When to check or remove eggs

[Animalzoo]

Jamm972

Sad news again today. he 3 babies from Jill have died. They were split into 2 different nests so it's nothing to do with their upbringing or the way the parents have been. Their abdomens were swollen and yellow so I assume Jill's illness had been passed down to them. All other babies are doing well. Scully's 4 babies are growing so fast and will need ringing tomorrow, and Juliet's will be due any time now.

So I have moved Sonny and Cher to a different location and provided a new nest for them to start all over.

The 4 other babies from Jill are looking more and more set to be kept now. Seeing as they are the only ones I'll have fom Jill plus 2 of them have red eyes!

Thats it for now.......

[Animalzoo]

Well I have no idea what is going on but 1 of Scully's babies has died today. It's really odd, the other 3 are doing fine. I ringed them yesterday morning and all were fine then so this has happened just recently. I can't see any obvious reason why it's died.

Juliets eggs haven't hatched yet. When I candled them only 2 are fertile so I've got to assume they may be the last 2 that she laid in which case they will be coming any time now. Her 1st egg was due on Saturday or Sunday.

I've been watching Sonny and Cher and I think they're mating. Although there is no nest building going on atm. I've not really witnessed mating with my canaries but I saw Sonny on a perch lunging at Cher and she was on the floor with her tail raised like she was encouraging him. I assume its mating and not fighting. Shortly after they were sat chilling out on the same perch so I guess they're ok.

All the other juveniles are doing fine in the flight cage. They are still in with Mulder and Jack. The oldest juvenile is learning to sing so being in there with 2 adult males who sing a lot will be really important. No other youngsters are at this stage yet.

Thats another update my end. Speak soon.

[Animalzoo]

Jamm972

Everyone's doing ok. Still 3 healthy babies with Scully and Lucky. I got a good photo today...



Romeo and Juliet have had 1 egg hatch. I'm expecting another one egg so maybe tomorrow. I hope so soon though otherwise the size difference might be an issue.

Sonny and Cher have built a brilliant nest. I think they are mating a lot. I tried to capture it on my phone on video earlier but whenever I got close they stopped. Maybe there will be eggs in a few days.

The young ones and the 2 adults are now in a much much larger flight cage. The 4 babies from Jack and Jill are now getting their brighter orange feather shining through. They're looking so pretty I am tempted to think we're going to end up keeping them all!!

[Animalzoo]

Bahadir

How is your couple? Have you put the nest back in yet?

[Bahadir]

Hi Animalzoo

Sorry for late answer. In these days, i have exams and i spend my days at library, so i cant be online and cant follow the forum. After i removed nest, i could not have chance to observe them. But yesterday night i have came to home and i have seen she builded new nest and laying. I dont know they have mated or not. But they are looking healhty and strong. Now she is tearing paper from cage's floor and he is eating apple. Also my new birds zebra finchs have builded nest and they are sleeping there together. But they are so noisy birds

How are your birds, friends? Also yours Jamm972

[Animalzoo]

Bahadir

Thats good news. Have you provided any nesting material to help her build her nest? Are there any eggs yet?

Mine are fine. No more have died thank goodness. The 3 babies are doing well, they keep growing.

The other couple, Romeo and Juliet have still just had the 1 baby hatch, no more yet although I'm sure they had 2 fertile eggs.

Sonny and Cher will start laying soon. The nest is built and I have been observing mating behavior. So any time now.....

I've been watching today one of the babies from the first round has started to sing. So I now have 2 boys that I can identify from the batch.

@Jamm972 has been away so hopefully we'll get an update soon.

[Jamm972]

Hello Animalzoo Bahadir I'm back home safe and sound. That was a long drive. When I got home this morning. Blanca's 4 eggs hatched. So pulling the eggs and putting them back on day 4 worked great. I was a day off on when I was expecting them to hatch. Guess that means that Noname and Studs will hatch tomorrow cause I did the same thing with their eggs.

So Tails and Orangie aren't wasting anytime. I come home and Tails Laid 5 eggs. Actually I think she just laid the 5th because she was panting frantically. For a wile there I thought she was Egg bound cause of the heavy breathing. Be interesting to see the outcome of these eggs. So I'm going to count 14 days from today.

Whitey and Trump are going a third time. She already started building the next nest. My partner stated they have been mating for the past 3 days.

So here in Arizona the breeding season starts early but also ends late because of the nice weather here. 3 successful clutches is my limit then I separate to allow a stress free molt.

Toopay is in his own cage. I am going to make him a vet appointment to have him checked out. He is about 5 years old. But has never been paired up with another canary so should have a lot of energy. I'm beginning to wonder if it might be something else.

Also I have been observing a lot of itching going on. I don't see anything crawling around and when I blow on the feathers I also don't see anything. I was thinking mites but might just be in my head.

My other half had the birds moved to their new location and they seem to have adjusted just fine. And are just as happy in the new window. I'm afraid that if all these clutches are successful I'm going to be over whelmed with canaries and not know what to do with them. Its been a week sense I was at the local pet shop and they have the same 2 canaries plus 2 new ones in the cage so not sure if they are selling at this current time. I haven't posted any adds yet because the current Babies we are keeping.

I moved Sun and Moon into the flight cage with the other Juveniles. There is a lot of fighting going on so I fear I will have to start to separate them very soon.

Ive only been back for about 12 hours. that is my quick update for now. I will say more tomorrow when I have a chance to spend some time with them.

How are things at your end?

[Bahadir]

Jamm972 Animalzoo

Hello;

Welcome back Jamm, it is good to see you again and listen news from there. Âlready, how many jouvenils do you have this season? And did you experience that flight cage improves health and fertilization?And what is wrong Toopay?

Animalzoo, sorry for reply late to your messages. But exams are really gives me trouble times so i cant reply sometimes. Yes i gave them nest material burlap sack. Also she have built a new nest better than old one. I cant take my eyes away from it. Like the
Renaissance architecture:D Today canaries gave first egg.

And about finches; They have first egg too!

Take care yourselves and birds, have a good sunday!

[Sheather]

I'm suddenly understanding what it means to be overrun with canaries. I expected my hand-fed juveniles to be able to stay together for at least a few months, but they got territorial fast and I had to move them to individual flight cages just a week after weaning. I sold one, but that still leaves four, plus mom and dad who don't get along, and four 12 day old chicks in mom's nest again. I'm going to have to order more cheap flight cages. My spare room/houseplant room has become the canary room, with all of these big enclosures lined up along the walls.

All the handfed babies will eat from my hands now and occasionally touch down and sit on my head or shoulder for a while, but three of the four don't step up anymore. One does, though, and he even comes when called. Max stayed especially friendly and is a very social and friendly little bird who has the privilege of free-flight most of the day, much of which he spends on my shoulder preening my hair or hopping around my computer, chasing my fingers.

Attached some pictures of the four new babies and of Max, who is seven weeks old now.

[Jamm972]

Sheather Very pretty bird I wish I could hand tame mine but I'm still new at this. 1 thing at a time. I'm up to 9 Juveniles and 5 on their way, with 6 eggs still needed to be assessed.

I'm not overwhelmed yet, but at the same time I'm naming each bird that comes along after it gets fully feathered. I have Donald jr. Black Eye, Mello Yellow, Sun, and Moon. I have 4 more but they are not names yet.

I am putting them all in the same flight cage. They get mostly aggressive during feeding time, but that's only because they are fighting on who gets to eat first. Other than that I don't really observe any aggressive behavior just the normal leave me alone stuff from time to time. Some of the young juveniles are already trying to pair up. I have observed them feeding each other. This is excellent because that means they are taking after their parents.

My year 2 of breeding is going to be an even bigger challenge. this is because I have to try and determine the sex and I plan on pairing up flighted with unflighted.

I think next year I will be more willing and able to part with the babies. But for right now I want to keep them for a learning experience. How many clutches did you allow each pair to do? I'm stopping at 3 regardless if they want to continue. I want them to be able to have a god molt and start all over again on time next year.

[Jamm972]

Animalzoo Guess its time for an update.

Noname and Stud have 1 successful baby. so 3 out of the 4 eggs were infertile, and or I did something wrong when I pulled them out of the nest and put them back in on egg number 4. I'm going to give the eggs about 3 more days just to be safe. After that I will remove them so Noname and Stud can focus on the 1 baby and get ready for clutch #2.

Donald and Whitey were stubborn. They have built another nest and are getting ready for a 3rd clutch. This will be their last 1 for the season because I want them to have a good molt and be healthy and ready for next year. I already have Donald's Cage set up for him to go solo. I just hope he wont be mad at me for separating him from his mate.

Blanca and Zorro are on their 2nd clutch all 4 eggs hatched, she did the same thing this round, threw them out of the cage each day sometimes twice in 1 day. I pick them back up and put them back in. Today she allowed all 4 to stay in the nest . I think Zorro started to molt from the transfer. He is no longer singing. I haven't seen any feathers yet but he is showing clear signs of stress. So I think I'm going to make this their last clutch for the season as well. If Zorro does start showing normal signs of behavior I might consider a 3rd.

Tails and Orangie had 6 eggs. WOOT! yes I said 6 eggs. Tails is making up for lost time. I'm not going to candle the eggs but I'm going to wait the 14 days from the time I came home and hope all is ok. Plus she is being stubborn and wont budge from the nest. She is acting like Blanca.

Toopay is in a full molt. He is losing a lot of his feathers. This is the first time I have ever seen him lose any of his bog feathers so I'm a little concerned. Plus the itching continues. I think I might have to make a vet appointment to have him checked out. That's my update for now. Hope all is well with you.

[Sheather]

I only have one breeding pair. This is their second clutch and the first the mother raised. But since the father isn't helping, and I have no more room, this will be the last I let her have this season.

[Animalzoo]

Jamm972 Welcome back! Sounds like it's all go go go in the new canary room.

My lot are plodding along slowly but I'm not sure if you read, while you ere away all of Jill's babies also died. I had fostered them to 2 different hens to raise so it wasn't to do with bad parenting or infected nests. The mum must of had an illness, died and then passed it to her babies in-vitro. So I have her 4 babies from round one still and so far one of them has started to sing so its a possible 1 male/3 female brood.

Scully lost 1 baby also, just a random death though as her other 3 babies are ready to fledge and doing good. Today I provided a 2nd nest to coax her and lucky into their 2nd round.

Romeo and Juliet only had 1 baby hatch from 5 eggs. I thought 2 were fertile but it never hatched. So they are similar to your Noname and Stud. This is their 2nd round and their first 3 babies are good and in the flight cage with the other juveniles.

Sonny and Cher are actively laying eggs. So far she has dropped 2 and I am swapping them for duds until she's done laying.

So my total is 7 adults, 1 adult male on loan from a friend, 8 juveniles in the flight cage and 4 babies in nests. As you described earlier the juveniles are bickering over food and having the odd moan to one and other but there is no all out fighting where I need to remove any to single cages. I think I'm lucky by the sounds of it as I also have 2 adult males in the same flight cage and they are no bother. I'm liking this setup though as the juvies can learn the song from the males.

As for selling or keeping I'm not naming any or making plans. I'm going to wait for the season to be over, allow the young to molt so I can get a clearer picture of their colours and feather patterns, try to sex them, then keep a few hens and maybe an odd pretty male.

Me and my boyfriend will buy more from breeders later in the year when we meet more people through events or shows. But other than that the remainder birds we will try to sell privately or to the pet stores.

Then onto next year with a lot more experience under our belts.

I'm going to nip into the bird room now in fact so I'll take some up to date photos.

@Sheather Max is Lovely! I'm quite envious

[Animalzoo]

Here is the flight cage...



Here is Jack (Red Mosaic with red eyes) and Mulder (Grey) in the middle.



This is a red eye mosaic along with the 3 juvies from Romeo and Juliet.



The far red juvie is the very 1st baby we had.



Jack with his red eyed baby.




These are the 3 babies from Scully and Lucky.



Here is Scully sitting on her new nest which I'm hoping she will start to build any time now.



Romeo and Juliet's single little baby.

[Jamm972]

Animalzoo Looking good I'm struggling with wanting to keep and or sell the juveniles. In my eyes I fear I may give away the best of the bunch. I do however know I am wanting to keep the crested babies in hopes they take on there mom and dad's traits. If I did have to part with any babies I would prolly sell Blanca's and Zorro's babies. this is Due to the fact that they are less experienced and Sloppy at breeding. Blanca is still lacking the ability to build a good nest and not allow the babies to fall out or she is throwing them out of the nest. She did this when there was only 2 in the nest and now she is doing it every day with 4 babies. 1 of the babies has dark skin. at first I thought it was suffocating and or dying from getting cold, But he is the biggest of all 4 of them. I mean he is huge, almost double the size, I'm beginning to think I have an odd ball breed here because he is not taking on any canary traits so far.

Noname and Stud are happy with their 1 baby, I'm hoping they will go for another clutch this season to get in more practice. She is being very protective of the nest and I have not been able to take out the infertile eggs yet. Tomorrow I will force her off the nest to remove them. I just hope this wont make her lose interest in the 1 baby.

Whitey is at it again round 3 here I come. its actually getting exhausting to keep up with them. But it may be because my routine was interrupted by the road trip for a week. It wasn't fun nor pleasant to take.

Tails has a total of 6 eggs I believe, I think she is making up for lost time. I haven't shoo her off the nest yet to confirm their is 6 but will let nature take its course, 14 days from last Friday I will expect at least 1 egg to have hatched. fingers crossed. Because I was going to re sell her this year because the success rate on the pairing with her wasn't to good. But holy cow 6 eggs can you believe it. If they are all fertile wow.......I will definitely keep her for next year and maybe pair her up with Donald just because.

So new questions are coming up in my head. How do I know when the juveniles are starting to molt. I haven't herd any start to sing only chirp a lot. I know Toopay is molting, but I think he is also sick. Just something don't feel right with him this past few months. He is in his own cage, atleast until he finishes his molt then I will put him in with the juveniles for some free flight and get some exercise.

I was going to get a flight cage like you have, but figured the one I have is good for right now plus I have a smaller back up just in case. However I seen a really big and long one that id like to purchase it was for 139.00 and is about the length of all my breeding cages together but laying on the side and stands as tall as me but little shorter maybe 4 ft tall. Will check into this more next month depending on how many babies I decide to keep.

Back to Blanca and Zorro....... I bought them from a local breeder here in AZ, he seemed nice and knowledgeable but as I have been raising the birds and observing them I noticed that blanca and Zorro are kind of Dirty and messy. They don't keep up as good as the other pairs. They seem to be good parents but just aren't good with housecleaning, and when they do bathe whew I almost need a mask cause the water just stinks. I do change the water daily so I know its not that. its just they do their business in the water, throw food in the water ect ect. I am hoping that their babies will learn a thing or 2 from the other babies and improve. If not then I will prolly use their babies from here on out as a hanger.... meaning I use them to reimburse me for my costs to raise the other parents and babies, selling them to the pet store for store credit to get more food and supplies.

This being my first year still have a lot to learn. Like when to pull the babies and separate them, when to watch for a molt. When to condition them, when to pair them for next year. Plan ahead ect ect. not to mention when to sell if I go that far.

that's a lot to type up and read for now so will take a break and do a little cleaning.

until next time.