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!

A Baby Bourke’s Future Color

If you keep mixed couples, i.e., one Normal Bourke and one Rosy Bourke, you may wonder what their newly hatched babies are going to look like.

The Bourke book I own, published in the UK, says that Normals will have gray fuzz and Rosies will have white fuzz, and that’s how you can tell what they are going to be. Balderdash! All my fuzzy little baby Bourkes look the same even though some grow up to be Normals and some grow up to be Rosies. They all appear to have fuzz that’s more white than gray, sort of an off-white.

Maybe early Rosy babies were fuzzy white and Normals with no heterozygous genes were fuzzy gray? Mine always look alike, even when both colors are in the same clutch.

That said, there is another way to guess their future color. From their feet! Most Normals have dark feet and those destined to grow mostly pink feathers will have pink feet. That said, one of my current Rosy babies has feet with both brown and pink skin. It has no other Normal features, so I think you can safely assume that a baby bird with “striped” feet will be Rosy. The striping is unusual though.

Once their feathers begin to bud out, you will soon recognize pink dots of color on the backs of the Rosies.

As a reminder, Bourke color is sex-linked and babies will be the color of the parent of the opposite sex. This means a Rosy dad and a Normal mom will produce males that are Normal Bourkes and all their hens will be Rosy Bourkes and vice versa; a Rosy hen will produce Rosy sons and her Normal mate will produce Normal hens.

I have one pair, however, who produce 50/50 of each color and both are Normals. The male had a Rosy father and a Normal mother, so he is the Normal color. Apparently he’s heterozygous. All his progeny who are pink have been hens. All the Normals have been male. If you want more explanation of homozygous and heterozygous, query the internet. There’s more info. out there than I can provide. Suffice it to say that he carries the gene for Rosies, as apparently did many other Normals, or we wouldn’t have our beautiful Rosies. Smile.

May you have Rose-colored Blessings Galore.

Breeding The Colorful Little Grass Parakeet  $29.99 from Amazon

Splendid Reflections: 40 Years of Grass Parrakeet Husbandry  $29.28 from Amazon

Sexing Bourkes

You may already know how to sex normal Bourkes (those with brown backs). Adult males grow a narrow row of blue feathers above their cere (nose/nostrils). Females don't have that line of blue, and typically neither do Rosies.

Sexing Rosies or young birds is more difficult. I'm not a vet and can't peer inside the birds, or do a DNA sample. But, watching the birds will often give a clue as to their sex. Males tend to strut their stuff by throwing their shoulders back and slightly flairing their wings at the shoulder. This is an obvious clue that they are male. Sometimes youngsters will start to do this almost as soon as they are weaned (eating on their own).

Another clue is if they attempt to "feed" a sibling. When this occurs, the one doing the feeding is likely male. Very young birds can be seen "practicing" this behavior. Don't, however, mistake this for when they are trying to steal food from each other's mouths!

Male Bourkes feed their hen during courtship and when she's on eggs. As soon as young leave the nest, father Bourkes take over most of their feeding. So, male feeding comes naturally to them, even at a young age.

As for identifying very young hens, that's not as easy. All you can do is say, "well, I don't see any male behavior, so this is probably a hen."  You have a 50/50 chance of being right!  

Peace & Bird Blessings.

PINK-EYED BOURKE

UPDATE, Sept., 2011: This year this hen produced seven babies in two clutches and one healthy baby has pink eyes.  Also, her daughter and granddaughter have produced beautiful, healthy pink-eyed babies this year. Go to Sept. 2011 posts for photos of them.


August, 2010:
Sad news. The pink-eyed baby did die.

His parents have raised many, many healthy clutches, but the three they've had with pink eyes have never survived past two weeks.  All the dark-eyed chicks have done well and became adult birds.

He was found dead in the nestbox yesterday morning. His two dark-eyed siblings are both doing well.

This photo shows all three babies with their mother. This was taken the day before he died. This hen never fussed when I reached in to take him out to feed him; or when I took the others out to be banded. Raising chicks is nothing new for her and she trusts us.

The comment attached to my previous post (generously provided by a reader, thank you!) says that Gouldian finches that hatch with dark stomachs like this baby, have a liver problem and don’t survive. Maybe that was one of this baby’s problems.

I’ve asked myself all the usual questions. Should I have gotten up more times in the middle of the night to feed him? Was he warm enough, etc.  It must be human nature to question ourselves, and we often feel guilty over the loss of someone or something we love and care about.

My husband reminded me that I still blame myself for the crib death of my first child 40 years ago, as does a friend of mine who also lost her first daughter in a similar manner. Could we, should we, have done something differently? Yet, so many neglected or abused children live to adulthood. Why do others, lovingly cared for, sometimes die anyway? The answer to this, and to the death of this baby bird, is that we cannot know the answer. It is in the hands of a power much greater than us.

It was obvious from the start that this baby had serious handicaps and wasn’t growing quickly enough. It was a sweet little thing and I enjoyed it while it was here. Am I sad? Yes. Am I going to continue second guessing whether I did everything right? No.

Laugh at me if you wish, but I like to imagine that this baby is flitting around heavenly trees right now, making a beautiful pink splash of color in an already beautiful, perfect place.

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.

Tuesday Baby Photos

Homely little 8-day-old baby Bourke parakeet. The blur by his beak comes from throwing his head back suddenly. You can see right through their stomach and craw at this age.  He is out of the nest in order to be banded. Banding usually takes place at 7-9 days. He's #16. The band reads EGL is for our aviary, OR for Oregon, and 10 represents hatched in 2010.

The additional black plastic band tells me who his parents are after he's grown and on his own. In this case, Bonnie & Clyde.

The tiny lid holds mineral oil that helps the bands to slide on easily. A flat toothpick aids in getting the fourth and smallest toe out of the band after it's first slipped over the three longest toes.

We've already had as many baby Bourkes this year as we had all of 2009 (it wasn't a good year). The beginning of 2010 is starting to be a wonderful year for baby Bourkes. This little fellow has a sibling in the nest, and three other hens are currently on fertile eggs.

Just to prove this little baby is alive and well ... Here are some of his older siblings. They like to fly and land on me in all sorts of places. Fortunately, in this photo at least, not on my head!

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.

Differences in Newly-Hatched Parakeet Varieties

For the fun of it, here are photos of new baby Budgies, baby Bourkes and baby Splendids, just to compare the differences.

A baby Budgerigar parakeet.

An albino baby Budgie parakeet.

Budgerigar parakeets don't have fuzz and hatch out completely bald. Notice the one on the left has dark eye sockets and the other doesn't. The one on the right grew to have pink eyes, an albino. It is five days old already and still not fuzzy.

Newly hatched Rosy Bourke parakeets. Not bald like Budgies.

Bourkes sometimes have pink eyes too, but their feathers are typically still pink, although their faces are often white. You can always tell who will have pink eyes and who won't, by the color of the sockets even before they open their eyes. These all have dark sockets. Baby Bourkes show very pink skin under their fuzzy down. Of all newly hatched babies, I think Bourkes are the cutest. There are four babies shown here, huddled together. Unlike Budgies, Bourkes like pine shavings or something similar under them, rather than an indented wood surface. So do Splendids.

Splendid (Scarlet-chested) Parakeet chicks also hatch with fuzz.

These are Splendid/Scarlet-chested baby parakeets in my hands. Their skin color is slightly darker and more tan-toned than pink like the Bourkes. They, too, have soft fuzzy down, but less than on the Bourkes. And, certainly more than on a Budgerigar!

Splendid Parakeet chicks (also called Scarlet-chested parakeets).
They have more "fuzz" than Budgies, but less than Bourke parakeets.
All three varieties of parakeet are approximately the same size.

Brand New Out of the Egg

Cherry's no longer young, and she still hatched this little fellow only moments ago. I noticed her out of the nest being fed by her mate and thought I'd check. I really didn't expect to find a baby, but voila! Good for her!  Baby is still wet with a piece of his broken shell near by.

Although she's had eggs that didn't hatch in the past, she always successfully raises every one of her hatchlings, so I expect this one to be fine. This baby is only minutes old.  As an experienced mother, she's not bothered by my meddling.  ;-)  This is the sixth baby from four clutches at present, so I'm excited. Two other mothers have two babies each, and won't be hatching other eggs in their current clutches. Cherry and Candy, however, have a baby each with the potential for other eggs to hatch.

Our first babies this Fall. Mom with four youngsters. All are one to two weeks old.

Nest Boxes

Small parakeets like Bourkes and Splendids are resourceful. I had one hen lay an egg in a feedcup for lack of a nest box. If that happens, it's time to give her an appropriate place for her clutch.

Even an oatmeal carton, open at one end, and put on the bottom of a cage, has been used by Bourkes to raise healthy babies. However, there are better options. Thin wood, like plywood, makes a sturdy nest box. You want to hinge the top, or have a sliding door at one end, in order to check on your babies and later to clean out the box for re-use. I like to hang the boxes outside the cage, leaving the birds with as much flying area as possible. That means cutting wire holes in the cages, but they are meant to be breeding cages anyhow.

As an aside, if you are using a cage instead of an aviary for Bourkes, they need flying space. Tall cages are not the right kind. An oblong cage allows them to fly in circles and exercise - something they do quite well.

Normally a hen won't attempt to mate until she has a safe place to lay her eggs. Adding a nest box will encourage her to mate. When she's ready, she raises her tail and cheeps at her mate. He has probably been feeding her for days or weeks before. It's a way to prove he's capable of caring for her and her babies as he will feed her while she's on eggs. Later when the babies hatch, he feeds her and she feeds the young until they leave the nest. That way the "milk" that's regurgitated for the young has been processed twice before they get it.

Males Bourkes show off for hens by standing up straight and slightly puffing out their wings at the shoulder. This shoulder lifting is a way to determine sex in young Bourkes. They'll do it around any nearby hens. Since Rosy's are difficult to sex, I watch for this behavior. Normal Bourke males, when mature, have a tiny line of blue feathers above their nostrils that the hens don't have. Once you get to know your Bourkes, however, you'll recognize the differences in the behaviors of the two sexes.

Budgies only require an indentation in the bottom of their box to allow the eggs to gather together. An indentation for Bourkes and Splendids is a good idea, however, they may not use it. Therefore, I also put pine shavings (commercially called pine bedding for small pets) in my boxes. About one to two inches is adequate. Some of my hens dig down to the bare surface to lay their eggs, others simply press it down until it forms a bowl indentation.

Pine shavings help keep the nest cleaner after the babies hatch. It should be discarded after the young leave the nest. If you leave it there too long, the hen may go back to the nest to lay eggs again, and you don't want to disturb her, but you don't want your next clutch raised in a dirty nest either. I admit, however, that when hens have raised only one baby, I've allowed them to go back and raise two or three more young in rapid succession.

Most hens keep a very clean nest. It's when three or four babies begin to grow that the nest becomes soiled. I've been known to remove babies and replace their pine shavings with clean if it seems to need it. It never bothered them, or their parents, to do this. I wouldn't do it with newly hatched chicks though. I'd wait until they start to show some beginning feathers.

If you know anything about Australian birds, you know that they should be kept out of drafts. Mother birds keep their babies warm, but I still like to keep my bird rooms no cooler than 68 degrees. Usually, around 70-72 degrees Farenheit. They could probably withstand cooler temps., but they fare better if they don't get cold.

Most years I put up boxes in February and have babies by May. I let mated pairs have two clutches (sometimes three depending on how healthy & eager the hen appears) before removing the boxes. That's usually about August or September. More than two or three clutches a year will stress your birds. It's better to keep them healthy and producing year after year.

Next: Banding Babies