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Post by anzac on Jan 24, 2011 11:41:27 GMT 10
Hi nmy name is Leanne and I have just bought my first ever turk. I am not new to birds and have kept many species of birds over the years. I currently have 6 canaries in an outdoor avairy and I added Anzac (hence my username) in there yesterday. I was told by the breeder and by looking at various websites that turks could live communally in a cage and he was breed in an avairy that had finches in there as well. I just joined the forum to see if anyone else on here keeps turks so I can gain some first hand knowledge on them. I have kept and bred Bourke's in the past and hear that they are very similar. Atm, Anzac is alone with canaries and I assume if all is OK and the canaries and him (the breeder thinks it is a male but he is only young, fleged Nov 7) get along should I get him a mate? My avairy isn't that at large 2 x 2 x 1m.
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Post by vankarhi on Jan 25, 2011 16:24:39 GMT 10
I have no idea about those types but I think there are a couple here ...... maybe Karen?? Maybe Mike might have some knowledge on the subject also (he is a very knowledgable man actually) and our "bossman" might know but he has been quite sick of late........but has just started to pop back in recently.
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Post by avinet on Jan 25, 2011 22:32:46 GMT 10
The care of Turks is much like Bourkes - in fact no different.
A standard diet with plenty of veggies and fruit, good quality small parrot mix, and definitely a mate! Turks, like other Neophemas, are much happier with their own kind of the opposite sex. They are peaceful, might be a bit territorial around a nest box, but only immediately around, not the whole aviary. Occasionally you might get 2 male Turks squabbling at breeding time but I never had any serious problems.
And they keep well with finches - I had them with Zebras sometimes with no problems - as long as the Zebras had nest boxes of their own otherwise they might try to join the Turks in their box.
I even had one as a pet for several years. Turk (original name that for a Turquoisine!) came into our shop as a young bird with a deformed beak, and we weren't sure if it's cause was genetic or injury. So we took him home and he became a house pet. Shared a cage with some cockatiels, and lived for about 7 years. He was never an affectionate bird, but would occasionally land on a shoulder, never learned to talk but had a lovely whistle.
He was a classical music fan - and when my wife was playing Chopin on the piano he would fly in and sit on the top of the music and whistle away. Hated Debussy though - would squark and fly off if she switched to practise Debussy!!
cheers,
Mike
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Post by anzac on Jan 31, 2011 13:35:25 GMT 10
Hi guys and thanks for all the info Mike. He seems to be settling well and the canaries are getting used to him. He's still a bit flighty atm and flys anytime we are near the aviary so it unsettles the canaries so I'll leave it till all is well to get a mate. The breeder assumes he's male (red on the wing) so I'll probably get a female turk. His name Anzac is after all the men we lost in Turkey (Turquoise, Turk) so his name is not very original either but he's already nick named Zac). I can't believe I have 2 separate food bowls/feeders, one for the canaries and one for Anzac and what are they all doing, eating each others food! He does have a lovely call and we live very near the main city park in Perth (King's Park) so we have many species of parrots in the trees near us and he calls out to them. He particularly calls when the large family of black cockatoos are near.
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Karen
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Post by Karen on Feb 1, 2011 7:42:44 GMT 10
I love turqs, such a pretty bird. I would love to add a pair or 2 to my bourke/elegant aviary.
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Post by anzac on Feb 4, 2011 9:46:28 GMT 10
Well I did it, a couple of bourbons later works a charm on my other half and I am picking up an aviary just for Anzac on the weekend ;D I managed to convince him that piece of garden next to our exixting aviary was just not being utilised properly and there just happened to be a lovely aviary on our Gumtree for sale and so we are picking it up this weekend. So I need to ask the turk experts some questions so maybe Mike or Greg can help me out? So I think turks aren't that common over here but before I bought Anzac I rang up one of our major bird dealers here and ask how much they sell them for just to check on pricing. It's called Birdworld (i think they have them in other states , I'm in WA) and they called them turqoisine parrots. They sell nearly every type of bird there and I used to sell my excess bourkes and double bar finches to them. They are an "OK" store. So they may be my only option to buy another turk but will check out our WA version of the Trading Post. When I get another turk, since I assume Anzac is male (i'll try and post a pic of him so some-one may be able to help me out with sexing) I'll get him a female. If he turns out to be a girl, no biggie then we have 2 female turks which I assume is OK. So when we get the aviary up and settled, do I put Anzac in there alone for a while (he's in with my canaries atm) or do I put them both in toegther? Do I need to quarantine the new bird? I didn't with Anzac but I saw where Anzac had been living at the breeders which was very clean. Any other hints or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. So here's a pic of Anzac. Apparently with his first moult, the red on his wing will become more apparent. Attachments:
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Post by avinet on Feb 4, 2011 21:55:28 GMT 10
Just to clear something up about the name - Turquoisine is the proper name and Turk is the shorthand abbreviation for the 2 finger typists like me  The pet shop you mentioned in Perth doesn't have a great reputation - so if you are forced to buy from them I would definately do the full quarantine stuff - usually 6 weeks. Turks are especially prone to Psittacosis (also called Chlamydiosis or Chlamydia). It most often shows up as a watery or discharging eye - a bit like conjunctivitis. It can spread to both eyes, and the bird looks progressively sicker and usually dies without treatment - basically wastes away. It is treatable but it is a 6 week treatment using antibiotics only available from avian vets. It is very infectious and is especially common in pet shops where birds are often overcrowded and usually do not have quarantine practices. I owned a pet shop for 20 years specialising in birds, I did take care and quarantine birds from suspect breeders, but still did have the occasional problem and always kept the antibiotic on hand. If you buy from a breeder then use your judgement - if they have clean well kept aviaries and their birds are on a good diet then there is probably no need to quarantine - if the aviaries are dirty then either walk away or quarantine. A source of contacts to buy birds is petlink.com.au - but always buy from someone close enough to visit - never buy sight unseen, not everyone is honest and ethical. From the photo he is a male - red on the wing is diagnostic, but better front and side photos would be good to see. I assume he is young - about 4-5 months? He should colour up over the next 6 months, get a nice blue face and good red wing patch. cheers, Mike |
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Post by blucalypt on Feb 4, 2011 23:50:21 GMT 10
I will agree with all that Mile has said, except that I would not trust any purchase, no matter how clean the premises looks, as being free of psittacosis. This disease is rampant, some breeders now have the attitude that "all birds have it anyway". The biggest problem with psittacosis is that there are not always visible symptoms, often by the time the eyes are showing signs of conjunctivitis the disease is advanced and many birds are lost at this point.
I now treat my entire neophema flock annually for it (as birds do get purchased each year)
The other thing to look out for is mega bacteria, easier to treat as it is only 2 weeks worth of antibiotics.
Turks are not as prone as scarlets are to either problem, but both are very common in many Australian parrots.
Dont forget to either do a slide & check for worm infestation, or to be safe worm the bird anyway, while she is in quarantine.
I would hold out and find a hen for Anzac, hen turks can squabble quite a bit during breeding season. There are several common colours available in turks - dilute (yellow), jade, olive & opaline being the most common of them. Any of these will be fine for Anzac.
Petlink also has a "birds wanted" section which could be worth trying. I would also advise trying to find a breeder and try and get a young hen from this season.
Once quarantine is ended there should be no need to introduce then slowly. Turks do not have a tight pair bond, ad they will probably just co-exist until closer to the breeding season anyway. Even when breeding you wont see them sitting and getting involved in mutual preening etc. They will feed each other (mainly cock feeding hen) and mate - thats about it (no bourbons required!!)
Good luck in the hunt.
Bests
Greg
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Post by avinet on Feb 5, 2011 16:19:23 GMT 10
Yes Greg - worming is something I forgot to mention but I should have - ALWAYS worm any new birds - when we had our shop in Mooloolaba we always wormed all new birds before they were up for sale, and we always wormed all our aviaries every month to be on the safe side. Generally we used Vetafarm's Wormout Gel, preferably by crop needle - and crop worming 50 budgies at a time was an interesting exercise! Or worse, 50 Gouldians  Other wormers would occasionally be used instead to avoid resistance build-up. In an ideal world, quarantining should be done with all birds. I don't live in an ideal world so I have never automatically quarantined all my home birds, I have just used my best judgement and so far had no problems. There are quite a few areas of bird keeping where it is "do as I say, not as I do"  I have never really come across megabacteria in Turks Greg - mostly in budgies of course, and then the main species we had problems with were Princesses and parrot finches. Had a lot of problems at one time with parrot finches dying on us until finally tracked it down to megabacteria that was in the livers of the finches and not in the gut. Cost me a fair bit with Adrian Gallagher to sort that one out. Once we did it was possible to cure them with Amphotericin B - by crop twice a day for 10 days! Is megabacteria in Neophemas a recent problem - I certainly never had issues with it in them cheers, Mike |
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kebz
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Post by kebz on Feb 5, 2011 17:26:04 GMT 10
Perhaps try Birds N All in Caversham or Swan Valley Birds...
i would stay away from Birdworld.
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Post by anzac on Feb 5, 2011 17:32:51 GMT 10
Wow thanks Mike and Greg, fantastic advice which I will follow. I went to Birdworld today and forgot out bad that place is. Most birds from there would probably be diseased. They were selling hens in pair for $180 and refused to sell them individually as she (the manger) said that hens were rare and if I really wanted to 2 turks to just get of rid of Anzac and get a pair of females  By co-incidence there is a new ad on Perth gumtree for 3 female Full Red Front Yellow Split Opaline for $100 each, does that sound reasonable? Can't get out to seem them to next weekend however, they were fledged Oct 2010 and Anzac was fledged Nov 2010. |
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Post by blucalypt on Feb 5, 2011 19:39:08 GMT 10
Hi Mike,
Megabac is common in most birds, it is present most of the time but only usually causes a problem when the birds come under some form of stress, or another illness, such as psittacosis, is present. Once the birds begin to suffer from the stress causing problem then megabac will step in and cause further problems.
Megabac is fairly persistent in scarlets, usually when they are having psittacosis problems (and they are in the top 10 for that!!), but I have found turks to be not as bad for either.
But...& here is the bad news. As far as I am aware amphotericin B has been unavailable for several years now. The only treatment currently available for megabacteria is a human throat lozenge called fungilin. Needs to be crushed and dissolved in water, not easy to start with, and then used for10 - 14 days.
I have found that if psittacosis is kept under control, the megabac will also stay that way.
Bests
Greg
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Post by blucalypt on Feb 5, 2011 19:44:29 GMT 10
Those prices sound a tad high, I would think that red fronted yellows would sell for around $60 - $70 tops here in SE Qld. Still probably a better option that Birdworlds giving at the moment. Being red fronted yellows they are worth a bit more than normals.
The other problem with what is advertised is that they cant be both hens & split for opaline. Opaline is a sex linked mutation, so only cocks can be splits. Hens are either opaline or not. This is more than likely a case of lack of knowledge from the breeder, rather than a rip off attempt.
Bests
Greg
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Post by anzac on Feb 5, 2011 19:56:28 GMT 10
Perhaps try Birds N All in Caversham or Swan Valley Birds... i would stay away from Birdworld. Thanks for that, I know that now. They were always borderline but they seem so much worse now. |
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Post by anzac on Feb 5, 2011 19:59:42 GMT 10
Those prices sound a tad high, I would think that red fronted yellows would sell for around $60 - $70 tops here in SE Qld. Still probably a better option that Birdworlds giving at the moment. Being red fronted yellows they are worth a bit more than normals. The other problem with what is advertised is that they cant be both hens & split for opaline. Opaline is a sex linked mutation, so only cocks can be splits. Hens are either opaline or not. This is more than likely a case of lack of knowledge from the breeder, rather than a rip off attempt. Bests Greg Boy I am so glad to have you guys to talk to and guide me Here's the ad what do you think perth.gumtree.com.au/c-ViewAdLargeImage?AdId=258378827 how do you tell what are hens or cocks in turks, is it just the red on the wing? |
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Post by avinet on Feb 5, 2011 21:09:30 GMT 10
Most birds from there would probably be diseased. They were selling hens in pair for $180 and refused to sell them individually as she (the manger) said that hens were rare and if I really wanted to 2 turks to just get of rid of Anzac and get a pair of females By co-incidence there is a new ad on Perth gumtree for 3 female Full Red Front Yellow Split Opaline for $100 each, does that sound reasonable? Can't get out to seem them to next weekend however, they were fledged Oct 2010 and Anzac was fledged Nov 2010. What a load of rubbish - to start with Turks breed as many cocks as hens overall - some seasons there may be more of one than the other but over time it is 50/50. And if they were in short supply at present due to the way the odds had turned out you would get more selling them individually than in pairs of 2 hens. Most customers (and I speak from 20 years experience in the trade) will want a single hen because they have a lonely cock at home - just like you. And they will pay more for a single hen because they are a bit desperate. So if she is selling at $180 a pair of hens (high compared to Queensland but maybe that's the local market) then she could expect to get $100 or more for a single hen. And why on earth would you want two hens? Everyone wants pairs. I think she thought you were a bit green behind the ears and she would then have told you that cocks were really common but she would do you a favour and pay you $20 to take Anzac off your hands. She then gets a cock she could pair up and sell the pair for $200 plus. All of which confirms all I have heard about that shop - both from aviculturists and within the trade. Red-fronted yellow Turks (should accurately be called Red-fronted Dilutes) are pretty birds and to my mind are one of the few parrot mutations that can equal the original in beauty. Don't worry about the opaline - for a start as Greg has already said, a hen cannot be split to opaline - it is genetically impossible, but that is a topic to explore another day. Anyway to my mind the opaline is a rather scruffy looking bird, at least the ones I've seen, and has the addes complication that the male wing patch is often absent in cock opalines but can be present in hens - very confusing. Given the price the shop asked for, then $100 from a good breeder isn't too bad - around here I would expect $60 but the WA market might be different. Nice ones are to be seen at www.dillardsaviary.com/Birds.htmEnded up a bit long but I'm not of the Twitter generation - far from it. I still think an essay is longer than 144 characters ;D cheers, Mike |
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Post by avinet on Feb 5, 2011 21:54:00 GMT 10
Hi Mike, Megabac is common in most birds, it is present most of the time but only usually causes a problem when the birds come under some form of stress, or another illness, such as psittacosis, is present. Once the birds begin to suffer from the stress causing problem then megabac will step in and cause further problems. Megabac is fairly persistent in scarlets, usually when they are having psittacosis problems (and they are in the top 10 for that!!), but I have found turks to be not as bad for either. But...& here is the bad news. As far as I am aware amphotericin B has been unavailable for several years now. The only treatment currently available for megabacteria is a human throat lozenge called fungilin. Needs to be crushed and dissolved in water, not easy to start with, and then used for10 - 14 days. I have found that if psittacosis is kept under control, the megabac will also stay that way. Bests Greg Yes, I first came across Megabacteria in the very early 1990's when it first appeared after being introduced into Australia through imported budgies from England. Prof Louie Filippich from Qld Uni did the early research in Australia on it and I had several discussions with him about it since it was becoming a problem within our shop budgies at the time. He showed me how to identify it under the microscope and we bought a microscope for the shop to do the diagnosis. It was Louie who discovered Amphotericin B was the cure and who first sorted out it was probably a fungus and not a bacteria - it is now called Avian Gastric Yeast in the USA where the DNA work was done to identify it positively as a fungus. Amphotericin B used to be available in a liquid form as Fungilin - very convenient for treating birds since it could be diluted in drinking water for flock treatment or for more accurate dosage given by crop needle. Unfortunately the company that produced Fungilin liquid stopped making it a few years ago - maybe around 2004 - and only the lozenge was available from then on. There are some other anti fungal drugs that have been used quite successfully but the vets keep them under strict control to avoid misuse and hence resistance developing. A good article is at www.anbc.iinet.net.au/downloads/megabacteria_update.pdfWithout a microscope to look at droppings the most common symptoms are a bird getting thinner and sicker but eating constantly - budgies will often camp out in the seed bowl but get thinner. As it gets more advanced the gut wall starts to bleed and the droppings start to get a black slimy look - the part digested blood in the droppings - and the vent gets messy. By that stage it is usually too late to save the bird. cheers, Mike |
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Post by avinet on Feb 5, 2011 22:02:56 GMT 10
They are possibly the worst photos I have ever seen to accompany a bird for sale add  So it is hard to tell anything - hens do not get the red wing area, only males (except in opalines sometimes as per previous post). At their age - getting up to 6 months - the cocks should possibly be getting the first red feather or two and it shows up in the yellow Turks - just a single red feather is sufficient to identify the cock. Also at that age the cocks will be getting a brighter blue face than the hens but it is one of those things that experience helps a lot with. cheers, Mike |
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Post by blucalypt on Feb 5, 2011 23:40:49 GMT 10
As Mike said - terrible pics!! In the depths of the blurr, it looks like the bird closest to the camera may have an orange/red shading on the back. If that is so she is probably a dilute opaline. In contrast to Mike, I actually love the opalines and breed them in both green & dilute (yellow). Once you see good red fronted red backed opalines, either green or dilute, you will remember the sight. These days both males & females will usually have the red shoulder patch, and both, in the good ones have a red front right up to the chin. Good dilute opalines are actually pretty hard to sex - I have mine DNA'd in many cases, but I find them far from scruffy. Go to blucalypt.webs.com/turkshoodeds.htmfor a few pics of mine. These birds have the red on shoulder, front & back right from the start - it is very apparent even in the pin feathers of chicks. Hen opalines tend to have more colour on their backs than the males. Straight dilute or red fronted dilutes have no red on their backs at all, and the hens only have a red belly, with a yellow chest. These days there are several lines around of these where the hens are carrying some signs of red shoulder patches. Bests Greg |
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Post by anzac on Feb 7, 2011 10:55:34 GMT 10
As usual thanks for all the great advice. talking to the lady that I bought the aviary off she thought Birdworld were pretty bad too. She suggested a few other places in Perth that may be better. Boy Greg, very pretty parrots, I wish I lived near you. So do you guys think I should even inquire after the parrots on Gumtree? I just don't want to be stuck in the situation where I end up with two males cos he/she doesn't know the true sexes. Plus the suburb is on the outer edges of suburbia so it will a bit of a hike to go see them.
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Other wormers would occasionally be used instead to avoid resistance build-up.
By co-incidence there is a new ad on Perth gumtree for 3 female Full Red Front Yellow Split Opaline for $100 each, does that sound reasonable? Can't get out to seem them to next weekend however, they were fledged Oct 2010 and Anzac was fledged Nov 2010.
So it is hard to tell anything - hens do not get the red wing area, only males (except in opalines sometimes as per previous post). At their age - getting up to 6 months - the cocks should possibly be getting the first red feather or two and it shows up in the yellow Turks - just a single red feather is sufficient to identify the cock. Also at that age the cocks will be getting a brighter blue face than the hens but it is one of those things that experience helps a lot with.