Breeding Canaries

[fluff86]

Thanks for the links everybody I really appreciate it. I will take a look at them in a bit...

I've got some sad news this morning... the green canary I bought on Friday that I said was having issues balancing on the perches, unfortunately I found it dead this morning, I've barely had it for two days and now its gone. I feel a bit heart broken. The others are ok. I'm going to see if I can return the dead bird back to Enfield Bird Center and have it exchanged for another tomorrow.

 

[Zara]

Remember before breeding any birds, it is good to have them settled and adjested in your home for an adequate amount of time. Converted to eating the diet of your choice and eating that diet for a few months.

I am sorry for your loss.

 

[fluff86]

Remember before breeding any birds, it is good to have them settled and adjested in your home for an adequate amount of time. Converted to eating the diet of your choice and eating that diet for a few months.

I am sorry for your loss.

I understand that. At the moment I have the new birds in quarantine.

 

[Emma&pico]

So sorry for your loss

 

[fluff86]

I'm in no rush to breed right now. Also I think we are out of breeding season. Hopefully the two new canaries will be ok although I don't want to speak too soon. I guess these kinds of things happen when buying new birds. it will take them a few weeks to settle but I'll keep them in there own separate cages. One has been tail bobbing all day but its eating and drinking. I'll monitor them closely over the next few days... if they last that long fingers crossed.

Eventually when I do breed them providing its successful I'm only going to breed them as a one off, if I get around 3 to 5 chicks I'll be happy. Its nice having that feeling that I bred my own birds and watching them grow.

 

[fluff86]

Just a quick update. The canaries seem fine today, no issues to report. One of the new canaries has started to sing which means its happy & content.

 

[fluff86]

I'm thinking about building another bird cage for one of my male green canaries, as male canaries are solitary birds, I can't have too many males in my large aviary because of the risk of fighting. I currently have two males in the aviary living with the zebra finches so I think any new males introduced to the aviary could be disaster. I've had these two male canaries living in the large aviary together for the past year and they have been fine. I'll just be adding a couple more females/hen canaries to the aviary

The two new males that are in separate quarantine cages currently will live in there own separate larger cages. I will put one in my bedroom so I'll have a nice bit of bird song in there.

I'm planing on building my new cage based from this design but on a larger scale so the canary has room to spread his wings. The perches will be made from natural branches. I will have an opening at the top to make it easy to put things inside and for cleaning. It will also have a light.

 

[fluff86]

Another update on the canaries... the new birds are doing well however I noticed one keeps tucking his leg, its the one with the ring on it. I've had a good look to see if anything was caught in it but I can't see anything obvious and his toes look fine. He is the only bird who tucks his leg and will often just stand on one leg. He has been pecking at the ring so I'm just wondering if it might be causing him some discomfort... I'll keep an eye on him for now.

 

[fluff86]

Over the past few weeks I've been learning a lot about canaries but also finches as well. There were lots of things that I didn't know such as the things required in order to breed these birds. At the moment I'm on the fence as to whether I actually want to breed my canaries or weather it would just be better to buy the extra birds I want and maybe just stick with breeding the finches only. The reason why this is, is because I would much prefer to have birds together in enclosures rather than having 10 cages to house 10 canaries, at least with finches I can have them all in my aviary. Maybe I could have more canaries in the aviary but I just don't know if the canaries would get on with each other.

Moving on to the breeding... I'm not breeding any birds as of right now but when I attempted to breed my finches in the past it wasn't really working, I did get 3 chicks tho but all the rest died because I was only feeding them on bird seed.

A lot of caged birds suffer from a "Vitamin A" deficiency, there are also other things birds need especially when breeding them which I will list below to help any newbies reading this.

Protein powder
Calcium powder
Black spot treatment, which also contains other stuff to boost immune system and help to fight off bacterial infections. This is more of a preventative measure.
A good quality egg food mix
Boiled eggs
Peas
Sprouted seeds
A wide selection of fruits and veg.
Dried insects such as meal worms, crickets etc

This stuff can all be mixed together in a food processor but some of it you might want to have separate like the sprouted seeds and boiled eggs.

I think this would lead to more successful breeding.

 

[WillowQ]

Another update on the canaries... the new birds are doing well however I noticed one keeps tucking his leg, its the one with the ring on it. I've had a good look to see if anything was caught in it but I can't see anything obvious and his toes look fine. He is the only bird who tucks his leg and will often just stand on one leg. He has been pecking at the ring so I'm just wondering if it might be causing him some discomfort... I'll keep an eye on him for now.

Tucking a leg is common if it’s cold out. Not sure where you live or whether it’s cold. If the foot looks ok I wouldn’t worry.

I’ve fed my breeding finches a similar food assortment. I didn’t mix it together, though.

 

[fluff86]

I decided to put some nest boxes in the aviary for the finches some days ago and I have two pairs now sitting on eggs

 

[fluff86]

Tucking a leg is common if it’s cold out. Not sure where you live or whether it’s cold. If the foot looks ok I wouldn’t worry.

I’ve fed my breeding finches a similar food assortment. I didn’t mix it together, though.

Its quite warm in my home, I have my heating on all day but during the night temperatures can drop when the heating turns off but it then comes on again during the early morning. Its stays around 68 Fahrenheit and around 46 Fahrenheit at night.

 

[Shezbug]

I decided to put some nest boxes in the aviary for the finches some days ago and I have two pairs now sitting on eggs

I thought you only got them about a month ago?

 

[fluff86]

I thought you only got them about a month ago?

I've had the finches for just over 2 years now. I bought some new canaries about a month ago.

 

[WillowQ]

Since you’ve had some fatalities for unknown reasons, I would still be cautious.

 

[fluff86]

Since you’ve had some fatalities for unknown reasons, I would still be cautious.

The finches were all given a clean bill of health by an avian vet some months back. I also had a dead finch examined which died from fatty liver disease. All the birds have been doing very well since. I just have to ensure the birds are getting the nutrition they need. I plan on getting some Diamond Doves soon although they will be kept in quarantine to start with for a week or two.

 

[fluff86]

I have an exciting update on the canaries...

The hen and male had started to mate and the hen wanted to build a nest but all the nesting places in the aviary are being occupied by the Zebra Finches so I've moved the hen and the male into a breeders cage with a nest so she can lay her eggs in peace. I've moved the remaining males into the aviary.

 

[fluff86]

I have an update on the finches... I have two Zebra Finch chicks in a nest they have been doing well and growing nicely, it is looking promising so far although I don't want to get my hopes up too much about them but so far so good.

I've checked all the other nest boxes but they are full of dead eggs. At least I know I have one good breeding pair.

 

[fluff86]

The male Zebra finch is looking after the chicks tonight... normally its the female sitting on the nest just before lights out.

I always keep a dim light on when turning off the main lights for the night so that all the birds can get situated, then I give it half an hour before turning off the dim light for the night.

Still no eggs from the canaries.

I might set up a new breeding cage with another pair of canaries although its not breeding season yet so I may have to wait a bit before seeing some eggs from the canaries.

Also I just wanted to add that one of the canaries steps up on to my fingers, this is one of the lone male canaries so I'm going to work on that.

 

[fluff86]

I have an exciting update. The hen canary has started to sit on her nest and she is adding more nesting material to it. She looks a lot bigger so I think she might be laying some eggs soon.