The Canary Primer
by:  Marvin B. Walton
The Canary's Nest

In this section, you will find information that I hope you will find helpful as you learn  more
about raising, feeding, caring for and enjoying the many beautiful breeds of canaries.  This article is not all inclusive, however it will give the individual a basic of what is necessary!

GENERAL INFORMATION
     The canary is a very accommodating creature, given the proper care consisting of diet, lighting, and overall surroundings will perform outstandingly well for the pet owner or the breeder.   Given the fact that we have taken the canary and restricted it to our unnatural conditions, we choose the company that it keeps and the surroundings in which it must live as well as a diet that it eats, the canary will surprise the breeder or pet owner by how well it performs the "tasks" that we assign it to do.  Whether this task is breeding for the novice breeder, the experienced breeder, or singing for the pet owner, they are willing to do what we ask.

HISTORY
     Canaries have changed dramatically from their wild ancestors that were basically a greenish/gray bird that was not particularly pretty to look at, but were greatly sought after for their beautiful song.  We as humans, determined to change things as we so often do, were not content with only their song, we determined that we needed a bird that not only had a beautiful song, but was also attractive and colorful to look at.  We did not do this on our own, we had the help of Mother Nature with her wonderful mutations, and as new mutations presented themselves, our canary breeding forefathers took advantage of the mutations and developed them into the different strains that we now have at our unlimited disposal.  Today the varieties of canaries that we have at our disposal will please the palate of almost any individual.  Canaries are bred for their song; some others are bred for their type, color, and conformation.  All male canaries in good health sing, however, some are better singers than others are.  A few of the canary types bred specifically for their song are as follows; The Waterslager, The Hartz Roller, The Spanish Timbrado, and a breed known mostly in their native country the United States, the American Singer.  Many other types of canaries exist, there are the Frilled canaries, Gloster and other crested type canaries, as well as several of the old type canaries and canaries bred specifically for their markings in their plumage such as the Lizard canary. 

THE RED FACTOR
    Other types of canaries exist that are bred for the color variety, most notably, and in the authors' opinion, one of the most beautiful is the Red Factor canary.  The Red Factor canary which was produced not by a mutation, but by the hybridization of the Venezuelan Red Siskin and a Yellow canary took many years and much time and effort to produce.  I have a great deal of admiration for my canary breeder forefathers who after much effort and experimentation were able to create a strain of canaries that are unsurpassed by any other breed when it comes to color variety and mutations.  When the initial cross was made with the Siskin, only one percent of the males that were produced were fertile, the other ninety-nine percent were "mules", although the "mules" sang, and were quite attractive to look at, they were of no value in the breeding program for the Red Factor pioneers.  Another problem encountered by the pioneers of the Red Factors was the reduction of the red gene pool when the fertile male hybrid was crossed back to yet another yellow canary, then the process had to begin to develop a strain of the deepest red birds that were possible.  The effort and patience of the Red Factor pioneers are in my opinion a highly commendable act, which the inexperienced breeder can destroy, in a single breeding season by incorrectly pairing their birds.

COLOR FEEDING OF RED FACTORS
   Many breeders of the Red Factor Canary color feed their birds a coloring agent called canathaxin.  I personally do not feed a coloring agent; I prefer my birds to be the color that they are genetically bred for.  I feed all of my canaries, Reds, Yellows, and Whites a powdered form of Beta Carotene that is available in a water dispersible form all this product does is enhance the color, not change it.   The genetic quality of the bird is where the color is derived from in the first place, if we breeders breed only the best quality of birds, then we can expect them to be the color and conformation that is desired for each breed standard .many breeders will disagree with the practice of non-color feeding their birds, but that is what makes life interesting is a difference of opinions and this also makes for many interesting debates and discussions which may eventually improve on the techniques that we all use today.  That is the goal for all canary breeders, to improve the breeds and to allow for new mutations and strains to develop.

In an effort to place some of my birds on the show bench in the upcoming year, I am going to start feeding my Red Factors and all mutations of the Reds coloring agents in an effort to show some birds.  I still do not intend to feed canathaxin, which can cause blindness, I intend to feed Bogena© and Carophyl Red©.

BREEDING CANARIES
   For many people the subject of breeding canaries is "remembered" just prior to the commencement of the breeding season, this is false economy, the breeding season should be studied and thought out after the previous one is complete.  The breeding season may be a replica of the previous season if the desired results were achieved, or one may need to introduce new bloodlines, or new stock depending on the success or failure of the previous season.  One must select carefully to improve on the stock of breeding birds, birds which are not quite to breed standard should not automatically culled, very few birds produced approach the breed standard, but with careful selection of the breeding pairs, birds can be produced which approach the ideal breed standard.  Approximately only 1% to 2% of all birds produced are of the ideal breed standard, the perfect bird is most definitely the hardest to produce, and very few are produced which approach this standard of perfection.

    With all of this in mind, breeders should try to pair their birds to concentrate on producing birds that achieve the breed standard and to achieve the desired results.  A note to remember for experienced breeders and beginners alike; not all of birds that are paired will breed.  Any breeder that tells you that all of the pairs that were paired bred is not telling you the truth.  A certain percentage of birds regardless of the diet, care and management that they receive will not breed!!  These non-breeding birds should not be pawned off on unsuspecting buyers as breeders, if the current breeder is aware of a birds' inability or desire to breed, the prospective buyer should be informed of these facts.  These non-breeding birds may not breed for many reasons, one they may not be compatible with one another, two one or the other may not be quite in condition, or many other reasons.  Many times breeders will have birds in their birdroom that have never bred for them, they sell the birds and another breeders sets the birds up to breed and they turn out to be the best breeding pair that the breeder has ever had.  Many unanswered questions will always remain when it comes to these types of problems that breeders face, but as long as the breeder is honest, and doesn't try to pawn off culls on another unsuspecting individual then no one get hurt.   If an individual requests birds that are the current years birds, then the buyer must keep in mind that these birds are not proven breeders, and the seller can in no way be responsible for the birds performance in the breeding room.  The ideal situation is to pair all birds where one of the pair is an older  experienced bird, and one is the younger bird, this ensures greater success in the breeding season.  Most breeders who have birds in their bird rooms that are two to three years old have these birds for a reason, they  are valuable breeding stock!!  If a bird is only three years old and has proven itself, then if someone wants to purchase these birds they still have about two years of breeding left in them, provided the previous owner has not overbred these birds.

   The cocks should always be about six weeks ahead of the hens when breeding preparation begins.  Approximately six weeks prior to the commencement of the breeding season, the cocks should be caged individually, they should begin conditioning process they should be fed a diet of song rations, fresh fruit and a high quality all-purpose canary diet, I also feed bee pollen two to three times per week.  Bee pollen is relished by the birds, and is a good source of protein, carbohydrates, as well as many vitamins.  At this time the amount of protein rich food should be offered such as softfood, and sprouted seeds.  Higher levels of protein should be added slowly and increased weekly to boost the amount of protein rich food.   Greens should also be fed at least once per week if possible at this time, but they should be of  the freshest quality that can be obtained, garden fresh if possible are the best.  I personally feed kale and comfrey, which are both of homegrown freshness.  The cocks will begin to show their desire to breed by singing heartily, and clinging to the fronts of the cages singing to the hens that are still in the flights.  The hens will show their readiness to breed  by carrying around bits of feathers, newspapers or anything that they find suitable in their flight.  It still makes me wonder where they find some of the material that they carry around in their beaks, but nevertheless they find it and are anxiously looking for  a suitable place to build their nest.  When this activity is seen from the hen, they should be taken from the flights and placed with their prospective mate, and assuming that all goes well, the  hen will begin spinning her nest with the materials provided by the breeder within a couple of weeks.  If all goes will from the nest building stage, the first egg can be expected within two to three days after completion of the nest.  I personally remove the eggs as they are laid and replace them with an artificial "dummy" egg, this process ensures that all of the eggs will hatch on the same day. When all of the eggs are returned to the nest,January 11, 2009 a process known as "setting the clutch", a note should be made of the date of the setting and if all goes well and the eggs are fertile, chicks can be expected within fourteen days.   The eggs should be set in the morning if at all practical this will ensure that if any problems arise, then suitable arrangements can be made if the hen is not broody and will not set on the eggs, this also ensures that all of the clutch will hatch in the morning and any problems associated with the hen not feeding can be corrected and if necessary chicks can be fostered out to other mothers.   

After the hen has been incubating, the eggs may be checked for fertility, this process is optional, and can be done after the hen has been incubating for approximately seven days.   A small egg candler or small flashlight can be used for this purpose.   If the egg is fertile, red veins can be seen throughout the shell, if the egg is clear or non-fertile, then it should be discarded.   If all of the eggs prove to be infertile, the nest and the eggs should be removed, and replaced in approximately 7 to 10 days at which point the hen will start the process over.

Assuming that all goes well and the chicks hatch on schedule, egg food and sprouted seed should be provided for the parents to feed their young, the first four days are the most critical time for young canaries, and foods high in protein should be provided to ensure proper development.  After about 7 days, the chicks should be fitted with a closed band, which may be obtained from several places, or from the special clubs and societies of the different breeds.  The closed band usually has two or three initials, a consecutive number, and the year that the bird was hatched. Below is a diagram to assist in how to properly band a young chick.

The chicks will fledge at around 16 to 18 days and they should be left with the parents until they are self-sufficient in approximately another 16 days, at this time they are moved to the weaning cage and observed to ensure that they are eating and drinking on their own. During weaning I like to feed softfood, & soaked rape seed, as well as wheat cous cous.  Whatever quantity of cous cous is used an equal quantity of hot water should be added.  Let the cous cous sit in the water for 5 minutes and fluff with a fork.  The birds absolutely devour this, and it will eliminate any young going light.   The young also enjoy bee pollen as a treat about once per week.  Sometimes it will be necessary to separate  the chicks earlier than 30 to 32 days if it is noted that one or more of the parents are bothering the chicks.  At about 21 days the hen will show the signs of wanting to nest again, this is the time to replace the old nest with a clean nest and provide the hen with plenty of nesting material.

THE YOUNG
   The young will proceed in their development on a diet rich in protein from the softfood/eggfood mixture and a vitamin supplement should also be added to this mixture.  When I sprout seed to feed to young I prefer to sprout sweet black rape seed for this purpose.  Tender sprouted rape seed enables the young fledglings to develop their ability to crack seeds, and any whole seeds that are fed at this time must be crushed prior to feeding.  I have found a small hand-held electric coffee grinder ideal for this purpose.  When sprouting seeds you should be careful to ensure that the seed does not develop mold, to prevent this I recommend that the seeds be soaked and  rinsed daily  prior to feeding. If the seed begins to develop mold or smell rancid, it should be discarded. When sprouting the seed, it should be rinsed at least two times per day.  For the first day, the seed should be submerged in water, all the water should be drained after day 1 and the seed should begin to develop sprouts, during this time the seed should be rinsed a couple times per day.  Once the seed begins to sprout, the seed should be rinsed, drained and stored in the refrigerator.  Sprouted seed can be stored in this manner for approximately 5 days, but should be rinsed thoroughly prior to feeding.

   After two to three weeks in the weaning cage, I place the young in a flight prior to them commencing their first molt.  The young normally begin their first molt at around 8 to 10 weeks of age, and the molt normally takes approximately 8 weeks to complete.  The diet at this time should be a diet of high protein, sprouted seed, cous cous, and bee pollen, as well as a high quality canary seed mix diet.  During this time the young males can be observed trying out their vocal cords.  The young males can be identified, and if desired fitted with a colored split band for identification purposes in the future, a note should also be made in the record book at this time of the band number of  all identified males.  At the time I identify the young males, I also place the males in a separate flight, males tend to display a dominance over the hens, and if they are left with the hens, the hens may suffer in their development.  

Last updated:  January 17, 2010      © 2001 - 2010 - The Canary's Nest