Question: Why don't my Bourke hen's eggs hatch?

 

Question:  I’ve was trying to breed a couple of Bourkes for the last 2 ½ years with no luck.  Some kind of calamity or birth defects always ruined the clutches.  Out of six clutches they only raised 1 healthy baby to adulthood.

I thought it might be a genetic problem so I got a new male.  Mommy just got through sitting on 3 fertile eggs but abandoned the eggs at 23 days.  I cracked one open and it was still alive ☹, poor thing.  It was FAR from 23 day of gestation.  Maybe half way developed.  I felt bad that I opened it. ...Help!!

 *****

Answer:

Here's my first piece of advice:  Never open an egg unless the hen has abandoned it herself and it is cold.  Eggs DO NOT begin to develop until a hen begins to brood them. So, counting the number of days might be a grave error. She might lay 3 eggs and not begin to brood right away, then sit on the eggs and lay two more ... all eggs will begin to develop when being warmed, and not before.  So, it is possible that those three eggs might all hatch on the same day, which could be the 28th, 29th & 30th days after being laid. Then the last two two eggs a few days after that... Yes, it takes 18 to 21 days for them to develop and hatch, but ONLY after they are being brooded (warmed). If a hen doesn't immediately brood (and most don't), then you can't count from the day an egg is laid. Well, you can count, but don't be surprised if it takes longer to hatch. 

That's why people can order duck eggs and have them shipped to them, taking days to arrive, but still begin to develop when put in an incubator. Any bird or fowl's egg can sit for several days and still be a good egg. All it needs is to be fertile before brooding, which can be several days after being laid. It can wait to start developing days after being laid, and only after it is kept warm can you reliably count the days until hatch. 

Also, it is wise to allow a hen to abandon her eggs herself. Never remove them because you know they are infertile and won't hatch. Hens learn from the experience of infertile eggs. Or, if some hatch and others don't, leave the unhatched eggs in the nest. They help keep newly hatched babies warm.

It sounds to me like your hen is doing everything she can do for you. Just leave her alone and maybe she will do better in the future. Be sure she has a large cuttlebone or more. You can add a brown rabbit salt block...the iodine and minerals are good for them. I highly recommend a copy of "Rosie Birds Guide to Small Exotic Birds." There's a lot of useful information in it. It talks about nest boxes, etc. I hope you have 1 to 2 inches of pine shavings in the bottom of the box so her eggs don't roll around ... a potential problem that might keep them from hatching. Bourkes are not like Budgies and need shavings in their box. I'll put a link at the bottom. 

One last thought. After three clutches of eggs each year, it is wise to remove the nest box so that your hen doesn't become physically stressed. I hope you understand their circadian rhythm and why and when they lay eggs. It's in the book. There's also a link to my videos and my Blog. I hope they can help you be more successful with your sweet Bourkes. 

ROSIE BIRD’S GUIDE TO SMALL EXOTIC BIRDS on Amazon in USA:              

https://www.amazon.com/Rosie-Birds-Guide-Small-Exotic/dp/198676348X/

ROSIE BIRD YOUTUBE VIDEO CHANNEL:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnja_zyZnS_zHp7wksScpOw/videos

 

THE SPLENDID BOURKE BIRD BLOG:

https://thesplendidbourkebirdblog.blogspot.com/

 

Peace and Blessings,

Gail (Rosie Bird)

March Hello about Bourkes

Hi All,  Sorry I've been away for a month ... so much going on. Too many trips out of town.

Rosy Bourke Parakeet, Fuchsia, on five eggs

We gave in to birdie demands and put nest boxes up a bit earlier than usual. Three hens have fertile eggs: Fuchsia, Rosie and Peaches.

Rosie, on four eggs. She is a Rosy Bourke Parakeet hen.

Peaches on six eggs. She's an Opaline Fallow Rosy Bourke.

Bella is on four infertile eggs, but she's new at this.

Bella on four eggs that can't hatch
because they're infertile.

Blossom and her mate have not ventured into the nest box yet. They're a new couple too, so we are hopeful they will soon take advantage of the nest box.

Songster in front and his hen, Blossom, behind him.
Songster is an Opaline Fallow and Blossom is a Lutino.

We have two lovely Lutino hens that need mates. Sunny is a mature girl from outside our flock, but none of our guys will have anything to do with her. All found mates elsewhere. Can't imagine why. She's very pretty and sweet.

Sunny, a mature Lutino Bourke Parakeet hen.

Starfire is a tame daughter from Peaches and Stormy. She's too young to mate, but doesn't have a fella waiting in the wings yet either. Tee-hee.

Sweet Starfire is a Lutino hen from Peaches & Stormy.
She is young, only hatched last year. 

With this many hens, we should limit how many clutches the gals have this year. Every year I'm fearful we won't be able to sell all the babies, that we will have more offspring than people interested in them. Fortunately, that hasn't happened yet.

Eventually two or three of these pairs will find new homes. We still hope to have only four tame pairs, but it's difficult to part with any of them. Sometime down the road, we need to have a large indoor aviary in a room where the lights can go out early so they won't be stimulated to want to breed, giving them all an early retirement. But, I do love seeing the miracle of new life each Spring. So wonderful.

Even though we should downsize, I still hope to find a mate for Starfire and keep those two! For now, she's my favorite. All the older, original birds, will always remain with us too. Love them all. Smile.

Peace & Blessings!

May all your eggs hatch and your birds stay healthy and happy. 

You stay healthy and happy too!

*****

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Bourke Parakeet, Red-Eyed Opaline Fallow Hen on Eggs



Peaches on five eggs, first is due to hatch Labor Day.

Here is the only hen we still have producing. All others had their three clutches for the year. This will be Peaches' first clutch ever. She's two years old, but her mate, Stormy, was only hatched last January. He is feeding her regularly and even going into the box with her already. Most of my male Bourkes wait until the babies are two or more weeks old before they venture into the nest box with their mates and offspring.

 

Because of Stormy's youth, we will watch closely any babies that hatch. There is also the possibility that the eggs won't be fertile, but we witnessed several matings that looked successful to us. We are optimistic. So far, an opportunity to candle the eggs has not occurred. Since it's her first clutch, I'm leaving her alone more than I might otherwise.

 

We will let you know the outcome in a week or two.

As you can see, she changes position while on eggs.

Peaches' mate, a Normal Bourke we named Storm.
His father is a Lutino, so we hope to get interesting babies.

PEACE AND BLESSINGS!

 



Candling Eggs To Verify Fertility - A Better Way

Lady Gouldian hen on seven eggs due to hatch.

I have found a better way to candle eggs.

It's rare that my pair of Lady Gouldian finches are ever both out of the nest at the same time. However, when the sound of the vacuum cleaner made the hen leave her nest for a few moments, it was long enough for me to snatch a peek at her eggs. I used my new method of candling for the first time and found it worked wonderfully and I didn't even have to touch an egg.

In the past, I've shown eggs being candled using the center of a toilet paper roll, duct tape and a flashlight. This works, but you have to pick up the egg, place it over the hole in the duct tape, view it with the light shining through the tube, then put the egg back in the nest. The procedure is repeated for multiple eggs, and there is a certain degree of risk to each egg.

The light attached to my Kindle above is
bright and works perfectly for egg candling.
The flexible  neck can snake around to any
side of a clutch without moving the eggs.

As a new Kindle owner, I bought a light for my Kindle in case our electricity goes out. It's something to do in the dark. When the "Mighty Bright" light arrived, with its flexible neck, it occurred to me that it should work well for candling eggs. I used it in the finch nest and it was wonderful. I didn't have to touch or disturb the eggs and could immediately see that, YES, they are fertile!  Hurray!

I bought this light from Amazon.com and it was relatively inexpensive. I'm very pleased with it.

The photos below are actually of infertile Bourke eggs from last year that I kept in the refrigerator. I like to share them with children who visit. Since my Bourkes are not being allowed to reproduce yet this year, I did a mock-up to show the "Mighty Bright" light to you and how well it works. I'd like to have a photo of it candling the finch eggs, but who knows when an opportunity will arise without having to chase the finch parents off their nest. I'm being more careful with them than I need to be with the other birds. My parakeets are used to me being nosy. Smile. 

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!

Bourke & Splendid Updates - Successful Hatches and Not

 SPLENDIDS: 

Scarlet-chested parakeets, male on right

As you know, my two pairs of Splendids haven't raised young for the last couple of years. Their eggs have been infertile. In fact, neither of our two hens have ever raised a chick. So, with four male Splendids available, we decided to move Rudy in with Rivka and put Rainbow (the patriarch) in with our other bachelor male, his son Flip.  Rainbow Jr. is still with Jewel. 



Rivka & Rudy ... not very used to each other yet.

 I moved Rivka to another cage and nest box, in addition to giving her a new mate, hoping one or the other might stimulate her to mate. Rivka and Rudy are investigating the nest box, so we shall see. She hasn't allowed him to feed her yet, although he's tried to. I am only "cautiously" optimistic.



Cherry, a Rosy Bourke hen. One egg has hatched, see broken shell at right.

 BOURKES:

As for the Bourkes, my elderly Cherry hatched an egg this morning. Four were hers and one is a fostered egg. Since her eggs were older and I'd given up on them, I think the one that hatched is the fostered egg. She hasn't left the nest box for me to investigate, however. How do I know an egg hatched? She's covering everything, but there is a broken egg shell present ... a sure sign! It's above her head near the wall of the box. The other is an unhatched egg.

The egg Cherry fostered is actually one that a daughter of hers laid on the floor of the cage and I rescued. Later, that daughter went into the nest box and laid more eggs, so I could probably have put it in her nest box, but I trust Cherry more than I trust the younger hen. I am hopeful that the young hen will soon hatch hers.

Candy is fluffed up to cover her eggs. She's not upset.

Candy and Dolph also have eggs. They are a proven pair, so I expect their eggs to hatch in the near future. Happily, we will have more Bourke babies this year! We had many early in the year and then I closed the nest boxes for three months to let the hens rest. Subsequent clutches in the summer didn't produce anything and I thought maybe that was it for the year. Now, it looks like we may get some more baby Bourkes. Hurray!

Until last year, I always removed nest boxes in the Fall, cleaned them and put them away until Spring. However, after an unproductive summer last year, I discovered that my birds did well breeding in the Fall. Perhaps they will do the same this year. 

May all your eggs hatch and your birds never stop singing. Peace & Love. 

Splendid Results Not So Splendid...

Jewel, a Splendid hen, does a good job covering her five eggs.

Checked the nest boxes of the two Splendid hens. It appears that one has infertile eggs. I didn't disturb the other hen, and there should be signs of hatching, but nothing...no broken shells, so probably no babies for her either.  These two Splendid hens are very flighty, so I tend to leave them mostly alone. The males are friendlier.

I've had much better success with the Bourkes, and many of the Bourke hens are so used to me that I can lift them off their eggs and settle them back down without any fuss from them. Can't do that with these two Splendid hens.

Dad is Rainbow Junior, son of Rainbow Sr.

Wish I had a happier update about the Splendids. They've been given special diet aides and everything possible, even switched mates. Each pair accepted the other spouse. Males have been feeding hens and they've appeared to try to mate. But in the end, their mating attempts appear to have been a non-contact sport.  

Splendid Reflections: 40 Years of Grass Parrakeet Husbandry  Amazon.com link for a book by Alec Mizen

Bourke & Splendid Update on Switching Mates

BOURKES:

This post is mostly about disappointments, however, keep in mind that we did just band baby Bourke #25…so there is also much good news for 2010.

Currently, Brandy is on three eggs with Rory. He never produced fertile eggs with Bella and we hope he does better with Brandy. She is the hen who had a baby savaged and others injured. I had to rescue all her babies with Chitter and hand feed them. Now, Chitter is with Bella (Rory’s former mate). Chitter and Bella are successfully raising one baby, the only fertile egg that Bella has ever laid. This baby is still in the nest, but fully feathered and has never had any injury. So, Chitter and Bella may prove to be a happy, successful pair with Chitter exonerated.

If Rory is also unable to fertilize Brandy’s eggs, then perhaps she is the best hen for him to have, since it is beginning to look like she is the guilty party who injured her young. Brandy is currently on two eggs with more expected. She came from one of our best breeding pairs. They were wonderful parents. One of Brandy’s hand fed daughters is my favorite bird…very affectionate, very intelligent and so sweet. Genetics isn’t reliable at predicting what a bird’s (or a person’s) personality is going to be like.

Sugar is back on three eggs. She and Spice have had two previous clutches that were fertile, but did not hatch. She seems devoted to incubating her eggs, so I don’t believe the problem is that they got cold. Must be something else. Spice is a hand fed Normal Bourke. Rosie, my favorite hand fed Bourke hen, is very interested in him. If none of Sugar’s eggs hatch this time around, I may replace Sugar with Rosie. Sugar isn’t tame, and for that matter, isn’t as pretty as Rosie. I could put Sugar with Spicy’s father, Bing Jr., as his hen, Willow, is older than Bing Jr. and she’s no longer interested in brooding.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

SPLENDIDS:

If you’ve been following this blog, you know that our two pairs of Splendids haven’t produced any youngsters for the past two years.

And so, this year I swapped Splendid mates. Although Rainbow and Rivka were observed attempting to mate, her eggs were not fertile with him either. It’s so disappointing! The other new pair took longer to become friendly with each other. The hen, Jewel, has entered the nest box and Rainbow Jr. has been feeding her. However, no attempts at mating have been observed. It seems unlikely that she will hatch her eggs either.

There is one other recourse available, short of finding new Splendids, which I haven’t been able to do. We have two extra Splendid males. Unfortunately, Flip is unable to fly due to a “window accident” as a very young bird … hence his name … after his accident, when he tried to fly with his injured wing, he’d flip over. The other male, Rudy, is one I traded for. He came from the same breeder who provided the hens and the breeder can’t tell me whether the three birds are, or are not, related to each other. I had hoped to acquire another hen for Rudy, but it has never happened. I’m considering putting him with one of these hens and see what happens. They just might accomplish something.

Decisions, decisions.

Looking ahead to future posts:

• Budgies make great kids’ pets. How to be sure the Budgerigar parakeet you buy is a young one.

• Photos of intricately carved egg shells.

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!

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.

Now There Are Three

       My last post shows a single baby in the photo. She now has two siblings. These photos taken today, February 1, 2010, show three baby Bourke parakeets with one egg remaining. Hope it hatches too! Currently I have many babies in nests, and have already raised quite a few in the last couple of months. It would seem that Fall is a better time of year to let them raise young than Spring or Summer. At least that's proven true this past year.

       However, Splendid eggs have all been infertile for quite a while now. I'm considering switching their mates to see if that will work better.

       In previous years I always removed the nest boxes to give the hens a rest. This year, however, they didn't do much all Spring and Summer so I left the boxes up. The Bourkes have been bountiful.  Smile.

Homemade Egg Incubator ...

Problem: An egg-bound hen with two abandoned fertile eggs. She’s fine now, and I’ll review how we helped her lay that egg in another blog.

Solution: Incubate them. Whoops, no incubator. That problem was solved in 15 minutes. Here’s how we made a still-air incubator – one without a ventilation fan.

First we gathered our materials: an unused Cockatiel nest box, a piece of sturdy welded wire, a small thermometer, a glass dish for water, a large washer, nuts, and an electrical light socket with cord.

Next, hubby drilled a hole through the side of the box at the proper height for the light socket’s shaft. After fitting the shaft through, he put on a large washer and tightened it down with a nut. We screwed in a 25 Watt bulb, folded some aluminum foil, and put it under the bulb to reflect the heat into the box. The glass dish holds water. It will evaporate and help keep the air around the eggs moist.

With the basics in place, he cut the welded wire to size and folded it to form a “floor” above the bulb and attached the thermometer to the back wall of the box. Then we added a “nest” — a small cardboard box with tissue padding. And the egg’s new home was ready!

We plugged in the bulb and let the box pre-heat before placing the eggs. We’ve found that the thermometer reads a consist 98 degrees…just about right. We developed several hi-tech solutions to achieve optimal temperature. If the temperature is a little too low, move the box closer to the bulb. If it’s too high move the box away from the bulb. If the incubator overheats, raise the lid slightly and stick a pencil in to hold it up. The more heat you need to dissipate, the further back you put the pencil.

And that’s it. In about 15 minutes we had our handy-dandy still-air incubator. Say a prayer for our eggs. I can see movement when I candle them. (On my next post I’ll show you our hi-tech egg candling device. I’ll also let you know how this grand experiment turns out.)

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.