New Red Factor!

[KarenB]

I know little to nothing about canaries. Do you have to feed a certain colored diet to keep the red color, or are they just that color of a mutation like, say, a Gouldian would have certain genes to make it that color? Or something else?

[Travillion]

lovezebs They are in my computer so playing songs will be easy and this room is also my fish room. So it must be good that I have 3 running fish tanks beside and across from the flight. Theres always the sound of running water!

Thank you for all of your kind comments.

[Travillion]

KarenB you have to feed red factors colour specific diet. There are pre made diets on the market specifically meant for red factors, but you can also focus on vegetables and fruits that are high in beta carotene.

[jonvill]

The color-food is only fed through the moult. If you are showing your birds, then the color-feeding is done till the end of the show season. The rest of the year a normal diet will suffice.

[Ginene]

Sooo beautiful! Congrats .

[fredbernie]

From what I see, it is probably a she canary. Just my 2 cents on the color-food, I lean towards not using them in the regular diet. Most of the color-food for red factor canaries contain synthetic canthaxanthin which may be harmful to the birds' liver and kidney if overdose. What I am told by local breeders is to only use color agent just before and through the molt, that is when the drug takes effect. Outside that period, it is useless if not harmful. One of them convinced me by breaking the eggs from two red factor pairs, one feed on color food and one on regular diet. The color of the yolk is very different, one looks like normal chicken egg yolk and one is blood red. The color agent even takes effect on the unborn chicks, that is his conclusion. So these are his rules:

1) None of the breeding pairs is on color diet.
2) If you really love the red color, feed the bird color agent just before and through the molt. If that is a young chick, give it color agent only when it has fully weaned and separated to protect the parents and later chicks and stop once he has finished the molt (around 5-6 month of age).

The diet is varied, but regular supply of green and hard boiled egg 2-3 times per week is good (I use half of a quail egg for one bird each time). If you have time, try sprouting seed.

Anw, very cute bird, I love the frost color, but it is not really easy to find one in my area. Also, got a pair of intensive red-factor today.

[Travillion]

fredbernie great information, thank you for sharing and thank you for the compliment. Make sure you share some photos of your red factors with us!

[Elsidewe]

thumbs up... a wonderful bird!!!!

[Atbird]

Wow, such beautiful pictures of your lovely canary. Love his expressive face.

[DanteD716]

Beautiful! I would not say she is a female as of yet. One of my "females" started singing up a storm this afternoon and I've had them for a couple weeks. I'd love to get red factors, i have green and yellow borders and fife. Try playing some Canary songs on YouTube. That gets my males singing bit not always

[Sheather]

Females will sing too. My two year old American Singer Kari lives up to her name and has quite a beautiful song. I would be sure she was a male had she not laid twelve eggs earlier this summer. However, you can tell a singing hen from a cock easily by playing them online canary songs. A cock will get mad and sing back to you. A hen will get excited, start chirping, and possibly even wag her tail as if to solicit a male to mount her, if she's in condition (it seems my little Kari is ALWAYS in condition)

[4Ellen]

What a beautiful canary! Love the color

[DanteD716]

KarenB Karen i think it's a little of both. They need the red factor gene, and red factors are nonormally born am orange/reddish color. When you color feed it just makes the colors more vibrant/intense. So most red factors you see aren't naturally as red as they are

[KarenB]

DanteD716, thanks for the explanation. I ended up doing a little research and I wound up getting a timbrano canary at a show last weekend. I decided song was more important than color, but I do have to say I think my Steve is very good looking, as well