Green singers

[dave85]

hey all,

Im attempting to breed the pair of these i have!

The hen laid an egg in a mixed cage & was found broken, so i removed the pair and placed them in a breeding cage with a nestpan, which at first the hen took interest in and was seen playing with the nesting material.

Now when ive checked them the next day i discover she hasnt built a nest and has another egg of the perch!

Ive covered half the cage up, which has the nestpan in to see if privacy helps.

Any suggestions?
Thanks
Dave H

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Dave,

I would suggest placing a bunch of Conifer cuttings in a jar or tub filled with very moist soil or peat (this will keep the cuttings green for quite a while), & place a small wicker nest basket in the Conifer (use fine binding wire to hold the basket in place) & put this in your cage.
This will provide the hen with the privacy you wish to give her & also a more Natural nest site.
Provide as many different nesting materials as possible for the hen to chose from, Coconut Fibre, Mop Head, Hessian, course & fine Grasses, Animal Hair etc.
If the hen continues to lay from the perch, start the nest for her & place a dummy Egg in the nest.

I hope this will be of some help, please let us know how you get on.

Good luck, Paul. :D

[dave85]

hey paul,

Thanks buddy,

Ill maybe give it a try when i can get the stuff

Thanks again
Dave H

p.s - would you be interested in the young if they do breed? so you can include them in your breeding cross e.g. greensinger x canary?

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Dave,

Good luck mate I hope I have been of some help!

It shouldn't be too difficult to get hold of some Conifer cuttings, it might seem strange but I visit my local tip to collect Conifer cuttings to deck out my Aviaries each Spring (if you do the same make sure you hose them down thoroughly)!!

I might be interested in some young if you manage to produce Birds of the right size.

Cheers Paul. :wink:

[dave85]

hey paul,

My hen now has a finch type box & a nestpan but she insists in sitting her food pot like a canary does on her nest in a nestpan.

I put a nestpan next to the seed pot and put seed in it as i thought she may sit in that instead but she hasnt she sits in the seed pot and at night she sleeps like that.

She seems quite steady i can go right up to the cage & she doesnt move - whereas the cock is opposite.

What do you think i should do?

Thanks
Dave H

[chris]

hi dave, i had a canary do this and although there was a nest pan present she wouldn't move. the best thing to do is to revome the pot she's nesting in and place a tray on the floor of the cage for seed (not directly under perches). hopefully then she will use the box, but if she's nesting in the open like that it might be better with a nest pan. if you don't remove the food dish then she will lay eggs in it and try to rear chicks, but because of the shape of the food pot it is unlikely she will rear them successfully.

chris :wink:

[dave85]

hey paul & chris,

Update!

Today ive altered the greensingers cage! previous paul you said to put conifer in the cage to give them privacy.

I did just that all the front of the cage is covered in conifer and around the nestbox & nestpan is, so we'll see what happens. they have 2 seed pots now just incase she does sit in 1 and ive left both the nestpan on the floor in the corner hidden and the nestbox hung at the top to see which she prefers.

Hope something happens now, i did take pics but you cant see it clearly.

Thanks
Dave H

p.s - ive left small gaps on the front so i can still see them well.

[dave85]

hey all,

Am looking at getting 2 more pairs of green singers that are for sale!

Only problem though is that they are in south devon,

Anyone got any suggestions?

Thanks
Dave H

[chris]

hi dave,

make sure you have separate breeding cages and/or aviarys for the greensingers if you get any more as they will not get on with other pairs of greensingers!

chris :wink:

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Dave,

Your Greensingers are bound to use the seed containers instead of the nest pan if you leave the nest pan on the floor.
Fix the nest pan to either the back or a side wall & then hopefully your Greensinger hen may see this as a potential nest site.

Paul.

[dave85]

hey paul,

Ive swapped her seed pot for like a little tray with seed on it and moved it to where the nestpan was and put the nestpan where the seed pot was and now she sits in it :S? strange bird - were it is now, is where i can see her easily as theres lots of area uncovered on the front.

She also has a finch box, which doesnt use either!?

Thanks
Dave H

p.s - paul do you know anyway of getting 2 pairs of greensingers from south devon to me?

[PAUL HEARN]

Dave,

Greensingers are Serins, as are Domesticated Canaries, all Serins, Siskins etc are cup nesters, this is why she has chosen the (raised) nest pan, and why she has ignored the nest box which would be used by other Finches such as Waxbills, Mannikins, Grassfinches, Sparrows.

Birds which normally build cup nests do so because they need to have a view around them although they have a certain amount of camouflage due to nesting in a Shrub or Tree.
Birds that build a nest in a nest box are usually Birds that nest in holes in Trees, crevices in walls or that build Grass dome nests.

Paul.

[dave85]

hey all,

I have altered the green singers cage today since they didnt seem to be showing any interest.

I've enlarged the cage, so now they have a treble breeder all to there self instead of a single - ive just removed cage dividers now the other 2 cages are empty.

I refreshed the conifer in the end cage with the other 2 left open and i removed the nestbox and moved the nestpan high up as they always seemed to sit on the top of the box there, so fingers crossed they do something.

Any other tips will be appreciated! also i have supplied them with a small amount of eggfood now.

Thanks
Dave H

[chris]

you were trying to breed them in a single breeder? :shock: no wonder nothing happened!
i would have said no smaller than a double, but since your now using a treble things may start to happen.

chris

[dave85]

hey chris,

I only tried them in a single as i had no other space for them, but now other birds are in the flights now its nicer weather i have cage space!

Fingers crossed they produce as any chicks will be housed with any young canarys i have in the hope they'll be ok to breed with next year.

Thanks
Dave H

[PAUL HEARN]

G'day Dave,

Good luck & please keep us up to date with any progress.

Paul.