....I blame the British weather!”

When I have hens on eggs that are about to hatch, I make sure that the room they are in is at least 70 degrees or warmer. I think my success is because my birds live indoors where it’s always warm. They also get lots of light from large windows. Along with seeds, they get fresh greens and veggies too … maybe that helps.

Sags said, “Incidently, it’s my pictures in the link for sexing splendids. The wing bar is not 100% reliable, but helps when used with the differences in colour.”

Thanks again for your comments, Sags! I like your photos at: http://www.grassparakeets.talktalk.net/   It's a great site with wonderful web cam shots of babies in the nest!

P.S. I get my birds’ bands and bought the bird net from: L & M Bird Bands in San Bernardino, California. http://www.lmbirdlegbands.com/

May your birds bring you peace & joy. Here are two of my latest, almost adult babies.

Mate for Life? Well, maybe.

Many birds mate for life. Do parakeets?

The answer to that is, given the opportunity to select their own partner, most probably will mate for life. However, they aren’t averse to having their mates chosen for them, or even switched if appropriate.

Occasionally, you may find two parakeets who don’t like each other. If one scolds a lot, or chases the other, you can probably deduce they aren’t a good fit. In that case, changing them is a wise idea.

If you consider your birds and choose wisely, you shouldn’t have a problem. Most birds prefer not to be paired with a close relative. They seem instinctively to choose a mate who is unrelated and approximately the same age. You should do the same for them. When you do, they will typically settle in and accept your choice.

This said, several of my parakeets have had two or three mates in their lifetime so far, and have done well with the changes. One example of this is Chitter and Brandy who have raised three clutches this year. Rory and Bella have not. Bella asks to breed, but Rory doesn’t comply. I moved Chitter in with Bella and put Rory with Brandy. After a few weeks together, Chitter is breeding with Bella and she’s in the nestbox, probably laying fertile eggs this time.

Brandy’s nestbox is closed off, giving her a chance to regain strength and vitality. For their safety, I restrict hens to three clutches a season. Perhaps in the Fall I may open the box and see whether Rory is more responsive to her. If not, she may again get Chitter for a mate.

I’ve also paired birds that aren’t of the same age. Even though I prefer not to do that, I don’t always have a perfect mate. Most birds prefer having a mate to being left alone. So, unless they are finger tame and will get a lot of attention, I always provide a companion, even if only of the same sex.

One of my first Bourke parakeets is still alive and producing sons and daughters. He’s a great-great-great-great grandfather. Rhett lost Scarlett after a few years, then fed and cared for Willow, but they never had fertile eggs. When Cherry’s mate was moved to another hen because they weren’t producing, I put her with Rhett. Although neither of them was young, they’ve successfully raised two or three clutches a year for the past few years. It surprises me that they are on their 3rd clutch this year already. Their first was only one baby, then three babies and now she has two newly-hatched babies and three eggs still in the nest (one of them fostered). She’s amazing!

More on fostering eggs (and a baby!) in a later post.

Have a wonderful, blessed Easter.

Privacy Please ...

Mated bliss photos show male on top of hen below. Spicy, is a tame male Bourke with normal coloring. He is also the tiny, newly hatched chick being handfed in a side column photo. His Rosy mate, shown here, is Sugar. Photos may not be the best ... I didn't want to move in close enough to disturb them. Smile.

The Birds & the Bees, if You Please …

Birds do it, Bees do it, Even educated fleas do it, let's do it, let's fall in love… Sorry, this is only about birds.

The photo is of Budgies doing it, not unlike other varieties of parakeet. Bourke and Splendid cocks attract a hen by calling to them. Bourkes have a lovely song that includes a natural wolf whistle. Splendid calls are not as pretty, but seem to get the job done.

Once the lady enters his area, a male attempts to woo her by trying to feed her. If she is attracted to him, she will allow this. The quality of the regurgitated food probably proves what competent fathers they can be. A hen may wait a few days to get to know the gent, or she may decide she’s ready immediately.

Hens signal a willingness to mate by hunching down and raising their tails in the air. They also cheep loudly, issuing their “come on big boy!” call. During the mating process they often continue their encouraging cheeping. But not always…maybe it depends on his expertise.

Males tentatively place a foot on the back of the female. When they think she’s standing steady enough they will step up onto her back. They usually extend their wings for balance. Experienced males don’t have to dance back and forth, but inexperienced ones may wobble before proceeding. Sometimes the hen is knocked off her perch and may scold as she falls. To successfully mate, the male must lean to one side of the female and fold his tail under hers – all while keeping two feet securely on her back…a real balancing act for them both.

The male bird attempts to touch his vent area to hers. He doesn’t have a penis, but both birds seem to enjoy vent to vent contact as his sperm enters her. It’s all over in a matter of seconds and he hops off. It’s referred to as the “cloacal kiss.” If contact was made, she will sit still for a moment or two afterwards.

Some scientists believe that birds are descended from dinosaurs. Try to conjure up an image of two Tyrannosauruses based on the foregoing information. Tee Hee!

It’s assumed that the reason birds lay eggs is so that the babies can develop outside the hen, allowing her to fly without carrying the extra weight. That’s also an argument for why cocks carry their sexual organs inside; although there can be some swelling during mating season, allowing sperm to be farther from the body and kept cooler. If you’re interested in more details, there’s more information on the internet.

Sexing

SPLENDIDS: Young Splendid parakeets all look alike. The scarlet chest develops on the males as they mature, and the timing of this varies. I had a young clutch of three all get scarlet chests before another male who was hatched a few months earlier. So, it can vary. However, sometimes sex can be determined by looking under their wings. Males tend to have a black band beneath their wings, whereas, females have white bands. If the bands are broken, you may have to wait and see whether the white bands fill in or disappear.

BOURKES: Bourke parakeets are harder to sex. Yet, males often display at an early age. They throw their shoulders back and slightly flair their wings. I’ve never seen a female do this. It’s a male display activity. Females tend to have darker faces than the males, and supposedly the top of their head is flatter. However, good luck with either of those methods. Pink and Rosy Bourke colorations vary widely. Normal Bourke males will develop a tiny ridge of blue feathers above their cere (nostrils). If you look closely at a mature bird, this will be present in the males and absent in females.

Rosy Bourke colorations are sex linked. Because of that, if you have a mixed pair (a Rosy and a Normal brown); you will know what sexes you have as soon as pin feathers begin to show on the babies. Their offspring will typically be the color of the parent of the opposite sex. So a Rosy father will have Rosy daughters. The Normal hen will produce Normal sons. The opposite is true too. A Rosy hen will have Rosy sons and a Normal cock with have Normal daughters.

I have one pair of Normals who actually produce 50% Rosies. The male in the pair had a Rosy father, so he is a split Normal. All the Rosies have been daughters and all the Normals have been males. If you want to learn more about this, you can search for Homozygous and Heterozygous traits in birds.

An interesting website, Visual Wings, describes a number of Australian parakeets. It’s at: http://www.grassparakeet.com/index.htm

By the way, Fuchsia is doing fine and eating on her own now. Her mother is back on eggs, so to protect those offspring, I expect to pull them within a week of their hatch and hand feed them. As I mentioned earlier one of the parents (unsure which one) killed Fuchsia’s younger sibling and injured Fuchsia’s wing. The parents are in a cage of their own, so another bird didn’t do this. I suspect it was the father, but he successfully raised three babies with another hen (who scolded him constantly, maybe to protect her babies). All our other pairs have proven themselves to be reliable parents and I believe this is very unusual.

Until next time. Enjoy your birds.