Abstract
Many articles have been written on how to breed canaries, and here is one more. The reason I am writing one is not because my way is better, but because I have the desire to share my experience with you. For the last few years I have kept accurate records in our bird room. As the result of this accumulated data, it was possible for me to make the graph in Fig. 1.
The graph shows the span of our breeding season which is indicated on the horizon ta! scale. The vertical scale indicates the number of clutches laid. We start pairing our birds in mid February and we begin to see some eggs in the beginning of March. The peak is in mid May, and ends in July. We do not use artificial light to induce early breeding season. In late December we start feeding nestling food once per week and progressively increase to four times per week until March. Larger amounts are given to the hens. The nestling food will get the birds physically built up for the breeding season. Also, they must get accustomed to the flavor of the food well in advance.
Nestling Formula:
2 cups bread crumbs (dry bread in oven, crush, or grind into crumbs).
l cup Gerber "High Protein" cereal for baby .
1/4 cup wheat germ (regular).
1/2 teaspoon bone meal (find at Health Store).
2 tablespoon yeast powder (find at Health Store).
2 teaspoons "Vionate" or "Theralin" vitamin-mineral powder (find in pet shops).
Mix above thoroughly and keep in dry place.
Add the above mixture in proportion of 3 tablespoons to one hard boiled egg (boil egg 10 min., let cool, then grate or mash yolk and white). Keep this mixture in refrigerator.
When nestlings are being fed, give three times per day - morning, noon and early evening. Always dipose of left-overs. Clean the bottom of the cage every day. Spoiled egg food is deadly to the nestlings. I am attempting to modify the bottom of our cages by inserting a wire floor. A wire floor suspended above the tray is the answer to prevent birds from picking the spoiled food. Until then I will clean trays every day. In addition to nestling food, feed soaked seeds separately, also three times per day. Mix 65% canary seed, 30% rape, 5% niger. Soak seeds 24 hours, strain in fine strainer and wash under faucet, strain and store in glass jar in a cool place. Make enough to last you three days. We do not let the seeds sprout. In addition to the above, feed fresh greens twice daily ( dandelion, lettuce, spinach, chickory). Keep mineral grit in the cage all the time.
After much experimenting with nesting material we adapted upholstery cotton batting. Upholstery cotton batting is easily obtained from upholstery shops. You must make sure it is pure cotton. It must not contain any synthetic fibers. Synthetic fibers will wrap around the birds legs and toes and cause damage to them.
The first nest is built by the bird itself.
In most cases the nest is not very good, and I end up making one for them. I have several spare nests which I prepare by placing a large piece of upholstery cotton batting in the nest, then form it with a light bulb and then I place a lemon or orange in the nest and keep the orange there until the nest is needed. The weight and moisture from the orange will form a beautiful full nest. Normally I replace the nest after the 6th or 7th day, that is when I band the babies, or thereafter if the nest looks soiled. The breeding cages, as you can see in the accompanying pictures, are made of plywood. They are easily made if you follow the drawings supplied in this article. The fronts are removable for easy cleaning and repainting. The bottom drawers are made of sheet metal your local sheet metal shop can make them for you, or you can improvise. After the breeding season, remove the dividers and the breeding cages become flights. The accessories, which you can see in the pictures, including the fronts, are available from "Twyford Aviary Supply Co." The water drinker can be any suitable bottle with rubber stopper and glass spout. Be very careful with this type of a drinker, they are famous for stopping the dispensing of the water. You must shake the drinker to let the water out and let the air in, to equalize the air pressure. Once you get used to this type of drinker you will find it to be the best.
Selective breeding is lots of work. A well organized breeding room, with the proper equipment will alleviate some unnecessary work. If you have a method to raise canaries and it works, by all means keep it. If you do not have a method, try this one. I manage to raise many canaries every year