Question on "Screaming" Rosy Bourke Hen

Bonnie left a question attached to the post  "Breeding Bourkes, Splendids or other Parakeets". Her questions and my answer follow:

"Hello, I am very grateful for your blog and all of the helpful information about bourkes parakeets! I have a concern about my female rosey bourkes parakeet. I think she may be about to lay an egg, and last time around this time (a month ago) she displayed some odd behavior. She began to scream in a high pitched voice to her mate, and this would prompt him to feed her. However, the screeching would continue even right after she ate. I thought this was perhaps because she had an egg inside of her and thought it would stop when she laid, but then she started passing very watery droppings and eating constantly without ever seeming to feel full. When she began to sit at the bottom of her cage, and when I noticed that the male bourke also seemed to be passing watery droppings, I took them to the vet. He gave me an antibiotic to administer to them, and within 3 days they both looked much better. The female then laid a misshapen egg, which I think may have been the problem.

Two weeks ago, I decided to give them a nesting box in case they were stressed about not having a place to lay eggs. While they have peeked their heads inside, I haven't seen them go in.

My concern is that the female is making the same (very high pitched- more high pitched than her mating call to him) screaming sounds. Again, this prompts the male to eat and feed her. What worries me is that the screaming continues into right after she has eaten and she seems very stressed out. Her droppings are normal which makes me feel better. Is she stressed about the male's presence in the cage? (Their cage is quite big though; they are not cramped). Is this normal female behavior? Thank you for any guidance you can offer me on this!!!! "
Posted by Bonnie to The Splendid Bourke Bird Blog at June 4, 2012 5:51

MY ANSWER: 

Hens that are going to lay eggs have larger than normal droppings, and often they are wet and/or darker than is usual. Since both your birds had wet droppings, the trip to the veterinarian for antibiotics was a wise decision. Better safe than sorry.

We have two hens...a mother and daughter actually...who are louder then the others when asking to mate. They are the exception, but it's not unheard of for Bourke hens to screech at their mates. A long time ago we were given a pair of Rosy Bourkes because the former owner couldn't stand how she screeched at her mate. They'd even had babies together. She was scolding him much of the time, so I separated the pair and put them with new mates. Instant peace and tranquility! Sometimes two birds aren't meant for each other, just like people. Both birds were happy, quiet and very productive with their new mates.

When I've had hens with egg-binding, they've been quiet and miserable. None ever "screamed." Hens in trouble usually sit on the bottom of the cage, fluffed up and sick. We had one exception to this who died in her nest box because she was out of sight, but typically they abandon all interest in any eggs they already have. The hens end up on the floor of the cage, huddled up and looking lethargic. I've never had one make any noise at all. If your hen ever does have egg binding, please search "egg binding" on this site for articles on how to save her.

I assume you have plenty of calcium available for your hen...cuddle bone, mineral block, oyster shell...that sort of thing. I highly recommend a rabbit salt block. Bob Nelson recommended this to me and I've not had a single bird experience egg binding since I added the salt blocks to their cages. They contain Vit. D and iodine and it took my birds about a year before I saw them use them. Now they're at them regularly. The blocks are small and I put them in the bottom of the cages on newspaper. If in contact with metal they will damage wire cages. When they become soiled from droppings, I wash them off and put them back on fresh newspaper.

The other thing you can do for your birds is provide them with vegetables and greens. Fresh is good, but I also buy frozen vegetables for us and always share some with the birds. Mixed vegetables give them a choice of carrots, peas and corn. Mine prefer the corn, but too much is fattening. Fresh greens are also good. They love spinach, kale and any kind of lettuce. When breeding, and especially when raising young, spray millet is healthy. It's fattening too, so when its not breeding season and they aren't raising young, I don't give it to them.

Bourkes are susceptible to fatty livers, so too much fat can be fatal. Some are more susceptible to this than others. I used to give them safflower seeds, which they all loved, but lost a young hen to  organ failure from obesity (an avian vet's autopsy indicated it). So, I no longer provide safflower and have cut down on how much corn and spray millet they get, giving it only during breeding months to breeding birds, or babies recently out of the nest.

Good luck. Let us know if your pair is successful in raising youngsters.

Peace & Blessings.

Rosy Bourke Hens and Black Spots

On Jul 6, 2011  Thomas wrote: "Why do my female rosie bourkes have black spots all over their backs?"

Here's my response:  

Female Rosy Bourkes are usually darker than the males, especially their faces. However, there is a wide variation of color possible in Rosies since all of them are descended from Normal Bourkes (the wild color in Australia). If your birds are receiving adequate nutrition, the dark spots are not unusual. My hens aren't completely pink on their backs either. The dark edges on some of their feathers may not show up in the photos, but they're there. The males are less likely to have this, but can.

A young bird of a different color. See comment attached to
this blog for information on pied colors, different than this one.

Occasionally, we will get a baby that isn't truly pink or rosie. They can be "pied" and I've also heard people refer to "rainbow" Bourkes. Here is one of ours.
  

It's unlikely the dark color on your hens is caused by a deficiency, but all birds can show feather damage if they suffer an illness or go through a period of time where they receive inadequate food. Starving birds don't produce healthy feathers. I discussed stress bars on feathers in an earlier article. Here's a link to it. 

http://thesplendidbourkebirdblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/birds-and-their-feathers-selecting.html

Rosy hens are likely to have darker areas on their backs, and it's not at all unusual. One of my hens suffered egg binding and lost feathers due to a treatment with mineral oil that saved her life. The feathers came back very dark. A few months later, after another molt,  they were pink again. Here is a link to that post.  

http://thesplendidbourkebirdblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/parakeet-egg-binding-what-to-do-to.html

After losing feathers damaged by mineral oil, they grew back
in dark. This is Sugar about a year ago.

This is Sugar after molting off the darker feathers.
They came back in as they were before being damaged
and then regrowing in darker.

 These are before and after photos of Sugar, who suffered egg binding and survived.

Currently, she's on eggs again without any problems. Trust me ... this REALLY IS the same bird.

Peace & Blessings,

rosie.birds@gmail.com

PARAKEET EGG BINDING ... What to do to Rescue Hens.

Spicy, a Normal Bourke with his mate,
Sugar, a Rosy whose feathers came in
darker after recovering from egg binding.

An offspring whose mother suffered
egg binding and his egg was fostered.

I’ve mentioned egg binding in other posts, but thought I’d do one specifically targeting the subject. Until a more experienced bird breeder gave me excellent advice, I lost a few hens to this.

Symptoms: Most hens already with one to three eggs will leave the nest and look lethargic and ill. Interest in their eggs will be gone. They will fluff up and appear inactive and obviously sick. If they are sitting on the floor and puffed up, that’s an obvious sign something’s seriously wrong. Death can occur within 24 hours, so it’s important to act fast.

Pick her up in a warm towel. You will be able to see a bulge near the vent, but do not press there or you will kill her instantly if the egg breaks.

Common Advice:

I followed directions given in my bird books, but it was not enough. They say to wrap the hen in a towel to restrain and protect her while holding her vent over steam. This is called “steaming the egg.” They also recommend carefully adding Vaseline to the vent area being careful NOT to massage the area. I followed this advice at different times with three hens, but none of them subsequently laid the egg and sadly all three didn’t survive.

Bonnie and Clyde, Rosy Bourkes.
Bonnie survived egg binding and has
had several successful clutches since.

What Worked:

Instead of Vaseline, lukewarm mineral oil was carefully put into the vent with a small eye dropper. It was also given to the hen orally. Surprisingly, my hens seemed to want to ingest the mineral oil and I had no trouble feeding it to them via the eye dropper. Next, I also held them over steam for a minute or so…being careful not to let them get too hot as my bare fingers were there too. Once they seemed moist and warm, I put them into a small carrying cage with water and seed present. I completely covered the cage with a towel to give them privacy and warmth. Next, I boiled a large mug of water and put it inside the towel so that the steam could reach the hen. Don’t put it in the cage with her…she might injure herself on the hot liquid.

An area heater nearby is a good idea too. You want her to stay very warm, about 98 degrees or so, if possible. Don’t forget the steaming cup of hot water inside her “tent.” Moisture helps, and for this reason a very small cage is an advantage.

Sugar's dark feather pattern after suffering egg binding
and losing feathers. I expect her to be pink again after a molt.

Check on Her Every Hour:

If the egg isn’t laid within an hour, repeat the whole process again. Then check after another hour and keep checking and repeating the process until the egg is laid. I’ve never had to do it more than twice before it successfully helped my hens lay their oversized egg.

Right after being subjected to this unpleasant treatment, my hens have not wanted to return to their current nest and I successfully fostered their previous eggs under other hens. However, the egg that is covered in mineral oil doesn’t hatch…probably because air cannot penetrate the shell in spite of attempting to rinse the oil off of it.

Admittedly, I always wonder if I’ve given a hen enough mineral oil, or too much. You don’t want to injure her with too much. However, too little may not do the trick. So, if the first application doesn’t work, I use a little more the second time. So far, I’ve used this method with three hens at different times and all three hens laid their egg and have recovered. Two of the three have gone on to raise several more clutches without further problems. The third has laid infertile eggs without a problem.

The first time I attempted to feed mineral oil to a hen, I used a tiny syringe instead of an eye dropper, managing to get mineral oil all over her head. As a result, all the feathers around her head eventually fell out and she looked awful for several weeks. When they came back in, they were much darker than before. See the photo. I expect her to be pink again after another molt.



Sugar and Spice successfully mating
while she was still pink.

My bird books say to wait 60 days before allowing a hen to breed again. I’ve chosen to wait an entire season, typically nine months. I see no reason to stress a hen further. Besides the mineral oil tends to leave them unable to achieve fertility until it is completely out of their system.

It’s always important to have enough calcium present for your birds. A bird that is too young or who doesn’t have enough calcium can produce soft eggs, causing egg-binding. My birds always have cuttlebones and mineral blocks available, as well as oyster shell and grit. The problems I’ve had with egg binding didn’t appear to be soft egg shells, but rather eggs that were too large for them to easily pass.

Spicy is a handfed bird, rejected by his parents.
He's a male Normal Bourke. Notice a tiny bit
of blue above his cere (nostrils). This is
only present on mature Normal males,
not on Normal hens.

If your birds don’t appear to be using their cuttlebone or mineral block, there are calcium supplements available to add to their water. If you decide to do this, however, follow the directions carefully…you don’t want to over medicate them.

In other posts I covered advice given to me for hens who had fertile eggs that didn’t hatch. Two readers and a friend recommended adding small salt blocks intended for rabbits. These contain iodine. For a long time the birds ignored them. However, I notice recently that the birds are beginning to chew on them, so I’m hopeful that those hens in the past that had fertile eggs that didn’t hatch will now be successful.

May God bless you and your feathered friends

with good health and productivity.

BOURKES, COCKATIELS & EGG LAYING

Chloe asked, "I have a female pet cockatiel. She's going on 6 years old, and has not yet demonstrated any wish to lay eggs (although she has not had a mate). I do not wish her to start laying eggs - even though they'd be infertile - as I am worried about egg-binding, and other health issues.

This weekend, I will be bringing home a young male Rosey Bourke's. I've read from your posts that they will feed any female Bourke's or Splendid - sometimes even a less dominant male, and I was wondering if they would try that with a different species, as well (ie. my cockatiel)?

Should I be worried about him triggering her motherly instincts? Also, will he become protective of her, and become aggressive to me?"

Chloe, My experience is it's unlikely that a Bourke or Cockatiel hen will lay eggs if they don't have a nest box or similar "safe" place to hide in. Even when a male is present, they need that nest box. My first tame pair of cockatiels were in a large 3-sided cage that fit against a corner wall. When they started chewing a hole into the wall, I was annoyed and didn't realize at the time that they were attempting to carve out a nesting area. The hole got quite big, but before they could use it, they were removed and the whole wall covered with mahogany siding. (If the room's siding is ever removed, someone will wonder how that big hole got there).

 

As long as my pair didn't have a nest box (over a decade), the hen never laid an egg and no mating occurred.

 

With that same pair, I also had a tame blue budgie who was allowed out of his cage when the cockatiels were. He did all sorts of mating display behaviors in front of the cockatiel hen, but she ignored him. He was smitten with her, but she cared only for the male cockatiel... Who, by the way, never seemed to be bothered by the budgie's wooing behaviors. None of the three birds ever became aggressive to each other or to people. When a budgie hen was eventually provided, all four birds got along splendidly.

 

Although Budgies will attempt to breed with another species, Bourke's have never been known to do so. For this, and other reasons, they've recently been classified in a genus all their own, no longer with other Neophema's. It is unlikely that your male Bourke will attempt to feed your cockatiel. Hopefully, however, they will form a friendship of some kind.

 

There is no need to worry about him "triggering her motherly instincts," as it's her eggs that would do that. Also, having a hen around has never made any of my male Bourke's aggressive to me or anyone else. Their only aggression might be toward another male trying to steal their mate, but even then I've never seen them hurt each other (although for Splendid breeders, I have seen male Splendids draw blood on another male, and need to be separated). Bourkes tend to be very mellow, sweet birds.

 

Hope this helps. Good luck introducing your new friend to your older one. I wouldn't expect any problems.

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!

Incubation Observation & Other Thoughts…

(Watch for Comments at the bottom of each Blog; there may be one or two. The one added to yesterday’s blog, "Splendids," is particularly interesting. There is a Comments button at the end of each blog and it tells you how many, if any, comments there are).

If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you’ll recall our attempt to incubate two Bourke eggs. We were successful right up to the point where the eggs were even piping. It was very disappointing to lose the little chicks after getting them so close to hatching.

The cause, we had decided, might be that we didn’t have enough humidity present toward the end of incubation. More humidity is needed just before hatching. A dish of water was present, but we heard a recommendation to hang a wet washcloth near them in the last few days and keep checking it since it would dry out from the heat lamp.

Maybe that would have made a difference, or maybe not. Sugar, the hen who abandoned those eggs after becoming egg-bound with the 3rd egg, recently laid three eggs. It took her a while to recover from the ordeal we put her through to help her release the over-sized egg. At least she survived.

Sugar kept the three eggs from this clutch warm right up to the point of hatching, but these did not hatch either. After 21 days I was concerned, but left them under her for over 30 days. I wanted her to abandon them herself, but she was more persistent than any other hen I’ve ever had and remained on them – she was very determined, but in the end it did her no good.

Once the eggs were removed from her nestbox, I opened them. One was infertile, but the other two held dead chicks, fully developed and ready to hatch, but apparently they could not. Was it genetics, or something else? Unless she succeeds with another clutch someday, I may never know.

After talking to Bob Nelson, Bird Specialist extraordinaire, he said that the problem of “dead in shell” can sometimes be caused by low iodine in the parents’ diets. His solution has been to provide rabbit salt blocks which contain iodine. I was concerned about the salt intake, but Bob says they won’t consume more than they need. He warned about attaching the salt block to the side of a metal cage or the salt will damage the metal.

Eleven of my cages now have a small salt block available. We attached them each to a perch with small plastic ties (cable ties used by electricians). Getting them tight enough required pulling with a pair of pliers. So far, the birds are ignoring them.

***

As I sit here typing, I see Sugar and Spice mating again. Spicy’s picture is in the column at the left. He’s the very tiny, newly hatched baby being hand fed. At the time, his mother was mated to a much younger male (the only one available), and he wasn’t very good at helping feed the young. To compensate she was only willing to feed the first two eggs that hatched. When we lost the third baby, I paid close attention. Realizing she wasn’t feeding the fourth baby, I removed the newly hatched Spicy and hand fed him. He was my first experience at hand feeding. By the way, his father grew up the following year and the pair successfully raised three or four babies in most clutches thereafter.

Breeding Grass Parakeets

In earlier posts I should have mentioned that both Bourkes and Splendids are "Grass Parakeets" so named because native wild birds forage on the ground in the grasses of Australia. Not surprising since the main part of their diet is comprised of seed. Turquoisines and Elegant Parakeets are also Grass Parakeets. All four, as well as the Budgerigar, are roughly the same size. Splendids, Turquoisines and Elegants are small and members of the genus Neophema. Bourkes have the distinction of a genus all their own: Neopsephotus. Budgerigars (budgies) also have their own: Melopsittacus. Why do you care, right? It may show why a Splendid can cross breed with a Turquoisine, for instance.

As an aside, canaries can cross breed with green singing finches, but their offspring cannot reproduce (they are mules). I don't know if that's true for crossing Splendids or not - it's not anything I've tried to do. I also haven't tried to get mutations of Splendids. It's my opinion that the original variety of Splendids are far prettier than the dimly colored mutations... There are photos of them all over the Internet if you're interested.

Rosy Bourkes, however, are the first (and best) mutation from the normal color that is brown on the back. Yellows have also been genetically produced, but the various shades of pink and rose are my favorites. The color variations in the Bourkes are sex-linked. A simple example is that if you take a female Normal Bourke and a male Rosy Bourke, all your hens will be the color of the father and all cocks will be the color of the mother. Hence, if you have two normal babies in the nest and two rosy babies, you can be certain that the rosies are hens and the normals are male. I've read this and it has proven true for me with every mixed pairing over the past several years.

However, one of those normal male babies grew up and was put with a normal hen (whose lineage I don't know). Instead of throwing mostly normals, that pair throws 50% rosies. All those rosies have been hens. That normal father carries the gene from his rosie father. All the normals in the nest have been males.

Bourke hens typically lay an egg every other day. Splendid hens usually lay one every day. Both varieties lay from two to six eggs. Most often they lay four eggs. My experience has been that if they lay five eggs, you will usually get three babies, although I have had four in the nest, but never more than four no matter how many eggs.

If you talk to your birds and interact with them on a daily basis, they will become accustomed to you and allow you to peer into the nest box without a great deal of fuss. It's important to speak "sweetly" to the hen BEFORE you open the box. Tapping lightly on the "lid" or "door" before you open it is also a good practice. I had a male cockatiel once leap at me and come down landing on his brood, killing a new chick and damaging the remaining eggs. Highly disappointing. I should have waited for his mate to be in the box before I looked in, because she was more docile. But, they were a new, untame pair, unfamiliar with me and I with them.

I carefully keep track of the parentage of all my babies by naming each and every parent bird (both male and female because sometimes mates get swapped). This morning I wanted to check on Bonnie, a Bourke hen with Clyde. Bonnie only laid two eggs this time. After 19 days, the first egg hatched and the 2nd hatched two days later. I needed to check the size of her offspring. It's necessary to band the babies if you want them to be saleable to pet shops. If a baby grows faster than you expect, you may miss that small 2-3 day window when its feet are the right size for banding. Too big and you can't get a band on. Too small and it slips off and probably lost in the nest.

Now Bonnie used to be sort of tame. I could lift her off a clutch without any fussing. She knew me and I knew her. Although not finger tamed, she trusted me. Then, with her previous clutch , something went wrong. She laid two eggs and the third wasn't laid. I began to worry and watched her daily. Eventually, she appeared distressed. She was panting and even left the nest to sit on the bottom of the cage. This was a definite sign of egg binding and that something must be done quickly. Most birds will exhibit signs of a problem by sitting on the bottom of the cage, and if you know your birds, you'll recognize when they aren't feeling well ... fluffed up, eyes at half mast ... that sort of thing.

In Bonnie's case, there was no doubt. I caught her and could feel the lump of the egg near her vent. Be especially careful when touching that area. If you break the egg, you've lost your bird. With excellent advice of friends who raise more birds than I do, Bonnie was rescued. I did what my bird book said, and it wasn't enough. I held her over steam and put mineral oil very carefully into her vent, using a small syringe. After many hours, a wonderful couple advised me to also give her mineral oil by mouth and add mineral oil to her vent more than once ... every hour if necessary. I held Bonnie in a washcloth and let her chew on it as much as she wanted since she was NOT happy with me! When I was about to give up on her, I remembered something I'd done as a 12-year-old with my Budgies when they were ill. (More about that another time).

I took a small cage and covered it completely with a towel and put her in that cage. Then I boiled water in a large mug and placed the steaming mug inside the towel (not in the cage!). I left her alone for about a half hour before I peeked in. There was the egg on the floor of the cage ... In addition to the mineral oil, I believe she needed warmth, humidity and solitude to pass that egg.

She didn't return to the nest box to sit on those two eggs and I didn't have any other mother who could foster them. It took Bonnie a few months to fully recover from her ordeal. I worried and watched over her since she only laid two eggs this time. However, she seemed fine and two eggs were all she needed to lay.

With these two new babies, I needed to check their size. I tried to wait until she left the nest. Most mothers only leave to defecate, grab a drink and immediately return to the nest. I was never able to see her out of it. Since she is very protective and covers her young, I picked her up like I'd done in the past. Ouch! Had she changed! She grabbed hold of my pinky and wouldn't let go. Talk about hurt. Most Bourkes, if not tame, will bite if grabbed, but they also let go when you release them. She wouldn't! It was her turn to get even with me. It's the only time one has ever drawn blood, but she did. Unfortunately, the babies are still too small to band ... I'll check again Saturday.

I'll talk again another time about how the males help raise their offspring. Also, discuss hand raising babies. I've had a few that were rejected by a parent (rare), but reared successfully by me. Although these birds are easily tamed when young, hand rearing makes them super tame and loving.

Next Time: More on Banding & Hand Raising