Killer Mother Canary

[steve]

Hi All

I have a female Canary that kills her offspring, the first time as soon as the babies fledged she started nesting immediately and plucked all the feather off the young. I removed them from the cage but it was too early and they died. Her second eggs only yielded one baby, same story except this time she actually killed it yesterday even though I had removed the nest. I am very hesitant to let her nest again. Any thoughts?

Regards
Steve

[lovezebs]

steve
Hi Steve.
Not sure what makes some of them do that.
I had a Lovebird mom do the exact thing many years ago. I ended up having to handfeed her babies because she wouldn't allow her mate to feed them either. I put it down to just beibg psycho.

Do you have any fosters that you could place her eggs under?

~Elana~

[steve]

lovezebs

It's crazy, she plucked just about every feather off the poor little birds body. I am going through a rough patch at the moment with my Canaries, I lost most of my babies last week and yesterday besides the Mother killing the little one another of my females died suddenly leaving the male to raise 3 chicks. We have had some funny weather with a lot of rain, wind and chill even though it is summer, perhaps this is the problem. The thing is, my canaries are under cover but my finches are all exposed, all the finches seem fine. I hate losses it makes me feel like I am doing something wrong.

Regards
Steve

[MariusStegmann]

Either get rid of her or don't let her breed. That would be my advice, Steve. She is a wrong one.

[steve]

Marius

How's CPT, I am in Gauteng, I reckon I will sell her with my first batch of young ones, perhaps she does not like my set-up.

Regards
Steve

[lovezebs]

steve
Sorry about your losses.
I've lost some myself of late and it's hard. A whole clutch of Society infants that I was trying to hand feed ( parents tossed), a couple of baby zebras (Society tossed), a baby Gouldian (tossed, tried to hand feed but no go), and a lovely Gouldian juvenile male, to my cat.

Regarding the canary hen, I would give her a rest and another try. Make sure you have some fosters on hand though, just in case. I know my long time ago Lovebird hen could not be bred because of exactly the same problem.

Goodluck.

~Elana~

[TailFeathers]

I read somewhere that aggressive birds should not be bred in this case . If you keep her in sight of other birds they can pick up her behavior. Just don't breed her and isolate her if you can't get a vet to put her to sleep.

That'd be hard for me to decide.

[MiaCarter]

Aw, I'm sorry to hear about this.

How old is mama?
Sometimes, underdeveloped instincts can lead to this sort of problem. So waiting a season and trying again can do the trick.
But even then, I would be ready to intervene and handfeed. Or, if you have fosters, I'd ensure they were ready to go.

And like some humans, some birds just aren't cut out to be parents. So that could also be the case.

The baby plucking most often occurs with slightly older babies who are near fledging/weaning. The plucking is often driven by the bird's instinct to procure nesting material for the next clutch. Could this have been the case?

[Atbird]

I agree with MiaCarter, make sure she has plenty of nesting material. I use facial tissues cut into thin strips and clipped to the side of the cage...the light fluffy material simulates feathers, my canaries prefer this to all other materials.

As for separating the young, my father has had this problem and the male usually takes over the feeding. I've also read putting a metal divider between the female and the chicks so they can still get fed but not plucked...theoretically it sounds like an idea that might work.

Sorry for this happening to you. What breed is your canary? My dads russian canaries are horrible with the plucking, but the bronze canaries are good.

[Rox]

I would remove her and not breed with her again. She has already done it twice, so the chance of her doing it again is high.

Not a nice decision to make but you need to do what is best for you and your flock.

Good luck!

[steve]

Rox, Atbird, Elana, Tailfeathers, Mia

She is a Fife, this is her first season and actually she was the first to produce for me. I was so proud the day those eggs hatched, I spoke about it all day. I don't particularly want to put her down and come to think of it I should not sell her or pass her on as I will just be transferring the problem.

I think she needs to mature more and I will give her one more chance next season but trust me I will watch her very closely.

On a positive note all my Lizard Canary babies have fledged, 3 of them have stunning yellow caps, I will start posting pics of all birds soon so that you guys can see.

Regards
Steve

[TailFeathers]

Rox, Atbird, Elana, Tailfeathers, Mia

She is a Fife, this is her first season and actually she was the first to produce for me. I was so proud the day those eggs hatched, I spoke about it all day. I don't particularly want to put her down and come to think of it I should not sell her or pass her on as I will just be transferring the problem.

I think she needs to mature more and I will give her one more chance next season but trust me I will watch her very closely.

Hey Steve,

I'm sorry to say this but you're wrong. I know that peopl have emotional attachment to their pets. The problem is you have a moral obligation as a breeder to do what is right and sometimes emotions get in the way. It's good that you won't sell her or pass her off. But being she is a fife, which are one of them most are tame and friendly.

I thought of isolation previously, but that would drive her nuts. These are animals not human. They aren't capable of just understanding and maturing like you think.

[Hilary]

She's killed the chicks upon fledging in both cases? I'd either stop breeding her or separate the chicks upon fledging and hand feed to finish them off. Best of luck!

[finchmix22]

TailFeathers
I disagree. There are some hens and cocks who are "killers" regarding their babies, but often times this behavior is related to environment, feeling the nesting site is not safe, not enough food, wanting to start another clutch, etc. If this a young hen, she may need to mature and be given a different mate too. I wouldn't give up on her after two clutches, but I'd definitely wait until next breeding season to see if maturity is the problem. Then, if she tried again (I'd intervene asap, of course) I'd not let her breed again.

[TailFeathers]

TailFeathers
I disagree. There are some hens and cocks who are "killers" regarding their babies, but often times this behavior is related to environment, feeling the nesting site is not safe, not enough food, wanting to start another clutch, etc. If this a young hen, she may need to mature and be given a different mate too. I wouldn't give up on her after two clutches, but I'd definitely wait until next breeding season to see if maturity is the problem. Then, if she tried again (I'd intervene asap, of course) I'd not let her breed again.

Hello,

Whatever the environment is. Hopefully she's not Ina round cage and he's letting her fly free. Maybe giving her one more chance is a good idea. But if she KILLED two clutches already I'd look at her like a murderer. Honestly, I'm Afraid that her bad behavior will be passed on through the genes.

Some people breed really mellow birds with other really mellow ones and get tame birds. She is a risk I would not take myself, since fife canaries were bred to be pretty tame and nice.

I'd hate to be in his shoes, that is for sure.