FINCHforum

Hi guys, please i would like to get some advice.
some info : i live in lebanon and decided to buy a canary. i went to 3 different pet shops and ended up buying a male and female both a year old. all pet shops told me that it is now the breeding season which i found strange since it was November and we only have about 10 hours of daylight and it is cold. Anyway it has been three weeks and as of today my hen has laid 4 eggs

Today i bought a larger cage for them and was wondering if it is ok to move them to it. i am worried they might get distracted and the hem will stop incubating. can anyone advise me on that.

also i noticed that when i put the water for them to bathe (the type that hangs on the door) the hen will stand on the side and only dip her head and starts shaking, she rarely gets any water on her body. should i mist her or is that normal?

Thanks in advance

Hello, canaries do have a strict breeding season and will usually breed to this. If your birds have been imported from another country so this maybe the reason why they have wanted to. Removing the nest may stop her brooding I would personally leave them be for now, 1- eggs may be infertile so won't hatch and then they can be removed or 2- wait till young have fledged to rehome the family.

As for bathing well some really soak themselves and some don't but I believe tha. She may have enough moisture on her belly for incubation. Tips if the weather is cold and babies hatch a heat lamp near the nest may just give enough heat to help keep them warm.

Welcome on board! I agreed with dan78. Since your canaries are having some eggs in current cage and you should leave them alone now. They might abandon the nest if you up them to the lager cage.
For bath, some doesn't like soak in especially it's winter time, they just need some moist by put the beak into water. My finches always soak in during summer time and now winter time get colder they just dip some water and clean their feathers that's it! Hope this helps

David

With bathing, canaries and finches are pretty much individuals on how much they like water and will bathe in it! My canary jumps straight into his and bathes in a deep dish. My Zebbie is strange and drinks from his bath, and bathes in his small drinking water dish (go figure!). My star finch doesn't appear to like bathing (as he won't use ANY dish I've tried!), so I have to mist or spray him down. It seems to work.

Good luckl.

Zebrafincher
Proud owner of:
“Kevin the King”, groutchy canary – 12 years
Beaky the Zebbie – 6 months
Merlin “Merl” the Starfinch – 2 years

Hello and welcome to the forum! The eggs are not likely to be fertile with 10 hours of daylight - unless the birds had been kept on a longer daylight schedule using artificial light. You could always candle the eggs just to be sure. If the eggs aren't fertile, go ahead and move them to a bigger cage and they will nest again when the conditions are right. One year is very young, and you'll have plenty of time to try your hand at breeding them. Besides, canaries should be conditioned for months prior to attempting to breed.
As far as bathing, canaries will bathe in any water source you provide for them. If you give them a bigger dish, I'm sure they will eventually use it. Good luck and keep us posted. P.S. Say hi to my cousins in Lebanon. Bob

hi everyone, thank you for your advice. so im going to wait before i move them. they now have 5 eggs and i think that will be it since todays egg is darker in colour. they might have been subject to extended light in the petshop thats why they are breeding. but all pet shops told me it is their season now (maybe they were trying to get me to buy)

I dont think the canaries are imported, i think they are locally bred, im not even sure what type they are (quite ]sure the pet shop has no idea as well hehe. they have strange names for them here,i kept finding a breed they call cobra, very sleek birds). anyway i will put a pic maybe someone can recognise what type mine are, my male song is close to the american singer.

thank you dan78, bob, zebrafincher and david.
hen


Male
https://dub109.mail.live.com/att/GetAtt ... 0&size=Att



https://dub109.mail.live.com/att/GetAtt ... 0&size=Att

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-wfqY ... -00676.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-gGWr ... o/sfer.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Guux ... no/Hen.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Ztnj ... -00699.jpg

Very nice - thanks for sharing. The yellow, paired with the red factor, should give you a nice mixture of colorful babies. Bob

hey guys here is an update.

all eggs hatched and the chicks are now 1 month old and healthy, mom is sitting on 4 more eggs and i'm still expecting more. (going to have to find homes for most them or maybe sell some to the pet shop)

Good looking birds!
congratulations

So many beautiful babies. Wow. You are now a Papa. Conhratulations!

Brings back memories. Good job and beautiful birds! Bob

Beautiful birds! I have 2 female and 1male timbrado finch. My green female is setting on 5 eggs and the male is with her. My blue female is in a cage close by and built a nest. Should I move the male in with her? They sing to each other but the male is also feeding his bride while shes on the nest! what to do? Blue female laid an egg today but of course its not fertile. Can I put the male in with the blue female? If so when? Then do I put him back with the green remake's at some point? Thanks for all the advice!

Jen

hi Jen,

I am not an expert, this is my first time raising canaries.
i think you can put the male with the blue hen so he will mate with her and fertilise the eggs. the green hen should be ok on her own.

if it were me, i would try placing both hens with the male in a single cage, if it is large enough, that way he can feed both. in any case a hen can manage by herself.

If your hen is alone and all five eggs hatch, she might need your help in feeding the chicks. mine did as she wouldnt allow the male to feed them, and would attack him.

hope that helps