Conditioning for breeding
Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2017 6:25 pm
How far in advance should I prep my canary hens for ideal breeding condition? 2 months? I'd like to begin breeding around March maybe April.
In my opinion, she'll do a lot of the conditioning herself, assuming four things:
1. You've got the day length set to match the outdoor daylength.
Many canary hens start to nest when the day length in spring is around 13 hours, and get very interested in the male around 13.5 to 14 hours
2. You are offering good nutrition all the time. She'll choose what she needs, when she needs it
3. The female needs to hear a male singing, so a lone male in a separate cage needs to be in the same room.
4. I'm also a believer in the importance of exercise. A large cage, or some (careful) free flight each day is essential.