Had to Remove Aggressive Father Canary!

[Maddie]

Hello!

I have a white canary hen that is very dear to me, and last year I bought a red factor male for her, hoping that he could be her mate. Unfortunately, they didn't get along, so I instead put him out in my aviary. Recently, however, when I was away from home and my mother was watching over the birds, she decided that they were "lonely" and he ended up back in with my hen. When I came back, I saw that they were fighting and put him right back out in the aviary, but at that point my hen had made a nest in her food dish cup. She was so pleased with her nest and sitting so tightly that I didn't want to disturb her, so I left the eggs in there for her. The thing is, two chicks just hatched yesterday. Will they be okay with a single mother? I am giving her egg and fruits and veggies, but I am worried that she will not be able to take care of them on her own. Will I need to supplement feed them?

Thanks,
Maddie

[lovezebs]

Maddie

Your Canary Mama, will do fine with her two babies, no worries.

Very often the male is removed from the family cage, once he's done his husbandly duties. Some males appear to be more family oriented than others.

I guess they were doing more than fighting, lol.

Enjoy your babies.

[Maddie]

Thank you! That makes me feel a lot better

[Jamm972]

Maddie aggressive behavior is normal during breeding season. As long as you don't see any blood or an abundance of flight feathers being pulled they are fine. Probably what happened was they weren't both in condition at the same time and the male forced himself upon the hen. If the male successfully insemination the female regardless of being ready she will want to build a nest and hatch eggs. A hen can hold a males sperm for up to 30 days if she chooses.
Most females can raise a clutch on their own but it does cause for alot more stress and work on the hen. Next year I would suggest slowly introduce the male and female together by using a breeder cage or putting the 2 cages next to each other. A breeder cage is best because the male and female can reach each other and you can observe feeding through the bars. To be continued......

[Jamm972]

When you see feeding through the bars then the hen has accepting and trusts the male. And the female will start to build a nest. The male also will start to sing harder, and louder to impress the hen. Kissing and nest building means you can remove the divider on the breeder cage and or put the male in with the female. And let them do their thing. Just make sure you give them a good source of calcium, and feed them a good diet. Also provide plenty of nesting material.

Once a hen has chosen a spot for a nest she won't choose another one until her 2nd attempt and or you provide her a better choice that she would orefer. But usually if they choose the food dish it's hard to break them away from it and you'll have to find another temporary food dish.

[Jamm972]

Some breeders remove the males after the eggs have been laid. But I personally prefer keeping the male with the female if the male is feeding the hen wile she sits and begs for food. The babies that hatched should be ok as long as the hen is feeding them . Canaries make good parents as solo and or as a pair.

Other canaries however might require a foster parent.

Penny for your thoughts..... when you leave both parents in with the babies the babies learn more from the male then they would from the female alone. Such as singing, flying sooner, and even some male parenting role male to male. Best of luck to your babies. Please keep us posted on the outcome.

[Maddie]

Thank you for the advice! I will definitely keep all of that in mind. The two chicks just fledged about a week ago and are looking good