Getting pair of canaries... *now they have eggs and a baby!*

10 Jul 2012, 21:20

Fifes and Borders would both be good. From what I have been told Fifes are very easy to breed, and easier than Borders.

As mentioned earlier, if you plan on housing them in an aviary then it would be much better to buy birds that have been kept in an aviary. If you buy birds that have been kept in a birdroom and them put them in an aviary in winter, they may not survive.

10 Jul 2012, 22:03

Agree with buying outdoor aviery bred birds or you will find that they won't cope with the cold. Fifes are a great start free and easy breeders with little problems. Feeding is easy basic Canary mix lots of greens and veg and fruits, they are pigs and will eat with gusto when it comes to food. Breeding food I supply is easy, broccoli and a boiled egg cut in half shell and all. Nest would be a cup nest with Hessian added and feathers. I would start adding high calcium foods asap when you get them.

11 Jul 2012, 11:43

I am biased in favour of Glosters. But also very much like the Fifes. Mine are in full whistle now, and have the same choice of nests as the finches. Some hens prefer cup nests, some prefer Gouldian boxs. Give a choice as the boxes are warmer. Yes I avairy breed. 1 pair per avairy, though you can do more if you like.
LML

11 Jul 2012, 14:30

I love the markings on the lizard variety. If i were to get canaries, that'd be my choice. I'd also be inclined to try to breed out the clear cap, though I'm sure many canary enthusiasts would consider that heresy.

11 Jul 2012, 15:42

Thanks to westfinch I've just got some glosters. 1st canaries I've had for many years. I can appreciate the preference for non-capped lizards. I actually prefer the consort (non crested) glosters & wouldn't mind in the future just breeding them & no coronas (crested) as long as the quality of consort wouldn't be compromised by doing this. I'll have to learn more about them over the next season or two before I can commit to this.

11 Jul 2012, 16:02

I have & breed Red Factor canaries. You need to pair them up at the start of Sept. too cold now. They love silverbeet, endive & cucumber. DON'T feed them lettuce. All mine are breed in single cages & use cup nests, 1 pair to a cage.

P1030012 rs.jpg

11 Jul 2012, 16:51

Nice Birds

12 Jul 2012, 18:30

Change of plans due to my mum working today and tommorow, i'm getting a pair during the weekend. I will post pics up when I get them.
Mike

13 Jul 2012, 11:37

There is no reason at all for not breeding Consort to Consort with the Gloster canary. Accept that you will not get any Corona's. The C (crest) x P (plainhead) is the recomended breeding because you will get 50% of each (in theory) with the P x P you will get 100% P (no theory, just fact) with the C x C you introduce the lethal Double CC factor (so a no no) Good luck.
LML

13 Jul 2012, 12:57

I realise the modes of inheritence, but I just want to be sure that consort to consort pairings is not going to compromise the quality of head feathering, eyebrow, etc. compared to corona matings. I just want to produce the best quality I can. I don't have anything against the coronas, but I think the head shape of a good consort gloster looks very impressive compared to other common plainhead canaries such as borders & fifes.
Incidently, years ago when I had glosters I tried a couple of pairs with crested to crested matings & never lost any young with them. These matings also produced a few double factor coronas which bred all corona young no matter what they were mated to.