> Feb. 3rd: Kilroy Hatched an Egg!! (Bourke's Australian Grass 'Keet)

[Shirley]

This is brought over from the other board -- minus all the comments -- it's way too long.
I'll just post the series of pics and relevant information.

Feb 3, 2005:

Oh this is so exciting! One of Kilroy's eggs hatched this morning!
I will take a picture soon! It wasn't hatched last night. It's a teeny tiny little guy!

(Bourke's Australian Grass Parakeet) Mama is 4 yrs old and a real pro at being a Mama!

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/1st-hatch-A.jpg

Just hours old! Still wet!

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/1st-hatch2-A.jpg

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/Kilroy-1st-baby-A.jpg

Below, the next egg is beginning to hatch! It will likely take several hours, and she will sit on them the entire time.

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/Nestbox-egg-hatching-newborn-A.jpg

They lay their eggs every other day, but don't begin to sit until at least two are laid. Thus, two sometimes hatch on the same day! They usually hatch 18-19 days after being laid.

[Shirley]

Same day:

Kilroy on her eggs...she pulled the one that's hatching up under her chest.

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/Kilroy-eggs-A.jpg

Proud and attentive Papa-Blue! He's our Normal Bourke's. This is what they look like in the wild - no color mutations. His back is dark.

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/Papa-Blue-A.jpg

Their feathers start to open up at 2-1/2 weeks, but aren't really fully grown in where you can see the colors until a week or so later...(Pins come in earlier than that) So it's hard to tell. They wean between 7-8 weeks, but aren't completely on their own until they've been eating alone for two weeks, alone with no siblings to encourage them to eat. So, usually 11-12 or 13 weeks. We play with them with the parents in our bedroom where they are now (that's where Kilroy lives all the time) and they are very social. They free-fly and don't get their wings clipped unless their new home requests such. They become excellent fliers! Sometimes we handfeed, and sometimes we don't, and regardless, they are very tame. We start taking them out and playing with them on the bed when they start toddling around - at about 3 weeks - and with their parents.

[Shirley]

Here's another new baby, hatched early this morning! and Photographed late this afternoon.
(Hatched 2/4/05)

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/Baby2/Baby2-2-4-05-e.jpg

4 eggs, but the one that hatched late last night, the egg with the crack in it, was extremely tiny, and it passed away during the night http://9.forumer.com/html/emoticons/sad.gif http://9.forumer.com/html/emoticons/sad.gif
That has not happened to Kilroy before. I don't know if it had a problem or somehow hatched early, which would be very unusual, dead in the shell would be more likely... http://9.forumer.com/html/emoticons/sad.gif
So one more egg left.

Here are the two together, and what a difference 24 hours makes!!


http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/Group/1-2on2-4-05b.jpg


I took 2 pics, and they were only out for maybe 45 seconds.

Feb 8th:

Kilroy is four years old this month. My husband thought she was a boy when he named her, and then he wouldn't change it! She is very much bonded to him. She just LOVES being a mama. This is her first time being bred to our normal papa.

Her last egg hasn't hatched yet...not sure if it will.

5 and 6 days old, just took these pics today, 2/9/05:

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/Group/026.jpg

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/Group/030.jpg

[Shirley]

Mom and pop are feeding them now, and yes, there is a size difference, but not nearly so much as those first few days. We might let mom and pop feed these these guys and just take them out and play with them as a family starting at the large pin feather stage, about 2 1/2 wks-3wks, but if we start hand feeding, that would start around 15-20 days. If papa starts pulling their feathers out of their backs, then we'll hand feed. Rosy papa tends to do that to his babies, not out of hostility, he feeds them and he's sweet to them, he just starts pulling their back feathers out as they open up. http://9.forumer.com/html/emoticons/sad.gif They'll be really tame regardless if we handfeed or not b/c we play with them a lot.

As the babies grow and begin to fledge, their crops actually begin to shrink and they fill less. When handfeeding, at that age you have to be careful not to stuff them too full or they may try to fly and then possibly aspirate upon landing too hard.

sisE wrote:
how do you know when to stop feeding them?


They stop on their own little by little as they start to eat millet and seed. Usually this happens when they are between 6-8 weeks old. They start nibbling around 5 weeks old.

The last egg didn't hatch, and I opened it today - no live chick. I candled it first a couple days ago and knew then that it wouldn't hatch. So this is a 2-chick clutch. They are doing great! http://9.forumer.com/html/emoticons/smile.gif

sisE wrote:
how do you candle them out?


After the egg is several days old, you very carefully carry it to a totally dark room and shine a pinlight flashlight through it. If it is "alive' (fertile) you can see the blood vessels and other things so you know there's a chick in there. If it's sterile then there is just an egg yolk and no chick will ever grow, and it will look quite empty.

[Shirley]

Here they are on Valentine's Day - 9 and 10 days old! Their eyes are beginning to open, and you can see their little ears! Also, I put their leg bands on today, after I took their pictures.

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/Group/2-14-05-055.jpg

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/Group/2-14-05-067.jpg

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/Group/2-14-05-069.jpg

They make these little scratchy noises when I take them out of the nestbox now. In a week or so, they'll look so different and begin toddling around, and that's when we take them out with their mama and get them used to being with us; then they become quite tame. If we were to handfeed them, this is the age we'd start. If their papa starts to pick their feathers later on, we've had babies accept handfeeding as late as 4-1/2 weeks.

2/20:

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/Group/16-17-days.jpg

I took 67 pics!!!! (two different sessions this afternoon!) They kept falling asleep! And this was my favorite!

I kept 12 of the 67 as keepers....

2/23:

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/Group/2-23-05-A.jpg

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/Group/2-23-05-B.jpg

I can't believe how quickly they change -- each clutch just wows me all over again! http://9.forumer.com/html/emoticons/bof/heart.gif They REALLY ARE a delightful species! They never stop being affectionate...and they are so lively and full of love and enchantment!

[Shirley]

Three weeks old! Family Portrait!!

Papa is only partially tame...I took these on the kitchen table...two sessions.... 143 pics!!!!! Papa was easy compared to youngest baby who either kept running off to a corner in the box or going to sleep!!

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/Group/Family-3wks.jpg

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/Group/SugarBowl-308.jpg

Using the antique sugar bowl was the best way to keep him in one spot! The "mug" kept the other one still -- he was fine until he got tired of waiting for baby brother to cooperate!

I made that "mug" as part of a set in 7th grade art class - the handle blew off in the kiln and the glaze didn't work...so it's been a hamster house and all sorts of things in the many years since!

This is the "studio" I made.... and I photoshop out the little birdie messes -- and then throw the black cage cover in the laundry! Kilroy is a piece of cake to photograph. She keeps papa calm, and the black box helps keep him calm. He flew off about 5 times - he was wild before he came to us as an adult breeder.

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/Group/studio.jpg

March 1st:

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/Group/3-1-05-483.jpg

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/Group/3-1-05-484.jpg

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/Group/3-1-05-488.jpg

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/Group/3-1-05-489.jpg

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/Group/3-1-05-493.jpg

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/Group/3-1-05-495.jpg


QUOTE Awesome, Shirley! They are so adorable and precious. Do you breed and sell them? The colors are beautiful on them...Gorgeous pictures!Smile Pam


Well, Kilroy just loves having babies....so we try to place them in the best possible homes. Some find homes right after weaning, and we have some that are a year old still waiting for the right homes. Just depends on how it goes on getting connected with the right people at the right time. Sometimes we advertise, but if it's a home with smoking and unsupervised dogs/cats and such, then we have to say no.

They are Australian Grass Keets -- not Budgies. As for Family/Genus/Species -- I'll have to look that up, but I think not.

From "The New Australian Parakeet Handbook":

The Bourke's is:
Neophema bourkii

The above book covers numerous species, but not the Budgies.

From the Lexicon of Parrots: http://www.arndt-verlag.com/austral.htm

The Budgerigar is:
Melopsittacus undulatus

The Budgie is also Australian, but they don't interbreed - Different Genus and Species. --- from what I've read.

[Shirley]

March 8th:

Here they are today at 4-1/2 weeks!

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/Bourke/3-8-05-620.jpg

Excellent fliers now, by the way!

Kilroy used to have clutches of 4 & 5. Lately she's laid 4-5 eggs, with only 1-3 hatching. The others have been empty. she tends to jump back in the nestbox to lay before the male has a clue where she went. Exclamation

Answer to questions:
I can't let the Bourke's anywhere near Holly or her cage. She would kill one in a split second, on purpose. And they could fly right through the bars of her cage. Shelby screams like she saw a hawk. Skyler couldn't care less. However, I don't let the small birds out near the big birds b/c of the beak factor.

They can live alone as a single. They don't really play together and they never preen each other. Kilroy and her mate never preen or snuggle or sleep close together.
They can be singles or pairs or threes, and they still prefer their human if they are tame.

[Junkzoo]

Just saw this thread Shirley,,and nervously waited til most all the pics loaded up here(darn dial up)the last couple did not load,,wil try again mighta timed out or something,,
Beautiful string of pictures documenting the progress! Are these two the possibles "maybes" i might be able to choose?(if weaned early enuf)

Love the coloration of these birds!

Not that the colors are nice and brilliant enough,,(dumb question time) Is there any advantage to offering a "color" food to brighten the colors even more? no real need, just wondering if they benefit from that kind of food/additives, ala Canary color food etc.
Not looking to do this,,,just a simple question for information sake,,,
Thanks,,,

[Junkzoo]

BTW: the other pics decided to show up , while i was typing prev post,,,:thumbup:
Wow!:eek: :agree: Super pics , of super birds!:thumbup:

[Shirley]

Yours is the younger of these two birds! :D

The next two I didn't document like this. They are just at the age of coming out of the nest... sort of at the age of the basket photo "going to markeet", maybe slightly younger.

They get all sorts of food varieties... but the color chemistry of parrots' feathers isn't enhanced by color foods the way canaries, flamengos, etc are. They get baked sweet potato, corn, peas, raw grated carrots and broccoli, zupreem pellets, higgins seed, millet... no vitamins - that's all in their pellets. They are so adorable! :emot-danc

[Shirley]

Let me know if there's a favorite you want a print of...

[Junkzoo]

Yours is the younger of these two birds! :D

"going to markeet",


Shirley, Loved the "Markeet " part! :roflmao2: :roflmao2:
(took me a second to figure out where you were going with that,,,you are not one to mispell anything , unlike myself:rolleyes: )

gotta go look at your thread on these again, and marvel at the pics!:goodjob:

[Junkzoo]

Let me know if there's a favorite you want a print of...

I probably will, You know, Baby pics n all,,,,,,,:wub: :heart: :funny:

[Shirley]

Shirley, Loved the "Markeet " part! :roflmao2: :roflmao2:
(took me a second to figure out where you were going with that,,,you are not one to mispell anything , unlike myself:rolleyes: )

gotta go look at your thread on these again, and marvel at the pics!:goodjob:

haha! That was a typo in my post! Freudian slip I guess! in the pic, it's Going to Market... But I can change it to "But I don't wanna go to markeet" if you want! Just lemme know, ok?

Any others?

[Junkzoo]

You mean to tell me you did not plan that on purpose?:doh: :rofl: :lol_hit:
Only you can turn a slip of the finger into a related play on words!:goodjob: LOL

Not unlike Cath(from TRT) when i caught her slip up with Oatmeat(Oatmeal)
Cath's a vegitarian(sp?):rofl:

[Shirley]

hahaha! I remember her Oatmeat!! :rotflmao:

Nope, I had to go back and see if I wrote markeet in the photo!!

The little guys are just now 4 weeks old. They'll be 8 wks on the 27th of May and are usually weaned by the 8th week, but it's touchy on the 7th week.

Here's the oldest of the little ones, hatched 4/1 and 4/3:

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/numb3-4-28-05.jpg

http://shirleymorgan.com/misc/numb3b-4-28-05.jpg

He really can't perch yet... he's just sort of squatting there long enough for me to take the picture. :)

[Junkzoo]

SOOOO cute n beautiful Shirley!
Like puppies/kittens ,baby birds make for a picture no one can not like!
although IMO, newly hatched birds have a face only a mama bird could love! LOL
but they are "growing" on me,,,;)

[OodleyBoodely]

Love this thread, Shirley! I think I am definately partial to the smaller parrots and I have always loved the looks of the Bourkes. Great photos!:thumbup:

[Jean]

Awww, these pic are the prettiest, Just look at those colors!!:heart: :wub: :heart:

[parrotgirl]

Oh Shirley, I've only just seen these pics, they are absolutely wonderful. Silly me showed them to Luke and guess what he wants babies:doh: Nooooooooooooo I absolutely love the one of the babies with the flowers in the background, but then I love them all.


Can't believe how small the babies are when born, and how big those eggs are:yikes: . It does make you think "Oh just one clutch" but at the moment Luke is doing a great job with them I'd hate for him to stop.

Brilliant pics Shirley, thanks so much for sharing them,:wub: :wub:

[Shirley]

Well... they are a wonderful species for kids to have babies with... the parents raise the babies... you can get them out and "play" with them on the bed to socialize them when they get pin feathers and the parents don't mind a bit... and they wean about 7-8 wks... we just have a hard time letting them go to new homes b/c we are so very picky about who gets to have one. (Ginny has three!) I'd love to "smuggle" some to England! Sue wants one!

We've never lost a baby... we've had eggs that didn't hatch, but never lost a baby. Kilroy LOVES being a mom, and doesn't have to have papa in there 12 mos out of the year. She's a pet part of the year and a mom part of the year.

Glad you liked the pics!!

[Shirley]

Oh, and our neighbor, Annie, got her first Bourke's baby, Angel, when she was 9, then had babies last summer after getting a papa a year ealier... :D

[parrotgirl]

Shirley I was reading about Annie and Angel, then the babies, that was brilliant. Luke has really enjoyed seeing the pics and reading the posts, especially the last one about how good they are with babies, think he's more determined than ever. :D

[Shirley]

Oh - that's wonderful! I recently had to clear a lot of space off the server... so I think I pulled all Annie's pics... and all you can see is the text...

[Griminsdj]

That was incredible to see them grow up in your photo journal. and to hear what good parents they make and how you can handle the babies when they get teh pin feathers in is just amazing. I think my favorit epicure was of the newly hatched chick and the chick that was just 48 hours older...what a difference!

[Shirley]

It's an amazing difference~! I'm amazed we cannot SEE them grow!

Now... we need some very good homes... about 6 or 7 very good homes... ;)

[parrotgirl]

If we were nearer, I think you'd have found your home.:agree: