Sexing canaries

Post Reply
User avatar
Bobbyboy
...............................
...............................
Posts: 17
Joined: 03 Nov 2019, 08:53
Location: Ningi QLD

I have 4 canaries, supposedly 2 pair.
The hens from each pair nested this season and produced 5 unfertilized eggs each.
The supposed males are not singing at all, and have never burst into song. I have separated them so they can hear but not see the hens to no avail.
How do I bring them into breeding condition and get them to sing? Or maybe they are hens too?????
User avatar
Bjjturk
...............................
...............................
Posts: 63
Joined: 05 Nov 2019, 12:35
Location: Brighton-Le-Sands

I’ve got a friend that breeds canary and sounds to me u have 4 hens .
User avatar
Rod_L
...............................
...............................
Posts: 495
Joined: 05 Mar 2018, 15:30
Location: Mandurah WA

To sex canaries, hold the bird upside down and gently blow the feathers between their legs. The male's cloaca is about 3-5mm long and the females is about 2-3mm. The cloaca is simply a small bump where they poop, pee and pass eggs or sperm.

Make sure the birds get fresh green food every day, as well as clean water and a good seed mix. They should have mineral grit, cuttlebone and you can make up egg biscuit mix for them.

Canaries love thistles that are considered weeds in the garden. But if you have thistles and don't use herbicides or pesticides, then other them to the birds along with fruits, veges and green grass seeds.

My egg biscuit mix.
Hard boil a chicken egg.
While the egg is boiling, get 1/2 to 1 cup of cornflakes and put them in a paper or plastic bag. Use a rolling pin to crush the cornflakes into little bits.
When the egg is boiled, let it cool down and then remove the shell. Crush the shell up and put it in the garden or give it to the birds. (Never put raw egg shell in with your birds because it can spread diseases to them).
Put the egg into a bowl and use a fork to mush it up. Add the cornflakes and mix them together.
Put the egg cornflake mix in the cage for the birds.
Remove uneaten egg mix at the end of each day and make a new mix the following morning.
death to all cats & ants
User avatar
finchbreeder
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Posts: 11489
Joined: 27 Jun 2009, 20:00
Location: Midwest of West. Aust. Coast
Location: Midwest of West.Aust.Coast

I add a little canola (it was before politically correct times called rape seed for a very good reason) to the canarys mix through September most years. This year it was harder to get so I let is slide. Only 1 in 3 cocks came into full condition - crazy weather may have contributed to hens and cocks being out of sync also.
LML
LML
User avatar
Bobbyboy
...............................
...............................
Posts: 17
Joined: 03 Nov 2019, 08:53
Location: Ningi QLD

Thanks all for your replies.
I have been feeding a 50:50 mix of canary and commercial seed mix.
They have clean water every second day and a bath every third day.
I feed the lettuce, broccoli, dandelion (flower and leaves) and apple.
They are inside in 70 x 45 x 45cm cages with a UV A and B lamp that comes on at 9.15 am and goes off at 3.30 pm.
They are left in peace and quiet tho not covered from 6.30pm till 6.00am daily.
I drapped bunches of imitation Ivy leaves over the nest corner of their cages.
I have a You Tube recording of a canary singing, loud enough for them to hear, for maybe 10 hours per day.
The birds i think are female chirp occasionally.
Other than that total silence,
What am I doing wrong?
User avatar
finchbreeder
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Posts: 11489
Joined: 27 Jun 2009, 20:00
Location: Midwest of West. Aust. Coast
Location: Midwest of West.Aust.Coast

You are doing a lot right. But your canaries are not. I would forget about the lettuce. Broccoli and dandelion are much better so stick with those. Never had birds inside, always in outside avairy. Try turning the recording off for a couple of days, then back on. If they think the competition has left they may step into the breach. And most canary breeding happens in Spring so getting to the end of the season. That said I have hens on eggs, but not hatching. The boys are not doing well this year here either.
LML
LML
User avatar
Rod_L
...............................
...............................
Posts: 495
Joined: 05 Mar 2018, 15:30
Location: Mandurah WA

Get a blue ribbon canary mix and use that 50/50 with a good finch mix.

------------------------------
They need clean water every day, and that includes their bath water. Change it every day and twice a day if it's really hot.

------------------------------
Birds don't need UV light for that long. During the day most birds sit in the shade and only get a few hours of direct UV light throughout the day. Prolonged exposure to UV light can cause skin cancer and cataracts.

If you put the bird cage outdoors during the day, they will get sufficient UV light to make vitamin D. Make sure they are in shade during the middle of the day and let them have morning or late afternoon light. I had mine under 75% shade cloth during the day. At night they were brought inside.

If you can't move the cage outdoors, put it near a window so the morning or afternoon sunlight shines on them. Make sure they are not getting any cold draughts through the window. That shouldn't be an issue in Queensland.

------------------------------
Make sure there are no cold draughts blowing on them from an air conditioner. They can be in a room with an air con but not in the path of the cold air.

------------------------------
Birds should be kept in an area where lots of people move about. If they are left in a quiet corner and nobody goes near them, they become nervous and stress when people are around them. If you have them in the lounge room or somewhere there are people, they get use to people and don't stress when you go past or near the cage.

Their cage should be covered for about 8 hours at night. You can use a sheet to cover the top and part of the sides. Have the room lights on before you cover them and leave the lights on for about 30 minutes or more after you have covered them. This will give them time to settle down instead of going from complete light to complete dark.

If the birds have the same lighting period each day for the entire year, it can interfere with their natural breeding cycle. Normally canaries need a few months with short days to simulate winter, and then longer days to simulate spring, which is when they start breeding. You could try shortening the lighting periods next winter to help with this.

------------------------------
Big dominant male canaries whistle all the time to say this is my territory and my female. Turn the tape off because young males will be intimidated by an established male singing in the area. If you have young males, they won't want to fight an older bigger male that has an established territory and will remain quiet to avoid confrontation.

After a couple of weeks without the tape, you can put it on for a short time (10-30 minutes) a couple of times a week if you want to. But I would just leave it off.
death to all cats & ants
Post Reply

Return to “Canaries”