Eggs

[Rosa]

My canary pair have laid four eggs this spring (so far). I've been giving them a steady supply of greens, egg food and cuttlebone. Is there anything else I should be doing?

[finchmix22]

Rosa
That sounds like your doing fine. Offer them as much as they want to eat through out the day and once the babies fledge, they'll eat even more!

[Rosa]

I can only imagine

[sskmaestro]

Any luck? did the eggs hatch?

[Jamm972]

Rosa So how are the eggs they should be hatching right about now ( 14 to 16 days). Please keep us updated and feel free to ask any questions we are here to help

[Rosa]

The last egg was laid on the 9th, so I'm expecting them to hatch any day now. We'll see.

The male has been pulling nesting out of the tiny gaps at the bottom of the nest, so the eggs aren't sitting on much at this point. That shouldn't effect much, should it? The hen has been sitting 24/7.

[Jamm972]

Rosa if the male is pulling out the nesting material it can mean a few things off the top of my head.
1. he is trying to make room for the babies when they hatch. As the hen site on the eggs it cant have a lot of draft. So the nest is nice and tight. and comfy for the hen to sit. The eggs should be ok and the hen will let the male know if he is doing to much.

2. the male is always trying to impress the hen to keep her interested so he is trying to make improvements even if they are sloppy ones.

3. The male is trying to gather nesting material for a 2nd clutch after the 1st one has hatched. however the hen is not ready to start until the babies, not the eggs are at least 14 days old then you add a new nest and fresh nesting material.

4. The male is letting the hen know he is there and doing his deed and is looking for brownie points for next round. if that makes any sense. The longer the male and hen are together in the cage as they are breeding and raising the young the stronger the bond becomes and makes the clutches more successful.

Some breeders remove the male to stop this bond from forming because they pair up the male with several hens. This practice males babies faster but does however lower the success rate but in the process increases the amount if that makes any sense.

Keeping the male with the hen as they raise their young also has an advantage because both male and female pass on their knowledge to their young and this gives the babies a chance to learn even more as they learn things on their own and they then pass this on to their young. For example, Singing canaries can pass on their song. If the canaries are breeding canaries they will pass on their breeding knowledge and be good breeders. This also applies to building your own blood line. after a few years of pairing your own babies with an adult can create a specific trait or gene passed on to your personal blood line. (Color, song, features such as crested).

I would not worry, even if both your adult canaries are inexperienced they will learn what is right and wrong. First clutches usually are the hardest and any clutch there after is more tidy , clean and accurate. Only signs you should be looking for is Excessive violence that leads to blood on perches or a larger than normal amount of feathers being lost. usually when a canary molts they don't show signs of baldness but do lose a lot of feathers. So take Molting into consideration as well.

Males usually are caged alone when they are not breeding. However some breeders can house several canaries together regardless of sex but males will get territorial. make sure the cage has enough room. if not might want to consider housing the male in his own cage until next breeding season.

Hope this was helpful .

[Rosa]

Checked the eggs for fertility, turns out they were all infertile.
Better luck next time, I guess.

[lovezebs]

Rosa

Too bad, but as you said yourself, better luck next time.

If your pair are young, they might have just been doing a trial run.

[Rosa]

Yep, first time for both of them.

[Stuart whiting]

Rosa if the male is pulling out the nesting material it can mean a few things off the top of my head.
1. he is trying to make room for the babies when they hatch. As the hen site on the eggs it cant have a lot of draft. So the nest is nice and tight. and comfy for the hen to sit. The eggs should be ok and the hen will let the male know if he is doing to much.

2. the male is always trying to impress the hen to keep her interested so he is trying to make improvements even if they are sloppy ones.

3. The male is trying to gather nesting material for a 2nd clutch after the 1st one has hatched. however the hen is not ready to start until the babies, not the eggs are at least 14 days old then you add a new nest and fresh nesting material.

4. The male is letting the hen know he is there and doing his deed and is looking for brownie points for next round. if that makes any sense. The longer the male and hen are together in the cage as they are breeding and raising the young the stronger the bond becomes and makes the clutches more successful.

Some breeders remove the male to stop this bond from forming because they pair up the male with several hens. This practice males babies faster but does however lower the success rate but in the process increases the amount if that makes any sense.

Keeping the male with the hen as they raise their young also has an advantage because both male and female pass on their knowledge to their young and this gives the babies a chance to learn even more as they learn things on their own and they then pass this on to their young. For example, Singing canaries can pass on their song. If the canaries are breeding canaries they will pass on their breeding knowledge and be good breeders. This also applies to building your own blood line. after a few years of pairing your own babies with an adult can create a specific trait or gene passed on to your personal blood line. (Color, song, features such as crested).

I would not worry, even if both your adult canaries are inexperienced they will learn what is right and wrong. First clutches usually are the hardest and any clutch there after is more tidy , clean and accurate. Only signs you should be looking for is Excessive violence that leads to blood on perches or a larger than normal amount of feathers being lost. usually when a canary molts they don't show signs of baldness but do lose a lot of feathers. So take Molting into consideration as well.

Males usually are caged alone when they are not breeding. However some breeders can house several canaries together regardless of sex but males will get territorial. make sure the cage has enough room. if not might want to consider housing the male in his own cage until next breeding season.

Hope this was helpful .

Spot on, very well said

[Stuart whiting]

My canary pair have laid four eggs this spring (so far). I've been giving them a steady supply of greens, egg food and cuttlebone. Is there anything else I should be doing?

[ http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/a513/NyxandSpatter/image_zpshearveof.jpeg ]

Hi fella,

Unlucky with yer first nest of eggs

If yer birds decide to go down ( nest again ) everything you initially fed to the birds is ok,

However you could also give em some soak seed aswell as the parents will feed this to the young from about the 3rd day of hatching, egg food will be the first food to be fed as soon as the young are fed for the first time