Bourke Parakeets & Others - End of Season Update

I've tried to keep up with questions to rosie.birds@gmail.com, but lately I haven't been posting as often to this blog because my husband had back surgery. He is recovering nicely, but between him and the new puppy, my time is limited. One day I'll gather the newest questions and post them with their answers. However, for now, I want to update everyone on the current state of affairs with my birds this season.

Rosy Bourke parakeet on eggs. This is our sweetest hen,
 called Rosie. Photo taken 9-17-2013.

We've always recommended no more than three clutches a year per pair of birds. And, only two clutches per year for birds that might be stressed in any other way, such as being older, the weather suddenly turning cold, predators nearby causing a panic that could happen again -- anything that might make raising a third clutch difficult for the mated pair.

In spite of that recommendation, one year a young Flame and Fuchsia raised a fourth clutch because I didn't get their nest box removed in a timely manner. Often, I will hand feed a third clutch just to take some of the stress off the parent birds, and in the case of Flame and Fuchsia that year, I did hand feed their last clutch. Hand feeding the last clutch also allows me to remove the nest box before a pair begin mating again and the hen can go back and start laying more eggs.

Bourkes often begin to mate again right away, and a hen may lay eggs for a new clutch before their last clutch of young ones are all eating on their own. This year, in Fuchsia's case, while the last baby of her third clutch was still in the nest box, she laid another clutch of four eggs.

I couldn't hand feed the third clutches of any of our pairs this time because I knew we'd be traveling to a larger city for my husband's surgery. The birds were left alone with plenty of water and extra food for three days and two nights. They did fine, but hand feeding their young was out of the question.

Our oldest hen, Cherry. Her last clutch didn't hatch, so her
nest box has remained clean for this one. It seems unlikely
 these eggs will hatch either as her mate, Rhett, is quite
elderly too. In 1st clutch this year, they raised two.

My hubby usually attaches and removes nest boxes for me. This year, he's unable to remove them, and the nest boxes are still up. That problem can be dealt with by blocking off the entry opening. But, busy me, did not do so.

I also try to clean boxes between clutches and add new pine shavings. Since my birds are all very tame, if needed I can remove eggs for a short time and return them to a clean box. The hens always accept this from me. I'm not recommending it for everyone, however. I simply know my TAME birds will allow this, and I think they appreciate a clean box. The eggs are never away for more than a few minutes and handled carefully.

This post is to let you know how adaptable Bourkes (and probably all birds) can be. The picture below illustrates how they can accept their circumstances. Fuchsia's third clutch of four left the box pretty dirty and I've not been able to remove and clean it. She is using her "dirty" box for a fourth clutch. Cleaning it now will be a challenge since the dried food around her eggs is so hard. I need to decide when to do it...possibly after the babies hatch and I take them out to hand feed. Meanwhile, the box has a slight odor, but the weather is cool and that helps...

I'd never recommend allowing Bourkes to have fourth clutches in the same year, however, sometimes things happen that are beyond our control. These eggs are already laid and I'm not going to throw them away.

Fuchsia's box after raising four babies and starting
another clutch before the nest box was cleaned.
Instead of pine shavings, bottom has dry droppings.

The Lady Gouldian finches have babies again. All their clutches from late last year sold, and when she started laying eggs on the floor, I decided to give them their nest box back. I hear tiny peeps coming from within, Duchess won't move to let me see what's under her, smile. This photo is of a clutch from last year. They are about a week old here.

 

Lady Gouldian finch babies at about one week of age.

Turquoise Lineolated Parakeet.

The pair of Linnies (new to me), are in the nest box. The hen wasn't coming out, so I finally peeked in. She looked like she was brooding and I assumed she had eggs. However, I finally saw her out of the box and rushed over to have a look. No eggs. Disappointed, but still hopeful.


Cobalt blue Lineolated Parakeet. He loves his toys.



Light pink, white faced and red-eyed, opaline fallow Bourke.
This baby is from Rosie and Pretty Boy's third clutch this year.
She should be eating on her own soon. For now, Pretty Boy is
still feeding this daughter and his mate, Rosie, who is on eggs.

We have no breeding Splendids right now. It's all about the Bourke parakeets...my favorites.

Peace and Blessings,
Gail

Bourke Nest Box Preparation, A Question

 

I've posted Flame feeding Fuchsia before, but it's one of my
favorite photos. Caught them at just the right moment.

QUESTION:
I am putting a pair of bourkes down to breed this weekend, have made a breeding box, sizes as instructed on an internet bird page. Can I use shredded paper as nesting materials?
 

Willow, a Normal Bourke hen
with her new little ones.

ANSWER:
That's better than nothing and my Lady Gouldians love it. I've never offered it to the Bourkes, however. Bourkes do not "make" a nest by carrying material into a nest box like finches do. In the wild they find a hollow tree, and those usually have bits of chips, bark or other detritus already in there.

 I buy a bag of pine shavings (never use cedar). They are usually sold to put in the bottom of cages for small animals like hamsters. You must put them in the box yourself, about 1 to 2 inches deep. I remove any big, sharp pieces I see.

 

Bonnie with her very young babies.

 Some Bourkes will push them aside and hollow them a bit. These help keep the eggs safely together and absorb the babies' droppings. Mothers usually go outside the box to defecate, although first-time mothers sometimes are afraid to leave their eggs even for a moment or two. Fathers feed through the nest box opening. A few will go inside the box, but most do not.

 
I've seen posts of people only offering a budgie box with a flat floor and nothing in it. Bourkes can use this in desperation, but it's not what they prefer, or what is best.  It’s going to tax a mother more if she has to keep gathering the eggs under her to keep them from rolling away, and if they do, they’ll cool and may not hatch. Many may also refuse to breed if an appropriate nest box isn't present.

 

If all you have is shredded paper, you’ll have to place it in the box for them and press it down as firmly as possible. Don't leave it loosely in the box. Keep it thick and "squashed and flattened."

 

If they use it, let me know. But, with pine shavings, you know you have the right medium.

 

Fuchsia with an egg. Several more to come.

If anyone else has used shredded paper or anything other than pine shavings for their Splendids or Bourkes, please comment. Thank you.

Click on Tab at top of page "Building Nest Boxes"
for detailed directions.

 Peace and Blessings.

 

Lady Gouldian Update

After successfully raising two clutches of eleven babies, they are now into home redecorating.


They keep adding more and more nesting material.

Mama has laid over 12 eggs that she sometimes deigns to sit on, but never at night when she's supposed to. Daddy Gouldian, who should warm them during the day, isn't bothering either.

What they are doing, is rearranging and nest building. Nothing satisfies them. They cover the eggs, which I've uncovered several times, then recover them. I thought for a while maybe they were trying to keep them warm with newspaper. Hah!

After candling the eggs, most appear to be fertile, but it seems unlikely any will hatch. I've considered bringing our homemade egg incubator up from the basement and putting it into use, but haven't done so yet. It may be too late and the Gouldian babies aren't as quick to sell, nor for as much, as the Bourke parakeets. A lot of work and risk for less gain, although the babies would be hand fed and tame.


Their second clutch of six healthy youngsters.

In earlier clutches, she stayed on the eggs if I peeked into the box. This time she leaves any time I open the lid.

--------------

Later in day: Decided to count and candle her eggs. There are 15!



Only ten eggs showing, but as
of today there are 15 in total.

She has laid two clutches back to back after fledging a second clutch of healthy babies. By candling them I hoped to identify the good from the infertile or dead. What I learned is that I'm less sure of myself with small finch eggs than with larger Bourke eggs. Over half are definitely fertile, but only one had apparent movement.

As for seeing a heartbeat as expected in a Bourke egg...well, the little hearts are probably too small for me to recognize. One dark image inside an egg was certainly moving, but the others didn't seem to be. Yet, I'm not willing to risk throwing out a healthy little bird in the shell.

I put all 15 eggs back into the nest...those that were dark and those that looked like they were either infertile, or recently laid (there were no visible vessels). We shall wait and see what she does. The eggs were, by the way, all warm. How she keeps 15 eggs warm, I'm not sure, but they were, even though she seldom seems to be sitting on them and it's only 70 degrees in the house.

Peace & Blessings.

Prolific Lady Gouldian Finches

Duke and Duchess have successfully fledged their second clutch. All six hatchlings are healthy and eating on their own. Meanwhile, even before the babies left the nest, Duchess had laid two more eggs! Currently, she has five, but her first and second clutches were seven. Probably more eggs to come.

Duke has a mouthful of paper shreds. Baby at left.

Cup holding paper shreds.

I like to have newspaper on the bottom of our cages.
It is changed regularly and keeps everything clean.
Since Duke was tearing it into big shreds, I gave him a
cup full of paper from the paper shredder. He loves it.

Duke is happily revamping the nest box. No chance for me to clean it out, but he makes sure it's nice and tidy for another clutch. He has covered up all evidence of the last clutch and made it look spic and span. One problem, however. He covered up Duchess's first two eggs. Then she laid two more. He covered those up too!

So, today I went into the box and dug around to find those eggs. Found five buried eggs and moved them back to the surface. I candled them first, but since she hasn't been sitting on them I'm not certain if any, or all, are fertile. Two appear to possibly have veins in them, indicating fertility. They were probably warmed by the previous youngsters who are still returning to the nest box at night. The first clutch of five babies didn't do that, but this second clutch of six does return nightly.

Held the camera inside the cage for this photo.
Duke with shreds in his mouth.

Eight birds require a lot of food. Several dishes on the
bottom of the cage with a variety of food for the
babies to learn to eat on their own.

Duchess is still feeding her brood, even though they are eating on their own as well. Duke isn't interested in the young birds and has even knocked one or two off the perch when they've been in his way. Soon they will be moved to a cage of their own.

Peace & Blessings.

REPLACING NEST BOXES FOR BREEDING SEASON

Hello All,

Eight home made parakeet nest boxes after a good cleaning.

Dry and ready to bring inside. Installation was the next day.

I retrieved all our nest boxes from the basement where they’d been stored since last year, shook out a few mouse turds (frown) then brought them up to the laundry room and thoroughly cleaned them with warm sudsy liquid dish detergent. 

After a good rinse, they spent the afternoon on the deck drying in the sun, as the photo illustrates. The sun is beginning to drop on the horizon and the nest boxes, now dry, are about to come indoors. The next day we installed them on cages. An inch or two of pine shavings covers the bottom of our boxes. Bourkes and Splendids like pine shavings (don't use cedar).

Budgies need an indented circle in the bottom of an empty box for their eggs. We're not currently raising Budgies, so all these nest boxes are for Bourkes or Scarlet-chested parakeets.

It’s important to keep an eye on your hens when they’re laying. We’d planned a trip to Chicago during the month of May and I didn’t want our hens laying eggs when I wasn’t at home. This resulted in putting the nest boxes up late this year.



Jewel's new box. It sometimes takes a few days
for birds to investigate a recently installed nest box.
Usually the male checks it out first to be sure it's safe.

 Even though I had someone who would come in each day to provide them with fresh water and food, I wanted to be present during breeding season. If anything unusual were to happen, such as egg-binding, I could recognize and respond to the problem and, hopefully, save a hen’s life. It’s also a good idea to check your nestlings daily. If for some reason a chick isn’t being fed, you can pull the chick and save it with hand feeding.

As you know, having a nest box stimulates the bird’s desire to breed and rear young. Without a nest box, they usually won’t attempt to reproduce. However, like every rule, there are exceptions. One year, I had one female lay her eggs in a food cup in early February.  She has since learned to wait for me to put up a box. I think she realizes that if she waits, one will eventually materialize.

This box slides open on the side, rather than from the top.

Last year Cherry, an older Rosy hen who didn’t lay eggs in 2009, surprised us by raising a total of six youngsters in 2010.  And here I thought she was finished. Apparently not. There was no change of cage or mate  … everything was the same as always. I’m curious to see what she does this year.

Another of my older hens — a Normal named Willow — also appeared to have gone into retirement. Although she raised numerous clutches over the years, in 2009 and 2010 she never glanced at the nest box and turned away her younger mate when he tried to feed her. My husband asked why it was necessary to put a box on their cage.

“You never know,” I said. “Look at Cherry who raised young last year after skipping a year. We’ve nothing to lose. We have the box and it only takes minutes to install it.” Of course, those “lost” minutes were his sacrifice, not mine … Smile.

Clyde outside Bonnie's nest box. 

Peeking inside a newly installed box.

This morning, I looked up from my desk, and Willow was in her nest box!  Will she lay eggs? That is yet to be seen. She was an adult bird when I purchased her a number of years ago, and she isn’t banded. So her age is unknown. If hens live a healthy long life, they eventually quit laying.

Some breeders sell off their older, non-productive birds. I don’t do that. If they’ve done well for me, they deserve a pleasant retirement in the home where they’ve become familiar and comfortable.

Peace & Blessings.
May your birds bring you joy. 

A Design for Building Parakeet Nest Boxes

Here are several photos of nest boxes we built for our Bourkes and Splendids.

Splendid nest box above, Bourke below.

     Nest boxes can be easy and inexpensive to build. If they're being used for budgerigar parakeets, you will need to carve a round dent in the bottom so that their eggs remain in that area. Budgies don't require any nesting material, but do need a circular indentation approximately two inches in diameter (across), gently sloping inward toward the center until about 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch deep at the center. It should not be any deeper than this. The indentation is put in the center of the box floor.

     Bourke and/or Splendid parakeets lay their eggs in nesting material, and most seem to choose a corner of the box. The best nesting material seems to be pine shavings which can be purchased by the bag. Pine shavings are also used  in pet cages for hamsters and other rodents. Do not use cedar shavings...the smell offends the birds and they are unlikely to use the box.

Rosy Bourkes happily using a cockatiel-sized nest box.

Many variations are possible.

     Instructions to build a standard-sized parakeet nest box have been written up by Ed Lewis who made those in the photos. He placed the directions in a pdf version. Simply click the link below and you will be taken to a site where you can download and print the instructions. If you have any problem understanding them, don't hesitate to contact us. They were easy for me to follow, but I watched the nest boxes being built ... Smile.

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Peeking inside.

This is how we attach them to cages: with 8 inch "cable ties." Drill small holes in the side you've cut longer.

This link will take you to directions for Building a Nest Box.

They can be downloaded for free and saved to your computer. 

P.S. Ed is also E. G. Lewis, author of WITNESS and DISCIPLE, novels you can learn more about by clicking on the Cape Arago Press link in the sidebar at the left.

Peace & Blessings.

Bourke Pairing & Nest Boxes ... Question from Noah

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today's Bourke Baby Photo

Taken today, March 27, 2010. This hen, Bonnie, has had her picture appear here before. She's one of my calm mothers and it's easy to photograph her.

The baby she's feeding here is four days old. A two-day-old baby is snuggled beneath her, along with two eggs. Bourke eggs are typically laid every other day and hatch that way too, although exceptions aren't unusual.

Mother and baby are beak to beak in this photo. Broken eggs shells are probably from baby #2. Since the egg shells from #1 disappeared, and I think she ate them for their calcium.

Bonnie & Clyde are excellent parents. Bonnie Blue is out of Rhett & Scarlett. Not all Rosy Bourkes have a blue rump like she does, although it is common. When Clyde was purchased, his name went with Bonnie (famous outlaws). Clyde doesn't have a blue rump. He's almost all Rosie except for wing tips and tail and their youngsters usually don't show blue rumps either.

Brand New Eggs Can Wait ...

This is Rivka, a Scarlet-chested parakeet hen, better known as a Splendid parakeet. Rivka has laid her first egg in this clutch. She doesn't seem very protective of it, does she? When I opened the box, she didn't cover and protect the egg. Why not?

The truth is, all parakeet eggs can wait a few days before being incubated and still be viable. Many hens will immediately start to incubate and just as many will wait until they've laid all their eggs.

Don't worry if your hen leaves the nest and appears to abandon an egg, or her eggs, overnight. Once they're all there, she will return and begin to protect and incubate them. It's common for hens to wait. For this reason, if you've seen a pair successfully mating, but she lays her egg on the bottom of the cage, (can happen with a 1st time young pair) even if it's been there for a couple of days and is cold, it will still be good if not damaged or infertile. You can foster it under another hen, or attempt to incubate it yourself. See section in my Archive about incubation. 

When a hen waits to incubate her earliest eggs, this may cause them to hatch closer together since the chicks don't start to grow until the eggs are warm and cared for. Typically, Splendid eggs hatch one each day, whereas Bourke eggs hatch every other day (both at 18 to 21 days...timing can vary with room or day warmth). They also lay the same way: one a day for Splendids and one every other day for Bourkes. Of course, this is the norm ... variations aren't unusual.

If you have questions, don't hesitate to contact me at: rosie.birds@gmail.com.

Have a wonderful February ... all our trees are in bloom and it's gorgeous on the south coast of Oregon.

Love & Blessings.

Current Two Clutches

Hand feeding the older two babies.  Banded the two smaller ones yesterday at 8 & 10 days of age. Notice the soft fuzz that covers baby Bourkes. You won't see this on Budgerigar parakeets, bald when they hatch. Bourkes are cuter... 

Notice the fat tummy on these guys ... they've just been fed. Their crops even show up at the tops of their shoulders.

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.)

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