Canary Tips: Evaluating Cocks Breeding
Readiness
Canary Tips: Easier Ways to Prepare Canaries for Breeding
Non-breeding season
Dietary Preparation for
breeding season really begins with assuring our birds have a healthy diet every
day of the year. Unfortunately, many breeders depend primarily on seed mixes to
keep their birds healthy. Even though they feed a variety of seeds, the seed
diet is deficient in lysine, calcium, available phosphorus, sodium,
manganese,zinc, iron, iodine, selenium, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, available
niacin, choline, and vitamins A, D3, E, K, and B12. Nutritional problems from
the birds diet become apparent when nutritional demands increase during
reproduction. Rather than using a number of products and foods to prevent
deficiencies, an easy way is address the nutritional needs is to feed the
fortified canary mix manufactured by L'Avian Plus. This mix is free from
chemical preservatives such as ethoxyquin and BHT and contains canary grass,
oats, millet, rapeseed, flax, niger, and hemp seeds that have been totally
fortified with all the necessary vitamins and minerals for optimal canary
health. I have done experiments maintaining canaries with only this
product and water and birds really look great! Sources for L'Avian Plus canary
mix are generally feed dealers or on-line from distributors such as upco (www.upco.com).
Three Months Before Breeding
At three months before breeding it is important to supplement the hens calcium.
An easy way to do this is to use a water soluble calcium
product called caliculux by orlux. A measured amount is simply added to the
drinking water. When ever you increase the calcium you need to make sure that
the birds also have a source of D3 to enhance the intestinal absorption of
calcium. In addition, you must make sure you also have a source for manganese. A
danger with calcium supplementation is excess calcium binds manganese and can
result in a manganese deficiency. This can be a cause of slip claw (in severe
cases the joints are also deformed) in spite of calcium supplementation. I
recently was contacted by a border breeder in Ireland who although he raised
about 90 chicks, at least 24 developed slip claw at 2 to 4 weeks after weaning.
After analyzing his diet, I found he was supplement a calcium with D3 but had no
source
of manganese. I had him correct this emergency situation by stopping the calcium
supplement and adding manganese to the diet with supplements, greens, wheat, and
sunflower chips. The birds were re markedly improved in just a week. I get
caliculux from Albert Silva 909 672-4227.
Six Weeks Before Breeding
Six weeks
before breeding I begin supplement the cocks with vitamin E. In the past, I
coated seeds with wheat germ oil that was fortified with vitamin E. I did a lot
of adjusting the amount fed and the amount I coated so the only thing that saved
me was watching the birds but the problem remained that all birds didn't get the
same amount so I had a lot of adjusting to do. This last year I discovered an
easy way to increase the vitamin E. I used a highly concentrated powdered water
soluble vitamin E from ABBA products. A measured amount is added to water. This
is given as the only water one day each week. I start the hens on it three weeks
before breeding when they are already showing signs of bare breast and breeding
readiness. I continue the cocks on it during breeding season but stop each
hen when she lays her first egg. It is critical to stop the extra vitamin E when
the hen lays her first egg so that she will properly incubate the eggs etc. The
source for the highly concentrated water soluble vitamin E is ABBA Products
www.abbaseed.com. At the same time
as I start the vitamin E supplementation, I gradually increase the methionine
and lysine in the diet with a dry mix and with nestling food containing hard
boiled egg and also supplements. An easy way to provide all the extra nutrients
and methionine and lysine is to use a product called Miracle. It is made in
Italy and is also sold by ABBA products. For the dry mix, I add one tablespoon
Miracle to four
cups of a dry nestling food (such as ABBA green) that does not already have
extra methionine and lysine. Whenever the hens start getting foods with
increased protein, weight loss can result. So for hens at this time, I add
fattening oily seeds such sunflower and flax.
Sprouting Seeds
Sprouted seeds are one of my birds favorites during the breeding season. An easy
way to sprout seeds without mess, is to cut the top out of a plastic gallon jug
(leave the handle). Place 4 cups of a non-fortified sprout-able seed in the jug
and cover with water. Let it set exactly 6 hours and then drain with a large
strainer. Without rinsing just put all the seeds back in the jug. Let set a room
temperature and stir once a day (no rinsing). In 24 to 48 hours, they are ready
to feed or refrigerate.
Canary Tips: Flying with Eagles
Until last year, I always shipped canaries by express mail with no problem, usually using the horizon box. But last year, I was out of horizon boxes and needed to get some birds shipped so I made my own box as I had done sometimes. I took the birds in my small homemade box to the express mail office to ship them. The clerk, Linda a really duck type (sour customer unfriendly person), refused to accept my birds!
While she went to get a copy of the regulations for me, another worker came to the window and said " I cover for her break at 9:30 and smiled at me". If I came back, I knew he would take them! It was 7 am and the flight to California I really needed the birds on left at 7:30 am.
With time so short, I had to work fast. I filled out the form while she was out making the copies. Finally, here she comes with a Xerox copy of the regulations. I thanked her for making me a copy and she gingerly pointed to all the pertinent details including that canaries and finches were not acceptable since they did not weigh enough and anyway there are three postal approved boxes (horizon was one). Of course, they didn't have any approved boxes for sale. As I read the regulations, I noticed that chickens did not require an approved box.
I ask her to weigh the birds because I was just curious as to how much it would cost if she would accept them. She quickly pointed out that she was not going to accept them but I restated my curiosity and told her no harm is done by telling me how much it would have cost if she accepted them. She weighed them and told me that she wasn't accepting them but if she had of it would have been $19.56. At that point, I immediately started making out a check for $19.56. She reminded me she didn't say she would accept them. Never mind I had talked to Kenny who handles the actually shipping everything has to go through her first and she wasn't accepting them! I reassured her that I was just writing out a check, no big deal, that check could we torn up at any time.
I then pursued another line of reasoning. "Linda you are absolutely right, canaries are not acceptable under the regulations. In fact, I am not going to ask you to accept canaries since you are clearly right! I am going to take the canaries home but I do have chickens that I need to ship to California today."
"I know these birds in this box at not chickens" she said.
Linda, I replied, "The only way you knew that they were canaries is because I told you. Now I am telling you they are chickens. If they are chickens, I continued, would you accept them?"
Yes! she said.
I took the box to the car, opened the door and brought the same box back to the counter and said " Linda, I have some chickens to ship, here is the form and check."
The guys in the back, were in disbelief!! They would have broken the rules to help me but Linda would have surely caught them and they could get themselves in deep yogurt.
The next week I had to ship more birds. Of course, Linda was at the counter again. I greeted her showing her I had gotten the horizon boxes like she recommended and how nice they were and how fortunate I had been to have a knowledgeable clerk. She beamed! This time she didn't ask me what was in the box but if she did I was prepared to have said button quail! I took it one step further, I ask her when she worked because I didn't want to trust shipping to anyone else. She told me and the next day I brought more and no problems. Actually when they changed to the main post office window accepting them instead of the back express mail, I was sad because Linda and I had a clear understanding.
It is a challenge to fly with the eagles when you are surrounded by ducks!
Song development
Song development is enhanced by vitamin E. My adult cock birds get a product called Petamine breeding formula. This is a powder
