When to check or remove eggs

[Jamm972]

Animalzoo So this is what I did. Someone told me that if I felt the canaries were in condition to mate and are paired together but not breeding that I should reseperate them so they cant see each other. Do this for about 2 days. Then exchange the blocked divider with the bars divider. and then watch and observe them. About 50% of the pairs will successfully accept there mate and move forward with breeding. Here is a pic through a mirror. I had to put up a mirror so I can actually view them from my computer.

Keep fingers crossed that this will work. If not my only other solution is to move the hen to the same cage as Donald and give Whitey a break for a wile.

[Jamm972]

Animalzoo Great News. So my experiment worked for 1 of the pairs. Noname started to build a nest when I put the solid divider in. So I decided to swap out the solid divider and put in the bar divider and saw Noname Begging Stud for food and he is trying to feed her. I think they both are inexperienced and are going to try and give this a shot. I'm going to leave the divider up until tomorrow morning/afternoon just to make sure that Stud will continue to feed her and that they have bonded. Stud is singing vigorously, but need to see him feeding her more. I think he is confused because she originally rejected him, but now is hopping around showing interest. Plus I think she is back into condition.

I hope the same trick will work for Yellow and Orangie. but so far haven't seen any changes in their behavior.

And Toopay and Tails.....Tails is now hopping around ramped, but Toopay is just enjoying his alone time. I'm surprised he aint singing which he usually does when he is housed by himself and cant see any other birds. I'm beginning to think something else might be wrong with him.

[Bahadir]

Jamm972 Animalzoo

Hi
Yes, this technic is working. Me too have done same. You will see when you just separeted them, male will start to sing more loudly than before. And keeping them apart for a week is enough. They will mate in a second when you make them together again. Wish you luck. Also, Which month will you plan to stop breeding?

[Bahadir]

Also, i love your this cages. Larger and bigger. But i have a small flat. I cant place that much bigger in my home.

[Jamm972]

Bahadir I am planning on stopping around the middle of July. This is so they can Molt from July to September. Then I start planning my my next years pairs. The average a pair will have is 2 to 3 successful clutches. But be careful when doing this because it will put a lot of stress on the Hen and could possibly decrease her lifespan.

Most breeders that breed for profit push for 3 to 4 clutches. Also depending on if they have foster parents or make the male do most of the feeding. I highly suggest stopping at 2 unless they are being persistent and want to do a 3rd.

Just make sure you have enough room to house all the birds after. Because the babies will need a flight cage that is communal, and when the males mature they will need a cage all by themselves

@Animalzoo Hope everything is ok with you. Havent herd from you in a few days.

[Animalzoo]

Jamm972

Sorry, yes I've been terribly busy these last few days........mostly down to a new puppy in the household

Bird update however may need to wait until tomorrow. All is well with the family but I'll let you know properly when eggs are due for hatching and how the gang are going when I get better time to chat.

Main news is my oldest baby that came from sonny and cher is a boy (I assume) as he's been learning to sing. Bless him, its cute as.

I love your cage setup and think what you did with blocking off views was a great idea and by the sounds of it has worked for one couple so hopefully will be working with the others soon enough.

I pleased that Bahadir has 4 eggs too. Fingers crossed theyre fertile

So I'm off to bed for the night and will write up more tomorrow and also go through your older posts to catchup.

nn

[Jamm972]

Animalzoo good to hear from you. Glad all is well. Yes puppies can be alot of work at first until trained.

Yeah you have alot to catch up on. Most of it is just confusing, jibberish. But like we both know. Each day is a learning experience. ;)

So quick update. Whitey and Donald's eggs are due in about 3 more days. I did not candle them this time. Problem is Donald is still feeding the other chicks through the bars. I'm just not sure when to remove them into the community cage. I'm afraid to do so because I was told not to rush it because Mom and dad teach their younger, then the young teach their siblings. They are chowing down on the Apple slices and eating out of the seed dish. I hardly see them eat the soft egg food. Running out of room TBC:

[Jamm972]

Ok, so that's what's happening with them.
Blanca has started her new nest but the other 2 babies haven't fledged yet, but I think they will any day now. Mom and dad are still feeding them. Most likely when Blanca starts her next clutch dad will completely take over.

Stud and Noname are doing great. Stud is feeding her all the time now and she is finis hinges up on the nest. However there mating ritual is very aggressive. I read this is normal. If they are successful I would be very happy. But I think because this is first time around might have a practice run.

Yellow and Orange are still fighting, I think there just not compatible at all. TBC:

[Jamm972]

Sorry my phone only let's me go so far then I have to start fresh.

So if Yellow and Orange don't start showing signs of interest, I am going to move Yellow over to the same cage as Whitey and Donald's to see if Yellow is accepted into a poly relationship to give Whitey a rest from the mating ritual.

I am going to go to a bird show next month. I want them to teach me how to trim the feathers around the hood hook areas to make more successful breeding conditions. They say it raises the success rate up to 95% fertile eggs.

Toopay and Tails no signs of wanting to mate. And Brownie is still in his/her own cage. That's my update for now. Hope to hear your progress and get you caught up.

Talk to you later.

[Jamm972]

So I removed the 3 babies and oput them into a cage by themselves. they were eating seed, as well as the soft food and they love fresh apples. I really needed to move them away from daddy because daddy has other things to do in a few days.

I put yellow on the other side of the divider. Donald is going nuts and definitely is curious. Now to see if Yellow also shows interest. I just hope this don't interfere with him being a father to the rest of Ms. Whiteys clutch. This is just an experiment if it don't work out then I will move Yellow back to her own private cage.

I'm still waiting for Blanca's babies to fledge. She is already ready for the next round, nest all made and cozy. She was sitting in it this morning but did not lay any eggs. If she does I will replace them with a dummy until egg 4 is laid.

That's my update for now. Talk later before bed

[Jamm972]

Just a quick update Animalzoo
So i put the babies in their own flight cage together they were mad at first but things calmed down a bit. I moved Yellow in there place to see how things would go with Donald and Whitey for a poly relationship. Donald is making up for lost time with Whitey feeding her a lot. At the same time he is hopping around the cage exploring with yellow. They get a little aggressive with each other but it has toned down some for the night. I did witness Donald feeding yellow once. Guess that's a step in the right direction. I haven't seen Donald try to mount Whitey sense Yellow was added with the divider. Whiteys eggs are due to hatch in 3 to 4 more days.

Noname and stud are doing great. The nest is complete now its a waiting game for her to lay the first egg. I have witnessed them mount each other guess wont know if its a success until 14 days after the last egg is laid. There feeding each other a lot more so that's a good thing.

Blanca has completed her nest and is doing the mating ritual begging ect ect. Her other 2 babies are just about at the stage of standing at the edge of the nest. they haven't fledged yet, but sure it will happen in the next 2 days, because mom and dad are trying to teach them to fly lol. Then comes the time to watch and make sure they aren't trying to join Blanca in her new nest. I cant wait for them to fledge, because that side of the cage could sure use a good cleaning.

Tails is with Orangie only because i haven't decided where to put tails yet. Orangie is feeding tails but just like before Tails wont build a nest or show any signs of wanting to breed. Maybe a miracle will happen and Tails will just start late. If not next year i may Pair Tails up with an expert Daddy. And try the moms with Some unlighted daddies.

Toopay is now in his own cage along with Brownie. I still cant tell the sex of Brownie, in due time though. But I'm retiring these 2 for the year, and hope maybe it was just a conditioning human error. But i have a hunch Brownie is also female and just needs an experienced male to teach.

Hope all is ok with you. Talk to you later

[Animalzoo]

Hi Jamm972

Well, what a weekend! Work, puppy and birds. It's all go go go.

Lets do an update...

Sonny and Cher. These 2 have only laid 2 eggs! Interesting. She laid 4 last time with only one hatching, that baby is in the flight cage with the other babies now and he's started to sing so a boy it looks. The 2 eggs from Sonny and Cher will still have 10 more days to go so early days (if fertile).

Jack and Jill are sitting on 5 eggs (which I havent candled). I swapped her first 3 for dummies and when her 4th was laid I put the originals back in then she put a 5th one in the day after that. So worst case, if all 5 are fertile then 4 will hatch on the same day and the 5th the day after. She's due in about 6 or 7 days. Jack is chilling out a lot and enjoying has baths and taking care of Jill.

Rome and Juliet have 3 babies still with them via a divide. The 3 are all still being fed although I saw them eat the eggs. I'm not sure if they're eating the seeds because the bowl does empty out a little but it could be them sitting in it and kicking seeds out when they flap. The 3 are quite small in size and as they were plucked some of their feathers look a little disheveled. So I'm leaving them in for now. As for their new nest, they have made a grand job and as of yesterday we sitting on 2 eggs. I havent swaped these eggs out though. I know it sounds silly but their cage is at the very top and it's a pain to get to without the ladder so I haven't worried about disrupting the nest.

Scully and Lucky are on 4 eggs and these I swapped so all 4 should hatch on the same day. They are on the same day as Sonny and Cher so also due in about 6 or 7 days also. Lucky is fairly happy also chilling and looking after Scully.

So I moved the weaned babies from Jack and Jill into the flight cage. So in there now I have them, the baby from Sonny and Cher and Mulder. I watched him sing madly at them and then chase the odd one but theres not been anymore fighting and he seems quite calm. I'm quite surprised tbh as I thought an adult male would have a right go at the babies. Thank goodness all is ok though. He's going to be a good influence on them surely. The 4 siblings are beautiful Very pretty babies so their parents are a great mix. Like you this season is a learning curve to be able to make beautiful birds ready for shows.

We haven't decided to buy that tall standing setup yet and I agree the sections do appear fairly small but the cage is 1 meter in width making each pairs area 50cm (about 20 inches) wide each. The cages they're in now are about that big. Best thing is if I try that 2 hens/1 male setup I can use a whole row for all of them meaning if I need to separate one hen from the other then I can add a divide for feeding through bars etc. That way they'll have the entire 1 meter width. I could do this with 8 hens and only 4 males, same number of nests with less males. What did you call it, a poly relationship. Interesting.

So yeah I need more birds but rather than just buying anything I think I'll go for some glosters and then speak to breeders and find out what breeds we have to chose from and get some of each.

In the meantime I'm still eager for a crest, a red intense factor and a white one.

I laughed when I read your comment earlier about you needing males and me needing females. Its true!!

So for me for now thats where I'm at. You're getting on good so I'm pleased stud has finally sorted himself out and feeding noname. What colour is noname. Stud is lovely, its that sort of colour I'm after, he's red if I recall. Does that mean you'll have 3 pairs on the go then and the others in rest mode for the year?

[Jamm972]

Animalzoo Noname is also Red factor just like stud. So when i feed them it will be the red factor egg mix. I just hope its enough to give the babies the bright red color.

Yellow and Donald are still exploring each other. Apparently Whitey don't care because he only feeds her and don't mount her any more. Fresh meat if you know what i mean.....

Orangie and tails are in the same cage together. Funny thing when they were in the divider. Orangie was making the nest but was feeding Tails. I took out the divider today to see what happens. if anything Yet again I'm confused on male/female in the pair cage.

Ateast i know this for sure Donald, Zorro and Stud are males Whitey, Noname, and Blanca are female. only because they either successfully laid an egg or had a clutch with live babies. However Stud is still in the question list until i see a baby

Yes i retired Toopay and Brownie. I think brownie is a half breed of a Canary and a finch. When i purchased brownie the breeder said she tried something different this year, and i seen her have a finch in another cage off to the side. So I'm just now putting 2 and 2 together. I'm almost tempted to ask her about it. I read that usually when a canary mates with a Finch that there offspring are usually sterile. Not sure if this is accurate or true though.

Babies are in heir flight/community cage. They were fighting at first but not so much now, i was told that if 2 canaries are fighting its a sign they might be males and should separate them, but at the same time i was told a community cage is good because it teaches and allows them to learn from each other. I cant wait for them to go through there first molt because there feathers are kind of GA GA....

That's whats going on here for now. Will see what else is happening later tonight

[Jamm972]

Bahadir Hows the mom and dad doing with the Eggs ? everything going ok. Mom still sitting on them, no eggs on bottom of cage? dad feeding mom ?

Would like to hear your progress

[Animalzoo]

Jamm972 At least you're slowly getting there with the genders. I did laugh a little when you said Stud is still in the question hehe

Your red factor couple should make some very pretty babies then.

I gave in and candled the eggs.

Jill's 5 eggs has 3 fertile and growing. Seeing as I removed 3 and only put them back in when her 4th was laid I'd expect all to be dark now if they were fertile. Who knows if it was my intervention as her last 5 eggs were all fertile.

Scully's 4 eggs are all fertile. I had swapped hers so I know I didnt cause any damage there.

Juliets sitting on 3 eggs now, she's laying one per day so perhaps her 4th tomorrow.

Cher is still stopped at 2.

I doubt Jill and Scully's eggs will take 7 days to hatch, more like 5 I think. Based on the 4th egg being laid.

None of my babies has been fighting but who knows what sex they are. All I know is the red is a boy and the adult male isn't fighting with them...phew!

I've just counted up....do you have 11 birds?
And so now Donald has 2 girls with him yes? Lucky boy

Tomorrow is another day free from work for both me and my boyfriend so who knows, we may spend a day looking for canaries again. We've sold a few of our baby budgies to a pet shop, thank goodness so you never know we may come back with something. The breeder we got the original bids from is about 35-40 mins away by car so not too convenient to just nip in. To be honest we may just hang fire anyway as we havent got the spare cages yet to start them breeding even if we did come home with some.

Yeah I'm curious to know how Bahadir is doing. Did his birds get to 4 eggs or not? I can't remember.