A pair of budgies brought a surprise to the Greve family of Weyburn in the form of six eggs and four hatchlings.
The family had seen the budgie pair come available online, as someone on Facebook was giving them away to a new home.
They were assured the two budgies were both boys, and the pet store had told the previous owners both birds were males, so no surprises were expected.
The previous owners had the pair since June of 2019, and they had had no young born from them, even naming the blue and green birds Sterling and Douglas.
鈥淲e had seen them be affectionate with each other, and 18 days later she hatched her first egg,鈥� said Trisha Greve, noting over a course of 12 days there were six eggs laid, and the first baby hatched on July 16.
鈥淔or the first two weeks we didn鈥檛 really see the mom, as she was sitting on the eggs in the nesting box,鈥� added Trisha.
The Greves had a large bird cage from when they had birds a number of years ago, plus her daughter Camryn had made a nesting box in Girl Guides a couple of years ago, and this was added on.
Trisha noted they had put nesting material in the bottom of the nesting box, but the mom bird promptly removed it all. The information they had was that there should be nesting material for the babies or their legs will end up developing in a splayed-out way, noted Camryn.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really interesting to watch them,鈥� said Trisha, pointing out that the dad will feed the mom, and the mom then goes into the nesting box and regurgitates the food as she feeds the four baby birds.
She was able to find a book online about caring for parakeets, and it has helped the family a lot as they didn鈥檛 really know about how to provide for a budgie family with newly-hatched young.
鈥淚 love the babies. I put a towel on my lap and holding them. I love petting them, they鈥檙e very soft,鈥� said Camryn as she held Sonny, a green budgie and the first baby to be born.
鈥淭he parents are scared of people, so we鈥檙e trying to train the babies not to be scared of people,鈥� added Camryn, noting they try and take out the babies to hold them at least once a day.
The large cage is put out on the back deck every day so the birds can enjoy the fresh air outside. While the cage is inside, the birds are kept in the cage as the family has a cat in the house.
Holding a blue baby in her hand and stroking it, Trisha said the babies were quite ugly and tiny when they first hatched, and added, 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to believe this is how they look only three weeks after being hatched.鈥�
They will likely keep a couple of the babies, and said if anyone would like a couple of the baby birds they will give them away to a good home.
