breeding questions

[Beckie]

Hi,
I've been looking around this forum for a few days now, and found it to be VERY informative! I am a newbie to this forum and to bourkes. I have questions that I saw no answers to in previous threads, so, here goes...oh, please excuse my ignorance. I went to a lady's house to get a bonded/breeding pair of budgies, (I have questions about them too, maybe at the bottom of the page) which I came home with, but, when I saw the bourkes she was selling, I was completely floored!!! OMG, they were absolutely breath taking (I thought)! Anyway, long story short, she had a pair in one cage and a single female in another. I took all three. She told me she has had them for three years and never put a nest box up for them, even tho she had 50 or so cages with breeding budgies and tiels, all with nest boxes. I thought it curious, but I bought them anyway. She said they needed a bigger cage than a budgie to breed. Is that true? I also bought a large cage from her (3'tallx2.5'wx1.5'deep), which I put them in, they can fly about a little, I put up 2 nest boxes and the sole female is in a budgie cage by herself. I have not seen any courting activity as yet. I have had them for only two days, I realise they might take some time to get into the swing of things? My question is, what would happen if I put the lone female in with the pair? Since I have only had them for a couple of days, I am guessing they will not behave naturally until they are use to me and their new surroundings, but if they haven't had a chance to breed for three years, could I make the cage a three some?

Oh heck, the budgie question. She laid an egg on the floor yesterday and it cracked. Will she be comfortable enough to go into the nest box (as they haven't yet) before she lays the rest of this clutch? If I put all the good eggs she may lay on the floor, in the nest box, will she "get it" before the eggs parish?

Thank you so much in advance for any advice you can give me.

Beckie

[Shirley]

Hi Beckie!
And welcome to the forum!!

I've had Bourke's for about 7 yrs now.... they are truly a delight! Ours are our pets... but they love to have babies, too.

So long as their is no serious aggression, you may put all three together, unlike most other species.

Hang only one nest box. The male will not breed two at once like canaries sometimes do.

Once you notice the male do his little "Bourke dance and song" and feed one of the females, I'd take the other out - ours only go to the nestbox when paird in a cage by themselves. And our males will pair with either of our females - we've switched them around since one is a Rosy (Opaline) and one is a Normal (wild color) and both females are Rosy.

They may breed next week or next month or next year... you never know, but once they start, it's kinda hard to get them to stop.

Diet is crucial for good breeding success, and so is flight. I'm assuming they are not clipped?

What are they eating? Will they eat pellets?

A good seed mix such as Higgins parakeet, along with fresh chopped veggies, and some pellets, and some millet once or twice a week is good. Cuttlebone is essential. I feed Zupreem natural pellets (parakeet size).
I also let the parents raise their babies, and sometimes I co-parent, but I rarely handfeed their babies completely. It's not necessary.

Excersise: It's very good for them to fly about in a safe room, such as your bedroom, a few times a week or whenever you have time (except when they are on eggs) Are they tame ata all? If they are completely wild and act extra skittish when you put your nad in the cage, then I'd wait until they are more settled before releasing them in a room larger than a bathroom. Talk to them, whistle softly the same little tune as you approach, and they'll start to settle down.

I have a load of pics and info on my Bourke's site, linked below my signature.

[Shirley]

....Oh heck, the budgie question. She laid an egg on the floor yesterday and it cracked. Will she be comfortable enough to go into the nest box (as they haven't yet) before she lays the rest of this clutch? If I put all the good eggs she may lay on the floor, in the nest box, will she "get it" before the eggs parish?


She might, but then she likely won't. Is she in a cage with just the male budgie and a nestbox? If not, then try setting them up as a pair and see if that helps. Sometimes, it takes a clutch or two before they "get it".

Also, Budgies and Bourke's don't build a nest - they lay on the wood floor of their nestbox - and we put a thin layer of pine shavings in there as a nest, which they don't mind. What does your nestbox look like?

[Beckie]

Hi Shirley,
Thank you for making me feel welcome. The only reason I put in two nest boxes is because I read somewhere that the male likes to make a choice. I will try the other female and keep you posted. She has been next to them in a cage for a long time, they should know each other.

They are not clipped. I feed them a parakeet seed, chicken crumbles (she said she was feeding that) and I scramble eggs with the shell, corn, peas, bananas, other veges and fruits, and little pieces of leftovers, nothing greasy or too fattening.

They are kind of tame, although they get a little nervous when I open the cage to add food or whatever. I will let them fly when I think we are ready for that step.

I have been to your site, it is very informative and the pictures!!!... I'll have to search around the forum again, I can't remember where I saw the "dance" to look for. Will there be fighting if one of the females goes to nest and the other is still in the cage?

The budgies are in a cage by themselves, as they were when I first saw them at her house. They were spending a lot of time in the nest box, even tho there were no eggs. I saw them mate also, while I was there and she told me these two have produced a couple of clutches in the past, so I figured they would know what to do when they got here. Most of her nest boxes were either full of eggs, or had babies in them. She uses plastic Foldger coffee containers (with lids) or industrial sized mayonnaise containers and peanut cans for nest boxes, then she glues (non toxic wood glue) sand to the bottom of the container. So, I did the same, I thought if that's what they were use to at her house, and apparently, it works, why change it? I will get some wood chips for the Bourkes, even tho I haven't seen any interest from them about what they have now. Thank you so much, I am going to your site now to learn more. Beckie

[Shirley]

Did you see the nestbox on my Bourke's site? I'd recommend that. They will change.

If the females fight, it will be right away, not because someone went to the nest box.

I don't have a video posted of the little dance thing- you'll know it when you see it. It's subtle, not real fancy, and he makes a special noise to go along with it.

Go easy on the fruits. Ours don't eat fruit, in fact.

hard-boiled egg ground up shell and all is excellent.

I forgot to include that we also feed Harrison's Adult Lifetime Mash to the adults and to the babies as they wean.

Did you say "sand" in the cage or nestbox? If so, no sand, no crushed walnut... just newspapers on the cage floor, and some pine shavings in the nestbox.

[Beckie]

I am going easy on the fruit, just bananas and apples, but I'll stop.. I got some wood shavings today, I'll replace with that. They all seem good together so far. How do I put a pic on here? I want you to see them and tell me if I have what I think I have...and maybe what I could get from them? (colors)
Thanks, Beckie

[Shirley]

Posting photos:

http://www.thebirdforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=366

http://www.thebirdforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=223

I look forward to your pics! :)

[Beckie]

It didn't work. I guess I don't know where to find the URL. I will keep trying. Thanks, Beckie

[Beckie]

I guess I'm stupid. I can't remember where to find the URL. Thanks, Beckie I will keep trying until I get an answer.

[Beckie]

I tried to post my pics, every way you suggested. I don't know what I must be doing wrong. It says my pic is too large? I don't know how to fix that. I think (when I finally figure out how to get you pics to confirm) I have two rose? and one wild? colored? I can't imagine they are too old to breed, but I see nothing. Am I being too impatient? Thanks, Beckie I will still try to figure out the pic thing. I really want your opinion on these birds!

[Beckie]

http://C:\Documents and Settings\Beckie Angulo\My Documents\My Pictures\Kodak Pictures\2008-05-10

[Beckie]

http:/C:\Documents and Settings\Beckie Angulo\My Documents\My Pictures\Kodak Pictures\2008-05-10/

[Beckie]

http://100_0978.jpg

[Shirley]

Beckie, I was gone all day yesterday; and will be gone most of today. I'll be able to help later. To upload your photo directly to from your hard drive to the board, it must be under 70 ro 80 KB, I forget which. If you post on a site like Photobucket, you don't have to worry about the size so much - Photobucket has a very good tutorial that explains how to upload and how to copy their link to a board such as ours.

I don't know what you mean when you say "I can't find the URL"?

[Beckie]

Can I email the pics to you? I am very frustrated now. I don't know what to do next, except i want unusual colors in the budgies and the bourkes. Thanks, Beckie

[Sue]

Hi Beckie, welcome to the forum.

You can email your pic's to me if you want to and I will do my best. I have been having troubleputting pic's up myself recently, so may not be possible but I'll try.

Photobucket is really easy to use too.

[Shirley]

Please read this for color varieties in Bourke's.

And, understand, posting pics won't necessarily give the information needed for breeding color. :)

http://www.thebirdforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2809

I will be gone for most of the day now...

[jimleasure]

beckie,
welcome. and i have a question for you. are you positive about the sex of the three bourke's you have. having some one tell you the sex of the bird isn't always the best way. i still have problems telling the sex of my little ones. and shirley has given you good advice, the only thing i can add is to have patience. and good luck

[Beckie]

Hi all,
Thanks for all your input. Besides the pic thing, I've been having problems with Internet Explorer (to get on the web). After I post this, I will try the pic thing again. Actually, I am not certain of the sexes of these Bourkes. The woman I bought them from told me what she was told by her seller. I think I read that only one color could be visually sexed. I am going to the other links after this to fill my brain. Anyway, after I put what I thought was a female into the cage with the pair, (who has done nothing for 3 or so years, so I was told). Now there are three and nothing happened. Since then, I have seen some strange behavior in front of the nest box by the newest to the cage (which I thought to be female). If there were two males and one female, wouldn't there be fighting? I am going to try the photo thing now, until you see what I have, maybe all this is moot. Please post your email addresses? (I don't know how it's done) so I can send you pics, if I can't post them here. I just tried the pic thing again. I'll keep trying until I get it. In the meantime, I will go to all the helpful links and be patient!!!

[jimleasure]

beckie,
if you click on our names on the left side you will get a menu, with one option for emailing.
and if you had two males and a female in the cage i would imagine there would be some sort of aggression between the males. at least that is what i've seen with mine.
next question is what kind of nest box do you have? is it inside the cage or outside? wood, plastic or metal? what size is it and how big is the entrance?
i tried to use a plastic budgie nest box and the bourke's ignored it like the plague. as soon as i put up a wooden box the size for lovebirds or so they started working it within a week. let us know how it is going.