Burkes Parrots

[jemappelle]

I managed to get what I hope is a pair of Rosa Burkes just before Christmas. Please tell me what you know about them.

Thanks.

[jusdeb]

The male will have a broader / boofier head .

[shox]

Jemappelle,

They are a very placid bird that breed very well. The male will sing/chirp more than the female, plus the male will have more flecks of blue feathers on top of his head. Also the beak size is larger in the male. Realistically need to be about twelve months old for breeding purposes. They are prolific breeders and you should have a lot of fun with them. I put my breeding boxes into the aviary the first week of July (Sydney area) and by the end of August start of September I have my first clutch come out of the box. There will be about three to five young. My birds are happy to breed up until March. Sounds like a long time but if I take the boxes out, I find eggs on the floor.
They live for about ten to twelve years, they love to exercise in the mornings and evenings, so hopefully you have plenty of flight area. They mix well with finches, elegants and scarlets.
They enjoy sunflower seed as a treat, any seeded grasses, milk thistle, eggs, apple(red), dandelion etc. They will eat mealworms as well.
The bourkes feed on the ground a lot so I worm every three months, also spray the nest boxes with a lice and mite treatment. Basic overview.
Any questions just send out a message
Do you know if they are siblings?

[jemappelle]

Thanks for the replies.

Shox I am very taken with these birds and have decided I would like to breed them. I don't know whether the birds are related or not as I got them from a bird shop - I have been looking for some for over a year and they were the only one's I could find.

At the moment they are in a flight cage which is working out well as they are getting used to me - the one I think is the hen swears at me a lot but is calming down now

I have noticed they spend a lot of time on the floor of the cage so I always put in grass and sprinkle seed there for them. They should go well with the canary who makes a right mess of her cage, spreading seed everywhere.

Once I get an aviary set up I will look at getting another two.

Now a question, the hen doesn't have any tail feathers - is this normal for a young bird?

[shox]

The tail feather will grow back, they can fall out when caught on something. Can I ask which shop you got them from? Secondly when the aviary is built, just keep one pair, let them breed, keep the hen and swap a cock for another, to get a different blood line.. With the floor of the aviary best to have concrete with a sydney sand base.

[jemappelle]

I got them from Tony's Pet Shop at Warilla (near Shellharbour). I chose the tailless hen because there were a few like that and I thought they may have been from different parents. She is moulting at the moment so I am thinking she is 4-6 months, would that be right?

I did wonder about the base of the aviary and had decided on concrete but won't they eat the sand? They seem to eat everything else I put on the floor of their cage.

[shox]

No they wont eat the sand it will stop disease growing when the floor gets wet, dont get river sand, Newwcastle/Sydney white sand.. The age could be right they moult a few times, the face or feet also help with age.

[shox]

Sorry the sentence did not read correctly get Sydney sand.

[jemappelle]

Great, thanks for that.