Canaries

[laurab]

PLEASE don't do what I did.

This year I bred Canaries for the first time. The 1st round went OK. The 2nd round came along and all too soon the 3rd. The 2nd round of Canaries tried to get to their mother whilst she was sitting on the 3rd; their father killed 3 and I managed to save the 4th and hand reared by feeding 2 hourly until strong enough to feed itself.

The one I saved I have in a cage indoors, one of the young from the 3rd round had a slightly deformed beak and i knew I would have to keep it, so with the cooler weather coming on I thought I would give my hand reared baby a 'friend'.

Two days later I found the one with the deformed beak dead in the bottom of the cage and it had obviously been bullied.

Did the other one bully because he had been early in life? The BIG mistake I made was putting them together at a time when I was unable to watch them closely.

Please learn from this very stupid mistake I made. :oops:

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Laura,

You were not to know the outcome of putting these two Birds together, so the outcome would have been a mystery to most of us.

Paul.

[chris]

i think the problem may be with hand rearing birds individually. i have done this myself with a greenfinch chick and he was a lovely birds, but then when i got him a friend canary he went mental for a few days, and then when he calmed he turned on the canary and used to chase it away whenever it went into the avairy. eventually i got a pair of red factors, and he was the same, nervous at first then got aggressive but without any trouble... untill the red factors began to nest then i found him one day with a bloodied face and he has been on his own ever since.

i reckon it's because the birds bond with people and see other birds as a invading there space, so they start a fight and often come off worse

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Chris,

I have found much the same with handreared Birds that they have an overly confident nature, my belief is that they are overly confident due to their Parent being far larger than anything else they encounter & believe that they themselves will become or are the same.

Paul.