Flame & Fuchsia's Babies on Video

Flame and Fuchsia are parents of three baby Rosy Bourke Parakeets. They're less than two weeks old in this video taken July 3, 2014.

Peace & Blessings to all.

Have a SAFE, Celebratory Fourth of July.

Past Questions For Rosie Bird

Questions to Rosie Bird And The Emailed Answers. Some From Last Year, But Topics Are Relevant.

Fuchsia inspecting new nest box as Flame looks on.

QUESTION: What to Feed
Hi. My name is Luis and I just bought my first pair of Bourke parakeets. Can you tell me more about them? What you feed yours.  What type of fruit you feed yours. I read an article and it said no fruit because it not good for them. Is that true?  Honestly I never knew they existed until I found an article on the splendid parakeet. I plan on getting a pair of those eventually but I liked the pink. If you could help me out. Thanks.

Male Splendid Parakeet outside nest box.

ANSWER: I've never read that fruit in general is harmful and have offered apples and oranges to mine, but they ignore them. Avocados are a fruit that is poisonous to them. Avoid avocado!

In addition to parakeet seed and spray millet, they love many vegetables: kale, peas, green beans, corn, lettuce, shredded carrots. They will also chew on breads. Egg food can be made with boiled chicken eggs, blend shell and all, and add some dry bread crumbs, everything blended together. Always have calcium available, usually with cuddle bone, mineral block, oyster shell grit, and as I've mentioned in past posts on my blog, rabbit salt blocks contain iodine which the birds will chew too. It's good for them.

Below is a link to one of my posts about what they can eat. You can also use the search feature and type in "nutrition." Bourkes are wonderful birds.

http://thesplendidbourkebirdblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/healthy-additions-for-your-birds-diet.html

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QUESTION: When to Toss Out Old Eggs    
My hen’s been sitting on eggs for three weeks already. Will she toss them out of the nest box?? I believe I have a pair. One is all pink and the other one gray with blue and a little pink. I named him pinky.


Fuchsia with five offspring. Never throw out eggs.
Let the mother bird decide when to abandon them.

ANSWER:  Typically, I leave the eggs until the hen abandons them herself. I think that is best for her. Also, there is the possibility that a last laid egg might still be fertile. This year, one of my hens laid five eggs and the last three were fertile, but not the first two. I left those in the nest for quite a while before removing them. And, when I did, I candled them (held a bright light next to them to be sure they were clear).

If you remove the eggs before she abandons them, the hen may not trust you with her next clutch and be more afraid when you look into her box. Also, if the eggs don't hatch and she knows they weren't "stolen" maybe she will realize herself why they didn't hatch and make sure the next clutch is fertile.  You have a better chance of having good eggs the second time if you don’t remove the first “bad” clutch.

Are you sure she has a male for a mate? Two hens will lay eggs without a male. Sometimes both lay eggs so there are too many in the nest and that's an indication.  However, with Normal Bourkes you can identify males easily. They have a tiny line of blue feathers about the cere (nose). The one you described sounds like a Normal.

Did your male display? Throw his shoulders back, stand tall and flare his wings out for the hen? If not, you might have two hens. Or, perhaps one or both birds are too young and that's why the eggs aren't fertile. If that's the case, future clutches should turn out better. 

Best of luck next time around. Bourke hens go right back and lay a 2nd clutch...another reason to let her decide when to abandon this one.
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A pair of Normal (wild colored) Bourke Parakeets.

QUESTION: Male Bourke Aggression & About Harvesting Weeds

My male Bourke got really upset when the hen got out of the box one time and started picking her feathers until she went back in. And he stands guard.  I’m pretty sure her eggs aren’t any good.

Also, do you know what weeds we can give them???

ANSWER:  Some bird breeders talk about harvesting weeds for the birds...newly sprouted are best. But, I've never done that. No one has ever pointed out to me what is safe and what isn't, so I don't do it. I give Kale and broccoli, cooked corn, carrots, peas ... I know there are wild things available, but I don't harvest them. For one thing, my indoor birds are protected from any illnesses that might be carried by wild birds.

Bourke hens don't usually toss their old or infertile eggs. They just quit going in the box. If he's harassing her, that doesn't sound good. Usually the hens are dominant. Does he have a tiny strip of blue over his nostrils (cere)? Normals have this, but Rosies do not. As I said, it sounds odd that he "makes" her stay in the box. That's not typical male Bourke behavior. They are usually hen-pecked by their mates.

If removing the eggs will make him quit it, then I'd remove them. But, check for that blue line of feathers ... it's tiny. If it's not there, maybe the reason the bird is aggressive is that it's actually another hen. If you have two hens, they can pair up when a male isn't available. Although, I'd expect both to go in and lay eggs in the same box.  Better luck next time.


Two Opaline Fallow Rosy Bourkes with red eyes.

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QUESTION: How to Follow Blog

Hi, I’m becoming interested in the Bourkes!  I have 4 pair (3 rosies and 1 rainbow?).  I have one lone normal female, for whom I am seeking a male.  I like them because they are so quiet and gentle (seemingly?).  Don't know how to "join" your blog or if you are continuing with it, etc.

Thanks for the information that I read earlier.

 ANSWER:  Hello Jimmy, My blog has three columns; hopefully you can see all three. I moved the sign-ups toward the top of the first column. Enter your email address and push "Submit." Then you should get an email notice every time I post. The blog is still active. I don't post as often as I used to (or want to) because I've written a novel and am trying to get through the edits so that it can reach publication.

Believe me, blogging is a lot more fun and I feel guilty not spending more time editing the novel. The publisher, Cape Arago Press, is after me to hurry it up.

Good luck finding a mate for your normal Bourke hen. Too bad you don't live in Oregon. Smile.

One more thought. If you push the HOME button on the upper left, it will return you to the last post that went up. It sounds like your search took you somewhere else. Or, click here:
 http://thesplendidbourkebirdblog.blogspot.com/

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QUESTION: Unexplained Sudden Death of a Parent Bird
Hi I have two Bourke parakeets that have four young hatchlings. Yesterday I got home to find my male, only 1.5 years old, dead on the bottom of the cage. He was very healthy, eating good, singing, flying around. I have no idea what could have caused this and am now concerned about the babies. Do you think my female will be able to feed them enough by herself? Or do you have any suggestions as to what could have caused this and what I should do?  Thanks, Laura



Hand feeding Rosy Bourkes at approx. 3 weeks of age.

ANSWER:  Hello Laura, First, get some hand feeding formula immediately and watch the babies closely to see if their crops are full. You may have to hand feed to keep them alive. I had one hen whose mate didn't help her feed (he was younger than she). She refused to feed two of the four babies. One died before I realized it and I had to hand feed the fourth, youngest baby.

That was Spicy, the first bird I ever hand fed. She accepted him back into the nest and he stayed warm with his remaining two siblings, but she would not feed him.

I use Exact Hand Feeding formula, but get some immediately and have it ready. The directions are on the package. You can put the babies back in the nest and hopefully she will keep them warm and feed them. They will also help keep one another warm. If she appears to have abandoned them, you may need to provide warmth and food.
Sorry about your male.

ANOTHER QUESTION FROM LAURA:
I actually have some on hand [hand feeding formula] just in case, although I have never hand fed a baby. Right now the babies are 1-1.5 weeks. How often do you think I should supplement feed?

ANSWER: How Often to Hand Feed and Loss of a Parent
I hope you got the earlier email about being ready to hand feed. In fact, if it were me, I might pull the babies anyway...yet, they might be a comfort to your hen. Or, she may be so depressed she will abandon them. In any case, it's very sad.

If they’re only a week old, I’d recommend five feedings during the day and one in the middle of the night. At two weeks, continue with five feedings and stop the one at night. By three weeks, you can go to four feedings, and then three, etc. When they have feathers, offer nestling food and parakeet (budgie) seed. Chopped fresh broccoli is good for them too, as well as spray millet. You want to have foods ready for them to “try” to eat. Even once they’ve begun to eat a bit on their own, you still need to supplementally hand feed until they quit asking to be fed.  However, they may continue “begging” longer than necessary. The birds all like hand feeding formula. 

Hand feeding Rosy Bourkes at about 2 weeks of age.
Tame parents are keeping a close watch on the event.

Feeding babies is physically stressful for parent birds. If your male wasn't strong for whatever reason, then the added stress of feeding his mate and starving himself may have had something to do with it. I hope you are giving them egg food. It's easy to make and extremely good for feeding parents (see recent post). I also give nestling food that is higher in energy than just seed (they also always have budgie seed). They get cut up fresh kale and/or broccoli. They get cooked mixed veggies too...corn, peas, carrots, green beans. They can survive on just seed, but not as well. Especially if there is anything else going on.

I keep an excess of food in their cages all the time. If they run out, the male is likely to be the first to feel the loss as he feeds as much as he can to his mate. They also consume a lot of water when feeding babies. I give them fresh, cold water at least twice a day when they're raising young. They need water present all the time, so I have two cups and a bottle of water on the side of the cage as well.

About your male...It's impossible to know what he died of if there are no outward signs of injury. An avian vet can do an autopsy if you want them to. I took a 3-year-old hen to a vet who shipped her body to an avian vet about a four-hour drive away. She only took birds from other vets...wouldn't do it any other way.

The result was that this 3-year-old hen was obese. She'd never mated or laid an egg. I'd fed her and the other birds lots of corn, which they love, and safflower seeds, which they also loved. After that diagnosis that the fat on her organs had killed her, I quit giving safflower to my birds and cut way down on the corn...they are both high in fat. A parenting bird uses more fat, but she'd never been a parent or even laid an egg.

 

I'm very sorry for your loss. It couldn't have come at a worse time with babies in the nest. However, do everything you can to supplement the food for your hen. She's going to be more physically stressed then ever if she attempts to continue to keep her babies going. Also, in the past she's had food that he already ate, so it was thinner than what she's going to have to process herself.

I highly recommend helping her with lots of extra good food. Is she tame? If so, that's a plus because it will make it easier. If she's not, then I'd be tempted to pull the babies and begin hand feeding. Of course their age is a factor too. If they are small they will accept the hand feeding easier than if they are already feathering. And, if they are bigger, she has to feed them more food, so that's harder on her. I tend to hope they are still small... If so, consider pulling them to hand feed. They will be very tame and sweet afterwards, and their survival is more likely.

Best of luck. Don't hesitate to write with any further questions.

ADDITIONAL ANSWER:  So your babies are tiny. That's probably a good thing. Have you checked their crops? The widowed mother bird might gradually begin to feed them less and less (or not). I'd keep a close watch on them. If she's doing great right now and for the next few days, it doesn't necessarily mean she always will.

So, I'd let her feed them for another few days (if she does, keep checking). Then at 2 weeks, I'd pull them out and begin feeding with an eyedropper. Follow your directions and make sure the food isn't too hot. I test it like a baby's bottle on my wrist to be sure it's not too hot.

Parent fed baby Bourke.
 Look how they stuff them soooo full!

Manufacturers recommend a thermometer, but I'm lazy and my wrist is easier. Keeping the food warm is an issue. You need a tiny bowl, it cools fast, so when it does I sit it in another larger bowl with boiling water to help keep it warm...first you let it cool to very warm, then you try to warm it up...a problem, but do-able.

As the babies mature, they can take cooler formula...say when their feathers are almost full.  I always have extra left over...don't reuse it. Mix it fresh every time.

I think I'd allow them to remain in the nest box and see if she goes in with them. She may continue to feed them, but your helping will be a great boost. Or, if you prefer, you can remove them to a box, but you have to keep them warm. If she totally abandons them (I doubt she will, Bourkes are sweet, good birds)...but, if she does, move them to a box or something where you can add extra heat to keep them warm. I put them near a small space heater; they're in a cardboard box with pine shavings in the bottom...the top closes tightly.

At their age, I think you can avoid feeding in the middle of the night. But for the first few times I'd look at their crops. If they are empty, feed them! If they are almost empty, feed them. The books say let them get totally empty...I don't do that. I think it's more risky. If you watch the parents they gorge their babies until they look like they'll pop. So, I feed them all that I can.

When I was new to hand feeding I let myself get stressed over any air in a baby bird’s crop. Be sure you have no air bubbles in your feeding tube or eye dropper. But, if you see a little air in the crop, I've never lost one because of it and have seen it with parent fed babies too.  Some books say this is deadly, but it doesn't appear to be...at least not for Bourkes. 

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Splendid hen above, male below.

QUESTION: On Sexing Splendid Parakeets

I just read one of your posts on sexing Splendid parakeets and it mentioned a white bar on the underside of the wing for females. Is that something that comes in later or should it be there on a 4-month old female? The one I just purchased does not have a white band under either wing. Just curious.

ANSWER:  They usually get this banding very early. I had one baby that had broken white bars. I thought it would be female, but the white bars eventually faded into black and it was male. Solid bars indicate a female... Broken bars can be either one. All black under the wing is male.

Or, sometimes Turquoisines are mistaken for Splendids. You either have a male Splendid parakeet or a female Turquoisine parakeet.

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QUESTION:  Best Age to Hand Feed

Hello I’m trying this time around to hand raise my baby rosa Bourke parrot. When is the right time to start doing this?

ANSWER:  I'd start feeding at two to three weeks, but no later. Two and a half weeks might be optimum. You can start even earlier if you’re comfortable doing so. Once they've started to feather they are harder to get to accept hand feeding instead of their parents’ food. Be sure to keep the baby warm and away from drafts.

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QUESTION: On Splayed Legs

Baby Splendid with splayed legs.
They're splinted together here.

Thanks so much for the information. I have another problem. One of the babies in the nest has legs that stick out the front near its beak. Is there any way I can fix its legs or will it need to go to heaven, or is that normal?

I have only had the birds a short time and when they came to me they were very skinny and I didn’t expect them to lay.  I wormed them and kept them on a vitamin liquid. Could the cause of it be that they were very skinny?

ANSWER: Birds with splay legs usually develop it from sitting in the nest incorrectly. Do you have pine shavings or something similar in the bottom of the nest box? If you notice a baby while young enough you can attempt to move the legs to their proper location. I'd like to see a photo of the defect if that's possible.
 I have some posts about splay legs. Here is one:

 http://thesplendidbourkebirdblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/parakeet-leg-defect.html

The baby in that post only had one leg extended incorrectly and my attempts to fix it were probably started too late, or I didn't leave the splints on long enough. At any rate, I gave her away to a teenage girl who has had her for a year. I recently got an email from her saying how much she loves the bird. It flies just fine and can roost on one leg. Birds are amazingly adaptive.

Another reader had a young Splendid whose legs splayed out from side to side. She tied the baby's legs together early on and hand fed the bird. Its legs went back to normal by the time it was weaned. In that case, both legs were splayed. My Bourke only had one leg splayed and when I tied it to the other leg, it pulled the good leg off to the side and I was afraid I might cause an injury to it. Better one bad leg, then two. That's when I added a match stick between them, but the bad leg still pulled the other out of alignment. Wasn't sure what I should do and removed the splint. The bird still has its splayed leg. But, the Splendid with two legs held slightly apart, but prevented from splaying, recovered normally.

My attempt to correct a splayed leg. They're splinted.

Before you decide to put your bird down, or as you said, send it to heaven, wait and see how well it survives. It could be that it will move around in spite of the deformity. It might make someone a nice single pet even if it requires more consideration than most birds.

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QUESTION: Making a Nest Box For Mealy Amazons

I was browsing and looking for how to make a nesting box for my mealy amazon pair and ended up on your blog site. I was wondering if you could help me how to make nesting box for them?  Emil from Iceland


Mealy Amazon Parrot from Google
Images. Attributed to rightpet.com

ANSWER:  Hello Emil, I didn't answer right away because I wasn't sure about mealy amazons, and have since done some research. Since mealy amazons lay in hollow trees, a wooden nest box should work well, just as it does for my parakeets. However, it has to be larger, of course. Because they like to chew and will probably knaw on the nest box opening, a thicker wood is probably called for.
I found a recommended nest box size at the following website:
 http://animalworld.com/encyclo/birds/amazons/mealyamazon.php#Breeding/Reproduction

Here is their recommendation: Mealy Amazons require a nest box "that is 31"-39" (80-100 cm) high with an inside diameter of 12"-14" (30-35 cm) and an opening of 4"-5" (10-12 cm). Provide some soft bedding material inside on the bottom of the box."

Have you looked at the tab at the top of my blog that gives directions for making a parakeet nest box? You could use the same instructions, but make the dimensions bigger as indicated above. I put pine shavings in the bottom of our boxes. They're available for hamster cages and other small rodent cages, but work perfectly for lining Bourke parakeet boxes. I put in about an inch, but with the amazons it would need to be deeper...possibly three inches or more.

Best of Luck Everyone … With All Your Breeding Endeavors!

 

Young Rosy Bourkes, recently fledged and weaned.

Baby Lady Gouldian Finches

Here they are, stuffed full and all five are doing well!

Have to say though, that a clutch of bald, dark-skinned baby Gouldians with mouths only a mother could love are not as appealing as fuzzy baby Bourkes or Splendids. With apologies to all Gouldian breeders, even bald baby Budgies are cuter, and so are baby Zebra finches. Smile.


However, in another week or two, they will be feathered and adorable. That is if we ignore, or get used to their mouths. The dots (or papillae) around their beaks are intended to reflect incoming light inside a dark nest to show parents where to place the food. Probably very effective.

I'm not sure when these disappear, but will learn as they mature and will share that information with you.

The parents are now spending more time outside the nest box than in it. The weather is warmer and I assume the babies keep each other warm enough that Mom doesn't have to stay with them all the time like she was doing until recently.

 

Peace & Blessings!

Bourkes Laying Too Many Eggs. Why and What to Do.

Someone searching the internet for "my Bourkes are laying too many eggs," reached my site. I haven't addressed this question before, so here goes...

More than one hen in this box.

First, are you sure you have a pair of Bourkes and not two hens? Bourke hens—especially sisters or mothers and daughters—will sometimes share a nestbox, hence many eggs although not all from the same bird. If you have multiple hens present, provide at least one nestbox per hen. Extra's are even better so that they won't argue over the same box.

Are they in an aviary setting with several birds and not everyone has a mate? A hen alone will often lay many eggs if she doesn't have a male with her. She can be so eager to raise babies that she just keeps laying. I've seen Normal Bourke hens (wild color) do this more often than Rosy Bourkes.

If you're certain you have a pair, one male and one female, they may not be compatible and haven't bred. If her first clutch wasn't fertile, she may lay more eggs in an effort to have fertile eggs. The later eggs just might be fertile, so don't remove any of them unless you know for sure when each was laid. This is often not an easy thing to determine as, unlike some other birds, Bourkes go right back to laying. If you're lucky, the hen's first infertile eggs will simply help keep later fertile eggs warm.

I had one Normal Bourke hen who sat on a dozen eggs and four hatched! Having too many didn't mean that the fertile ones were harmed because there were too many. She managed to cover all of them. The first ones she laid were not fertile, then she bred and added to her clutch. I could have candled the eggs and removed those that appeared to have no life, but decided not to bother her.

If your bird is fairly tame, you can pick up eggs and hold them over a flashlight, but wait to be sure you know they are several days old before doing that. After a few days red vessels begin to show in fertile eggs. Myself, I'd rather let the hens decide which eggs are good and which are not. I usually leave them alone until the hens give up on them.

Fluffed out as far as possible to cover all the eggs.

Broken shell indicates an egg has hatched!

Experienced hens can tell the difference between good or bad eggs. Infertile eggs help keep the others warm and should be left there. Even after babies hatch, any remaining eggs add warmth. Eventually, eggs dry out and become very light. At that time, hens usually discard them if you haven’t already. They will push aside eggs that are no good, maybe even toss them out of the nestbox onto the ground.

I usually don't remove extra eggs until all the babies leave the nest. Then the nestbox should be cleaned anyway before it is used again.

If you are unsure about an egg, perhaps you think it's old, but worry about tossing out a good egg; here's a test. Take a cup of warm water (not hot, not cold, but warm to your touch), and gently place the egg in it. Good eggs sink. Old eggs float. Floaters can be thrown away. Gently pat the good egg off and replace it. A little moisture won't hurt it. In fact, hens need a water source for bathing as they may need to take water in their feathers back to the nest to keep the eggs moist.

Be sure to have lots of calcium sources available for your birds. Each pair should have a cuddle bone, mineral block and it's wise to add oyster shell. Some birds will ignore the other two, but use the oyster shell. Fresh greens are excellent too. Our birds love kale. If you have only one bird, it is still wise to offer fresh greens, although more important for breeding birds. On an earlier post, I gave the calcium amounts in various fresh foods.

After a hen has raised two or three clutches, remove the nestbox and let her rest for the remainder of the year before returning it. Or, at the very least, leave a minimum of three or four months between her previous clutches before returning the nestbox. I prefer to limit my birds to three clutches a year as I don't want to over-tax them. Returning nestboxes stimulates them to breed, as does day length — either natural or artificial light for twelve or more hours per day. If you don't want to raise birds and they are still laying even without a nest box, add more hours of darkness. If necessary, cover the cage with a dark cloth for two or three hours a day. You can also remove whatever they are laying eggs in ... a feed cup, for instance.

I've talked mostly about hens, however, the males also work hard at raising the young. They feed the hen while she's on the nest and once the eggs hatch, their work steps up. They must feed her more often. Some males enter the box to help feed the young, but normally they wait until the babies are feathering before doing this. After the babies leave the nest, they still need to be fed and most males take this over almost exclusively. By now, most hens are thin and need to recover. Depending on how many youngsters he has to feed, he's kept very busy. Older males may suffer more than younger ones and should be watched closely.

One of my older pairs were on their third clutch last summer when I decided to pull their two-week old babies and hand feed them. Rhett, my first Bourke was looking slightly "natty" and mom was too thin. These are not young birds, but they still want to produce, so I've let them. Although I took their babies, they weren't upset. Perhaps because they felt they'd done enough, were tired and glad to be empty nesters for a while. Also, they could hear their young when I fed them. The babies were moved to a small cardboard box, and placed near a space heater. Now, I’ve become so attached to these tame sweethearts, that I probably will never sell them. That's a risk when you hand feed!

Have a SAFE and SANE New Year's Eve.

Remember, you don't need alcohol to have a good time.

God Bless and Protect you and yours through 2011!

A Reader Question & Answer

Richard writes:

"I have 2 baby Rosy's. One left nest too early and parents pecked it. I removed it and have had no problem hand feeding it. The 2nd one stayed in nest for about 6 or 7 days then left which caused the parents to peck it as well. the 2nd one is prob 3 or 4 days older than the 1st one. This second baby will not submit to hand feeding, therefore I am sorta force feeding it. it has lost some weight but now is about 15 to 18 days old and seems active and loves to fly. Has anybody experienced this behavior. it is hard to weigh them but I think they are around 1 1/2 ounce. Thanks in advance for any response. RICHARD"

The only reason I can think of for parents to peck their own young is that they want to go back and start another clutch. In the wild, once young birds are old enough to fend for themselves, their parents will try to chase them off. That's true of most birds, not only Bourkes. I suspect that your babies may not have left on their own. Their parents may have chased them out of the nest. Or, if there are other birds present, sometimes birds who want that nest box will try to steal it and injure the young in it. If you have multiple birds in an aviary, I'd make sure there were several more nest boxes present than pairs of birds. 

It's sad that your babies from this pair seem to be out of the nest too early. I'm glad you were watching and able to protect the young ones.  The baby that you say doesn't want to be hand fed ... usually they adapt to it eventually unless they are already able to feed themselves. I'd be sure you have other food available for it. Spray millet is supposed to be the easiest food for young birds to begin eating on their own. I've been adding breadcrumbs and other things to my hand fed babies' diets and they seem to enjoy them.

I've found that they love shredded wheat cereal, and will chew on a rice crispy or a corn flake, but don't like them as well. They love fresh greens, especially Kale and Spinach. I also offer mixed vegetables (previously frozen). They don't get any of this every day...just as it's convenient to provide it. A variety of parakeet seed mix is always present, however, as are two or more sources of fresh water. That way, they can begin trying to feed themselves even before they are ready and gradually work into it. By the time they are fully feathered, parakeet seed should be available. They may be too young, but they can still try to work with it and learn as they go.

My birds are not in an outside aviary...they are all inside pets...all 28 of them at present! Much of the year, our weather here is too cold & damp outside. Bringing Bourkes inside and interacting with them helps to tame them. Even the birds I bought wild as adults are so used to me now that I can reach in and out of their  cages to clean them and none get upset. They're very sweet.

I hope your parent birds improve over time and become more attentive parents. Meanwhile, those you hand feed will become favorites. If they are feathered you can get away with feeding them four times a day. Newly hatched chicks need to be fed every 2-3 hrs during the day, and once during the night. A good rule of thumb is feed them when their crops are empty. The Kaytee Exact Hand Feeding Formula I buy has detailed instructions about hand feeding that is very valuable.

Best of Luck!

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!

That's the Way the Egg Rolls...

Or, don't count your birds before they hatch...  Smile.

Sugar & Spice's third clutch of three eggs was fertile, but did not hatch. She stayed with them long after they should have hatched and I left her alone until she abandoned them herself. Opening the eggs, the babes were about half developed. Did they get cold one night because she was frightened off them? I keep a night light on so that won't happen. They could always find their way back. Who knows what caused it, I don't. It is, however, very disappointing ... most of all for her. Poor mama, she's never raised any babies.

On a happier note, one of Bella's two eggs has hatched! The other is due to hatch today or tomorrow and hopefully will. She, too, has had two clutches that did not hatch. Her first two were infertile. So, I moved her mate, Rory, to another hen who needed a rest between clutches and put successful, Chitter, in with Bella. He got the job done! Hurray!

It's unusual for a hen to only lay two eggs. She laid a third, but it was very tiny. Realizing it wasn't any good, she pushed it away. I have no idea why they sometimes lay tiny eggs, but that's better than when they have one too large to pass and egg binding is the result. (There's more on egg-binding in previous posts).

We have to watch this pair very closely. If you've been following this blog, you will remember that one pair were prone to injuring their young and their babies had to be pulled and handfed. I moved each of the parents to other mates. This is the male, Chitter, from that pair. Is Chitter the "bad" parent?  He successfully raised three babies in another household with a different hen before I acquired him.

The potentially "bad" hen's history is different. She also had a clutch in another household (not the same place) with a different mate. Only one egg hatched, and that baby died too. I didn't see it, so I don't know if it was savaged or died a natural death. If she is successful with the so-far unsuccessful Rory, she will have to be watched too. More so, if Chitter successfully raises his clutch with Bella.

After years of raising Bourkes, to find a "bad" parent is very unusual and highly unlikely. Most are very attentive and sweet-natured birds. I'm eager to see which one of the two it was, as there were no other birds in their cage with them.

Bella, on the other hand, is fiercely protective of her eggs and baby. Just peek into her nest box as I just did, and she scolds and hisses. Many of my hens are so used to me that I can pick them up and look under them if I want to, and they don't get at all flustered.

Bird at Left:  "Somebody tried to help catch me who isn't an experienced bird person. They grabbed and I got away, but lost my tail! It will grow back, but now they call me Stumpy!" Frown.

P.S. Although Stumpy's photo was taken today, the photo above is of Bonnie, not Bella. Since this is Bella's first successful clutch it's understandable that she's wary of intrusion into her nest box. I'm being very careful with her.  Bonnie is an experienced mom and accepts my "visits" as routine  and no big deal. Smile.

Peace & Blessings,

and if you put all your eggs in the same basket, may they all hatch anyway!

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!