FINCHforum

My prized Timbrado singer will be eight years old this spring. Being the only male canary that I chose to keep, is he too old to breed one more time? I retired him from breeding two years ago, but now I realize that when he's gone, I won't have the beautiful, reliable singing canary I've gotten so used to in my house every day. Would love to pair him with one of his grand nieces to continue the line of this fantastic singing boy. All of his offspring have been great singers. He still acts like he has interest in the hens. Is he too old to breed at eight? Bob

Personally, it depends on each individual birds. Let's see if the eggs are still fertilised or not. My friend has a 7 years old male, and his eyes are blur. My friend tried to mate him with a female, but no egg is fertilised, since his eyes can not see clearly. One another friend has a 9 years old male who show no interest on female anymore. So 8 years old is not an idealistic age to breed, however, if he still wants to mate, why not try? Give him a chance Let me know the result if you let him breed

I would think if he shows interest in the hen and can perform his "duties", there should be no problem. Like the other person said, you will either receive fertilized eggs if his bullets are good or no babies if he is shooting blanks. If the mating produces chicks keep an eye on him to make sure the caring and feeding process of the chicks is not too strenuous. Good luck and I am curious to know the outcome.

Hello bob personally 6 is the limit of breeding for males. There are some that will go a bit further but in large amount of cases they end up infertile. Most breeders will stop a male at 3-4 due to the number of eggs being fertilized becomes lower. High seeds or additives that vitamin A I belive can help with him getting some better swimmers. Personally if I were to try I would breed them and then split and allow the female to raise the whole clutch, extra pressure of feeding the hen may cause him to crash or get her off the nest so he can go again.

I find this incredibly funny because my 11 yr old male canary, Kevin, regularly courts my finches each Spring or at "that time of year" and will also be amorous to the tops of their cages (as he can't actually get at them). It may make them infertile (age) but it certainly doesn't stop them trying!!!

Thank you all for the replies. I am going to give it a shot, fully knowing that things may not pan out successfully. He is acting just like he has in all previous breeding seasons, pretty much in a frenzy right now to get at the hens. He's literally singing his head off non-stop throughout the daylight hours. I've heard stories of canaries (both male and female) breeding up to age 10, but don't know how much credibility to put in them. I do know two credible people that have had canaries live to age 20. I'll be sure to let everyone know how I make out. Bob

Mine is 11 (at least!) and still going strong. He (Kevin) shows no signs of slowing down! Good luck with your male.

Bob all the best and I hope that he can get one male to keep his line going for you. Canaries will breed even at an older age mostly males but the chances of producing offspring will deteriorate over time. To help you get your young try and get a hen that's 2-3 years of age and have bred before as some 1st years are clumsy breeders.