New Hobby - Breeding - Few Questions

[Jamm972]

Hello all and thanks for letting me join. I have owned canaries for about 5 years now. This year I have decided to pair up and attempt to breed them. I have a crested canary, beautiful looking, but for some reason he seems to be a loner. Anytime he is with other birds he shows no interest and does not sing. The minute I put him in his own cage and he cant see the other birds he sings galore with a beautiful, full strong song. I put him in a breeder cage with a divider, and the female is showing interest, but he is not. The female is trying so hard to get his attention but he doesn't seem to want to budge on showing interest. They get along fine though. The female is a dominant yellow, and no its not crested.
I guess my question is should I try to [pair him up with another female or wait and see if eventually the female he is with he will accept.

Second question:
I purchased a 2014 dominant white female, and a crested male from a bird store. As soon as I put them in the breeder cage with the divider, the female immediately started to make a nest and the male would serenade her. I removed the divider to let them be together. I believe this is because they already paired up and were exposed to 12 plus hours of light if not more a day. The males genitals are clearly showing, but the female has not yet dropped her feathers in that area but is allowing the male to mount her. Should I allow this to happen. I don't want to cause any more stress than what is needed. I'm sure their first clutch might be unsuccessful due to the lighting change and stress from being moved t a new environment, but they seem happy.

Third question:
I have 4 red factor canaries for almost a year, 2 from a breeder, and 2 from a store. I noticed when they were all together in a flight cage they were kissing and feeding each other. I was amazed that all 4 red factors paired up with opposite purchases (1 from breeder, 1 from store). I transported them into a breeder cage they continued to feed each other through the bars and sleep next to each other on the perches. I was told by a breeder here in Arizona the Valley of the Sun to remove the divider and let them do what they do that they have accepted each other and are getting ready to condition themselves. I am only positive 1 is male cause of his beautiful song, but am uncertain of the other 3. but so far none of them are showing interest in building a nest. The one I know that is for sure male is chasing the female around (90% not violent, only on rare occasion 10% it gets intense). I'm debating on separating them again until the female shows interest in breeding.
The other 2 just stand there eat bathe that's about it. I think they both may be female, but the one that has a brown spot does try to sing but its not in full form its cut up and blotchy.

Sorry for the long Topic Question's figure this is better than opening up a multiple amount of topic questions. Any information and answers would be appreciated. Just a heads up I live and raise these birds in Arizona. The lighting and weather is totally different than in most other areas. I think we are at about 11 hours of natural day light, and about 2 hours of lamp light.

[Sally]

I can't help you with your questions about canaries, since I've never worked with them, but I did want to welcome you to the forum! We have quite a few members with canary experience, so hopefully you will get the answers you need. If you put your general location in your profile, it will help later on, when none of us remember where you live!

[Animalzoo]

Hi Jamm972 Your canaries are very pretty indeed!
I'm sorry but I cant really help you with your questions apart from saying that for Q2 I would let them do what they want to do naturally. If they are getting on with the deed then I'd say they are quite relaxed and content to breed in their new home.....others may disagree though but we'll see. I am interested in the answers.

Coincidentally I have just started with canaries too. I bought 4 pairs only yesterday! They are all in breeder cages with the divide and blocked from view atm. I'm thinking tomorrow I will remove the blanking plate but keep the divide between the two so they can see each other. The males are singing and the breeder said they are ready to breed and in condition. I'm putting the UV lamps on longer now to replicate their daylight hours and the hens have nests.
What do you use for nesting material. All I have is the nesting material I have for my finches, will this suffice do you think?

[Jamm972]

I just purchased the divider breeder cages. so this is my first experiment with them. My divider's only have bars not a blanked out divider. I was thinking of maybe using a homemade cardboard divider until I find something more suitable. What are the benefits of the blank dividers besides getting the males to sing harder?

[Jamm972]

Sorry I forgot to ask about the UV lamps. What is a good bulb to use. and where should I put it inside a generalized bedroom/office. or is it a good idea to hang it above each cage. I have a rack that can hold up to 4 breeder cages, but I don't like the idea of the birds being so close to the ground so I only use the top 2 tiers. because the bottom 2 don't get as much light.

[Jamm972]

I was told by an aviary breeder to use Burlap for nesting material. but I am still stuck on using cotton as well. it seems that 2 out of the 5 pairs favor the cotton for the bottom of the nest and the burlap for the structure. using burlap is time consuming. I buy it by the yard. and then cut it up and pull it apart at approximately 2 1/2 to 3 inches in length.

I have to say I am putting a lot of loyalty into this hobby by changing out the water daily, the food every 2 days, and vita water every 3 days. Its fun and exciting. Cant wait to see what will happen with the first clutches. I am on day 3 now for the 2 nests. and was told that by day 4 or 5 the hen will start to lay eggs. the males have already been mounting the hens. I will keep you updated.

[Animalzoo]

oh sounds exciting. I removed the blanking plate today so they can see each other now and some of the boys are dying to get to get the hens! I'm not sure what the main reason for blocking off their view from each other is apart from allowing them to focus on eating well and getting into condition. Then the tease of seeing each other for a few days which gears the hen up to start making the nest so when you let them loose together they are just eager to get on with it.

I have a room dedicated to all my birds as I have budgies and other finches too so I have 2 bulbs mounted at different heights. I purchased the Trixie 23w UV bulbs and ceramic holders for them.

I have mounted them from the ceiling, one at about waist height and one at head height. I have stacked my breeding cages and like you I was nervous about using the bottom cages but with the lower down lighting they get all they need and are illuminated well.

I have no idea where to get burlap from here in Spain. I've put in the thin cotton like fibers the finches use but it maybe too wiry. I'll need to experiment and try to find an alternate perhaps.

I read on your other post by Lovezebs I think it was who said about their diet. I've added a vitamin supplement to their water and provided eggs+shell today and some greens. Plus they have their seed and an additional egg food the breeder gave us. They all have a calcium stone to nip at and tomorrow I'll treat them to millet as their compartments are getting busy with so many food trays ha!

Here is a picture of some of the really pretty ones I have...

Male


And his Hen.......I have 2 of these beautiful Mosiacs.


Male


Male


And his Hen


Male



And the cages....

[Jamm972]

those are beautiful birds, I was trying to figure out how to post pics of my birds on here but haven't figured that out yet. Burlap I just purchase at a store we have here Hobby Lobby, or Michaels. Any place that sells fabric really should have some burlap. You can also try shredded up newspaper. Then again you can try all of the above and find out what the bird favors the most. So far I only herd[album of newspaper, cotton, burlap, and some hay stuff that's used for guinie pigs and other domesticated animals.

[Sally]

Jamm972 Here's a link to a topic about different ways to post photos, hope this helps.

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=22710