hand rearing at DAY 1

[MrBrittsBirds]

hi i have a pair of canaries on eggs and due to hatch in 4 to 5 days time , but the hen seems to be making wierd sounds in mouth and opening it every time she gets off to eat , she dont look in very good condition either . its her first time laying . the cock is very good father but i dont want the chicks to die , i am planning on hand rearing the chicks but not sure if its possible to take them at day 1 . has anyone tried this ?

[Sally]

I've done it with waxbills but I've never had canaries. I would think it is easier, since they are a bit larger, plus they tend to beg in a much easier manner than tiny waxbills. Still, be prepared to lose some sleep those first few days! Personally, I'd let the hen have a try first.

[MrBrittsBirds]

hi sally , i would rather let the hen try but i fear she may have airsac mites and if she does that would be a death sentence for the chicks . she is with a cock bird who i also think has airsac mites but he does sing occasionally so not 100%

[MrBrittsBirds]

iv been told that they need parrot hand rearing formula as it contains antibodies unlike finch and canary handrearing food

[Sheather]

Yep, I raised five last spring from ages 2 days down to just a few hours old, and didn't lose even one! It was my first time and I had no experience, so if I could do it, anyone can. I fed them glops of pudding-thickness Kaytee formula on the back side of a match stick every couple of hours - by a few weeks, they could get by on 4 big feeds a day. I only did it through the night for the first two days, then let them sleep six hours, and then once they had feathers, ten or eleven was fine as long as they got their feeds in the day then.

My equipment to keep them warm was simply a heatpack tied around a 1/2 gallon plastic Kritter Keeper container with a ventilated lid. I kept them in a cereal bowl of tissue and changed the tissue every feeding. Overall I'd say it was fairly easy to rear them, and they didn't take any longer to wean than parent-fed birds - I think only five weeks. The last couple days I abruptly stopped feeding except once at night once I saw them picking at egg food and pellets, and they weaned in two days. I really didn't want to draw it out any longer than I had to because it had gotten so tedious to feed them since they would never sit still, but would have fed them if I didn't see them eating. I guess I was a tough papa bird but they came through just fine and one stayed tame for several months, probably would have kept it but I didn't work enough with him and he gradually got flighty.

[lovezebs]

MrBrittsBirds

If your parent birds have air sac mites, you need to treat them, and treat them sooner rather than later with SCAT, or you could very well lose both the parents and the chicks.

When the chicks hatch, the parents will feed them, and if they are infected, they will infect the chicks as well.

Handfeeding baby Canaries, is quite easy if it comes to it. It's the time commitment that is difficult.

Regular finch handrearing formula is fine.

[MrBrittsBirds]

i i have only got access to ivermectin drops , i have given them a very low dose as its an irritant and im not sure if this dose would deal with the air sac mites .

[lovezebs]

MrBrittsBirds

http://www.abbaseed.com/Supplements/COT ... ectin.html

http://www.allbirdproducts.com/newprodu ... ution.html

I do hope your birdies get better.

Good luck

[MrBrittsBirds]

hi im in the uk so i wont be able to order from those websites . all i have available is ivermectine which is toxic and not good for birds on eggs , i did give the hen bird a very tiny dose and she does look a little better but still not fully recovering . i wanted to know is it very hard to hand rear the chicks ( i have the time ) but as in is it difficult to keep them alive and well ?

[lovezebs]

MrBrittsBirds

Canary chicks, are fairly easy to handraise, due to the fact that they are bigger than chicks of other finch or Waxbill species.

The time commitment is huge, especially in the begining.

I think Sheather (Dylan) mentioned how he raised his Canary babies further up in this thread.

You need to keep them warm, and you need to feed and feed every two hours, and you have to make sure that they don't aspirate any of the formula, or they will die.

There are several threads on feeding infants. I'll see if I can find some of them for you.

[lovezebs]

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=36591

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12441

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=36559

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12274

[MrBrittsBirds]

hi thanks a lot for that , i have just split the cock from the hen , as he stopped feeding her and hes seems to be bit sick . the hen is doing ok eating .

[lovezebs]

MrBrittsBirds

I do hope your boy recovers, and good luck with the youngsters.