Hi I'm new need canary info.

[Debz]

Hi I have recently been given an unwanted Canary. I have bred & when needed hand reared Zebra finches. I had to give that up for health reasons.
I now have a reddish brown Canary not sure on sex or age poor thing was unwanted. it started shedding feathers soon after arrival. I believe this to be due to stress.Im feeding egg food Xtravital seed & am covering earlier this seems to have helped.
My question is how much fresh fruit & veg should I be feeding. REALLY loves it's fresh fruit & veg to the point I think it would happily eat a whole grated carrot.lol.
Any other useful tips / advise would be truly appreciated.I have joined to learn & give Chicken tweet tweet finch canary a full healthy & happy life. ( my 4 year old grandaughter named it after we lost our 6 & a half year old hand reared finch.)

 

[Clairecanary15]

Sounds like you are doing everything right. Dark greens are best for canaries such as kale or broccoli. They do indeed love grated carrot. Fresh food should be given daily. Avoid high water content food too.
To help with the moult that sounds like it was stress related. .provide a bit of conditioning seed daily with a sprinkle of feather fast. They both aid the moult. Protein is good too at this time such as eggfood or meal worms.
I would also give a course of Guardian Angel for 5 days. It will boost the immunity which is always knocked with a move, flush out any bad bacteria and also gives a vitamin boost.

 

[sunnysmom]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Debz]

Clairecanary15.
Ordered guardian angel for delivery tomorrow. Poor thing looks so scruffy, but seems happy in itself. How do you use it is it added to water or food?
Don't know what it was fed or how it was kept.Just got a message from a friend about a bird that wasn't wanted.Apparently due to allergies in the family, so that guardian angel will put my mind a bit at rest.Thanks.
Also sorry to be a pain how much fruit & veg should be offered daily as this Canary would eat & eat till it popped.

 

[Zara]

Welcome to the Avenue Debz and Chicken tweet tweet finch canary

Tell your grandaughter that she chose the most adorable name!

 

[Clairecanary15]

For 5 days give a pinch of dry Guardian Angel on the seed. I have used it this way and it works. The instructions suggest giving dry or with water. Brilliant stuff and hughly recommended by breeders.
Canaries like us have varying appetites. I have a cockbird who barely eats much but another who is straight in his seed every morning. A canary can eat 1-2 tablespoons of seed per day. Fruit and veg wise for one canary is not much. One apple slice, a thumb nails worth of cucumber. An egg cup quantity full of kale or broccoli. You will get to know the appetite of Chicken..cool name by the way.

 

[Adam21]

Welcome to the forum! I do not believe it is stress related and should sort it self out. As for vegetables and fruits, you can give them once a week or so if you want. I personally give them more vegetables than fruit. They love fresh broccoli and it is very healthy for them. I pull off a little branch and stick it in the cage and they eat on their own. One thing you should know related to overall health of your canary is to make sure they are not exposed to unnatural light past sunset. They sleep on a strict schedule and wake up with sunrise. If they don't get good sleep if it will harm their health.

 

[finchly]

Hi Debz, Welcome!

Your canary most likely went into molt because of the stress of moving. Just keep giving good healthy food. It does sound like you are doing things right. Is he very young? Maybe that's why he is eating so much?

Oh - now that I think, I always think canaries eat a lot more than finches! Where a finch might eat 1/2 tsp, a canary can eat 2 tsp.

I am using a raw, whole food diet with mine. I give the veggies and fruit early in the day, as much as they want. A member here, @Unapproved Vendor's Dailies , has a great online store where you can buy sprouts (or seeds to sprout) and other goodies. Sprouts are the healthiest food you can give them.

In the evening I give mine Roudybush pellets, dry egg food if they have babies with them, and seed. Here's a Diet Snapshot.

 

[Clairecanary15]

@finchly
I put tablespoons...blimey thats enough for a small flock lol. Glad you noticed..so 2 teaspoons. Whoops sorry for any confusion. I use a little tiny dipping dish which holds about 2 teaspoons.

 

[Serin]

Canaries molt when their day length changes. It is about a month early, but it is not a bad time to molt.
You need to ensure you keep your canary on a regular light schedule from now on that does not deviate from the day length outdoors. This means that as the days get shorter, she goes to bed and is kept in darkness until sunup. So in winter, she is awake less than in summer, as the hormones of the canary are highly dependent on the amount of light they get through the year and too much or too little, depending on the season, will cause another molt and general ill health.

Canaries have enormous appetites and are much more herbivorous than finches, being able to quite happily eat large portions of greens, broccoli, corn, peas or and apple slices each day. I provide at least one or two fresh foods every single day, but kale and broccoli are my most often, with apples and lettuce a few times a week. During molt, you want to also provide protein food - I use hard boiled egg - at least every other day and then weekly or so the rest of the year as a supplement. Canaries will eat a lot but will know when to stop. I let them have as much fresh food as they want, with seed or pellets always available.

Provide a cup of finely crumbled egg shells in the cage as well. They will eat them for calcium.

 

[finchly]

@finchly
I put tablespoons...blimey thats enough for a small flock lol. Glad you noticed..so 2 teaspoons. Whoops sorry for any confusion. I use a little tiny dipping dish which holds about 2 teaspoons.

No problem! I just thought yours ate more than mine

I was thinking too, we always say they molt due to "stress" from moving - actually it's the whole thing: the stress, maybe a temperature difference, food changes and so on. All those things add up to stress.

Anyway hope this helps!