Breeding Canaries

[fluff86]

Its been a while since I posted...

All my birds are doing fine although I have been dealing with some Zebra finches that keep getting egg bound. I'm not breeding them currently but I would like to breed some canaries. I got some medications from the vets for the Zebra finches to help them with digestion as well. They are also on a much better diet than before. My two canaries have always been healthy in tip top condition.

I have two male canaries that sing during the day pretty much all year around and I'm planing on adding four more to my flock. I will have to keep the new birds in quarantine for a short while to make sure they are good to be released into the aviary to join the others, hopefully I'll be able to figure out which birds are female during that time.

Any tips on breeding the canaries, or keeping many pairs in the same aviary together?

 

[Zara]

bumping for visibility...

 

[fluff86]

bumping for visibility...

I'm not sure what that means?

 

[fluff86]

I bought a hen Canary today which cost more than the male but she is now singing.... its making me think she is a male. I don't mind too much because I love the bird song but I just hope I've not ended up with only males otherwise there will be no breeding.

I watched a youtube video that says its important to make sure they are getting all the nutrients they need, my birds always have a vast selection of food such as boiled egg, vegetables and fruit, grit plus a fruity canary mix. I will need to get them some breeding powder but I'm going to hold off breeding just at the moment until I'm 100% sure I have everything I need for them to keep them at optimum health and peak condition when breeding them.

 

[fluff86]

One of the canaries I bought yesterday seems to have a slight issue with balance when perching, it wobbles trying to stay on the branch. All my perches are natural branches of all different thicknesses, it could be that its not used to them or could mean an inner ear infection. This canary has longer legs than the other canaries, it looks more like a lizard canary. I will keep monitoring it, maybe it needs to molt and then once new feathers grow it might improve. I have some S76 at hand just encase but for now, I don't want to jump to any conclusions.

This bird was kept with 100s of other canaries in the shop in a crammed enclosure and there was dirty water and not much for it to eat, some of its feathers have bird poop on them. Its got a bird bath so maybe it will have a bath at some point to clean its feathers up a bit. Other than that, it looks reasonably healthy. No head tucking or anything like that or bumble foot.

 

[fluff86]

I thought I would list the food my birds get each day.

Finch seed mix they all love it
Canary seed mix they are very picky with the canary seed mix
Boiled egg they both love boiled egg
Cale They eat a bit of it but not a whole lot
Apple They don't normally touch it
Carrot They don't really care much for it
Celery both the zebra finches and canaries love celery
Broccoli The canaries love broccoli
Sometimes a bit of banana They normally don't touch it
Wild Rocket Both love the wild rocket
A fruity mix of finch/canary seed mix they don't seem all that interested in it
Finch grit that also contains charcoal both the finches and canaries eat this
Fresh water each day
Dried meal worms - soaked to make them soft, the canaries love these.

So what I have found is that if I blend up the broccoli they wont eat it but if its whole then they will eat it. I am trying different techniques like for example mixing the apple into the celery and trying different mixes with the above foods to see what works best. All food is changed out daily including water and all bowls are cleaned.

I also soak some of the canary & finch seeds and sprout them, they are rinsed in between stages and I put a bit of apple cider vinegar in them while soaking them. They get these as well as the dry seed.

 

[Shezbug]

Are the seeds you feed fortified? If so then they should not be soaked or sprouted (I notice you mention in another post about sprouting their seed mix), you really should buy sprouting seeds for sprouting.

 

[fluff86]

Are the seeds you feed fortified? If so then they should not be soaked or sprouted (I notice you mention in another post about sprouting their seed mix), you really should buy sprouting seeds for sprouting.

Thanks for the info. I'm not sure if they are fortified. The seeds I buy from the local pet shop which I understand may not be the best but I am hoping to gain more knowledge on seed mixes and hope to find out about other places or breeders in my area that might be able to guide me on where to buy the best seed mix. The seed mix I currently buy looks to be very basic. There isn't much choice in terns of bird stuff where I live.

 

[fluff86]

The finch seed from pet shops mainly contains millet and not much else, pretty much most if not all of it is millet seed. The canary seed barely gets touched and they leave all the black seed and just pick out bits of what they like.

Here is a seed mix I have thought about making that contains the following, I can get some of this on ebay if I find it hard to find it anywhere else...

Nigerseed
Rape seed
Husked Oats
Hemp seed
Flax seed
Wheat

I have noticed that there are places that sell bird seed for wild birds that looks pretty good with a wide variety of seed that the canaries and finches might like but I am unsure as to whether this would be a good idea or not?

 

[Shezbug]

There is not much decent bird stuff available close to where I am either so I shop online for most of my bird/pet stuff- only things I really miss about living in a busier or city area is the variety of stores to choose from for nearly everything you can think of and good ethnic food shops lol

Maybe if you list your approx location and ask for some help locating stores you might find some more places to buy from.

 

[fluff86]

The canary & finch seed I buy looks like this. I'm based in London UK.

 

[fluff86]

I also picked up a bag of this which looks good but I'm on the fence about whether I should give them some of this or not as well as there other seed mix.

 

[Emma&pico]

Have a look on scarlet essentials parrot online they have brilliant choice of seeds and sprouting seeds in uk

 

[Shezbug]

Have a look on scarlet essentials parrot online they have brilliant choice of seeds and sprouting seeds in uk

Was just about to tag you! Thank you. Would you mind listing any stores you are happy to use so fluff86 has a few to look at?

 

[Emma&pico]

Search results for: 'Canary seed'

Scarletts Parrot Essentials has the UK's widest range of Parrot supplies. Supplying bird food for parrots and parakeets. Scarletts has over 1000 toys for birds including chew toys and foraging toys. Parrot accessories range from bird perches and play stands to healthcare and vitamin supplements...

www.scarlettsparrotessentials.co.uk

There’s northern parrots too but I’ve only ordered toys from there I always get my food from Scarlett parrots never had a problem with it unlike pet shops which had bugs in it
There’s parrot essential too

 

[Emma&pico]

Northern Parrots

Northern Parrots, the UK’s biggest online Parrot store selling everything for Parrots, foods, toys, cages, accessories and more, in stock at low prices and fast delivery

www.northernparrots.com

 

[Emma&pico]

Budgie Food - Parrot Essentials Online Store

Budgie food for a happy parakeet: shop budgie seed mixes, pellets, treats and all-natural snacks. What's on the menu today? Give your budgie only the best!

parrotessentials.co.uk

 

[Emma&pico]

Search results for: 'sprouting seed'

Scarletts Parrot Essentials has the UK's widest range of Parrot supplies. Supplying bird food for parrots and parakeets. Scarletts has over 1000 toys for birds including chew toys and foraging toys. Parrot accessories range from bird perches and play stands to healthcare and vitamin supplements...

www.scarlettsparrotessentials.co.uk

 

[Emma&pico]

I am sure I read not to feed wild seed mix to pet birds but can’t remember where I saw it sure it’s less nutrient in it grown differently maybe @Zara (uk wild bird seed ) or @Mizzely can help about that

 

[Emma&pico]

London Fancy Canary Club

London Fancy Canary Club. 3,109 likes · 93 talking about this. For those interested in the history and development of the London Fancy Canary

www.facebook.com

I found this I don’t have Facebook so I don’t know how good this is