Lord Derby's Beautiful Parakeet

Abstract

I once had the pleasure of owning and
caring for a pair ofDerbyan Parakeets.
My experiences with this species
started back in 1988 when it proved
difficult to locate a pair of these not-socommon
Asian beauties. I contacted a
very knowledgeable breeder of Asian
birds in Florida, but with males being
harder to come by, I had to settle for a.
year old male with a mature three year
old hen . None the less .... I had my
pair!
In February of 1989, the pair was
shipped to their new home in Ohio.
Basement living seemed inappropriate
for such elegant birds, however, it
was the best Ohio and I could offer. They
were somewhat flightly after their trip
and a visit to the vet, but they'd been
handfed birds and were quick to settle
down.
They were housed in a 4 x 4 x 8 ft.
suspended flight made of 1 x 2 in., 14
gauge welded wire . The double floor
provided a grate over the bottom floor
that lined newspapers. Note: Derbyans
should not be housed in anything less
sturdy than 14 gauge wire due to their
great beak strength.
Perches were made from natural
branches of various handwoods. I have
cut, cleaned & weathered more 4 ft.
branches for this pair over the past

five years than most birds go through
in a lifetime! . These guys loved to
chew! All kidding aside, I catered to this
need because I thought it not only
provided entertainment but was also
mentally stimulating as well as excellent
beak exercise. Hanging appletree
logs proved to be my pair's favorite roosting
spot each night. These 6 in. thick logs
were suspended from the cage top,
one on each side of one end of the flight.
A heavy wire was run through an
augerdrilled hole, half-way down and
through the middle of each log.
Humidity was controlled at around
700/o and lighting was provided from two
Vita Lights suspended over the flight as
well as other fluorescent lighting in
the basement. Two separate timers
staggered on/off lighting 1/2 hour apart
to simulate dusk/dawn. Summer months
ran 15 hours of light daily from 6:30AM
-9:30PM. Winter months were set for
13 hours of light daily from 7:00AM- 8:00
PM.
This pair was not very demonstrative
in their affections with each other. ..
living up to their Asian reputation of not
being very cuddly. I never saw them
preen each other but they did live
peacefully together with the extent of
disagreements being who could "stealthe-
peanut" away from the other. Being
true water-lovers .. . bickering regularly
broke out each morning over who
could get closest to the stream of water
from the garden-sprayer. Since the
female was the bossiest. .. she usually
won the water and the peanut!
Being only seasonal breeders left
much time to enjoy other nicities of life
such as toys! They loved swings of all
kinds. A variety of acrylic, leather, hard
wooden, whole nuts, and hard rubber
'kong' type toys were all considered
"safe" choices. Caution was in order
because of their great beak strength ...
and new toys were always monitored.
The Derbyans were easy to feed
because they were not picky eaters.
Separate containers of pellets, parrot seed
(half standard/ half Fiesta Parrot), millet
(loose or spray), and clean water were
available at all times. The 8 ft. long cage
allowed flying space and kept this pair
physically trim and they were allowed
all the seed they wanted. A container of

softfood was also served daily. This
was made in quanity, frozen, thawed
until warm and served. It consisted of
a variety of cooked beans, rice, pasta,
raisins, wheat, oats, barley, walnuts,
shelled pine-nuts, par-cooked sweet
potatoes, cut up dried apricots, a large
bag of frozen mixed vegetables, cranberries
in season, and anything else that
freezes well. This standard mix was
served daily and topped off with several
items that did not freeze well... such
as fresh dark greens, fresh fruits, cheeses,
etc. This pair's all-time favorites were
fresh celery (high in sodium), sprouted
sunflower seeds (especially when
feeding babies), corn-on-the-cob, and
pieces of Oscar Meyer brand hotdogs.
An avian vitamin was sprinkled on
softfood several times a week. Cuttlebone ·
pieces were also given several times a
week unless the hen was laying ... then
it was offered daily.
Although not mature until three
years of age, pair feeding, copulation,
and egg laying began that ftrst year... with
the hen three and the male only one.
I'm sure the hen being mature stimulated
the male's interest in courtship at such
a young age. 

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