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Re: Elizabeth, I have another question about my baby canari
Posted by elizabeth on 7/21/06

On 7/19/06, kim wrote:
> I have been doing alot of reading since my canary hatched
> her babies. The babies are doing great!! My question is
> when do I seperate them from their mama?the mom is still
> feeding them every once in a while-- I read somewhere that
> they are not completely weaned until about 6 weeks I read
> somewhere else that after 3 weeks they should be taken
away
> from the mom. The mom is building another nest now --the
> babies are 3 weeks old. I would also like an opinion on
> whether or not canaries should share a cage. I have read
> that canaries don't like to share a cage and others books
> say canarys are very social and like a cage mate.

Here is one article, I will find you more. I can only speak
for what I do and what works for me, I am not that exp. with
canaries, I know enough to get me in trouble. ;-)

http://www.thecanarysnest.com/primer/

http://mycanaries.com/breeding.php

As I said not the best person to ask but I will give it my
best shot. At four weeks the babies should be safe to be
moved...make sure they are eating/drinking on their own
prior to moving them into their new cage. I leave the babies
in about 5 weeks on average, that depends on how the Dad is
treating the babies mostly. Some Dads get rather aggressive
and the babies should be seperated if feasible.

One article suggested a divided cage as then they can still
be fed if needed via the parents, I have never tried this
but it does make sense. :-) If you have one you could try it
to see how it works for you. I think with breeding we all
pick up tips that work for us and then make them our own.
IMO.

Make sure your mom has enough material to make a new nest so
she doesn't pluck the babies or mate....I keep the canaries
together after they are first weaned. As they mature and I
know who is M and who is F I either temp band them so I know
who is who at a glance (L&M Leg Bands)...If I am keeping
them for a period of time (for next years breeders etc) I
seperate the males and females. Males can dominate the
females and you do NOT want too young birds stimulating each
other to mate. Nothing worse than birds to young to breed
trying to, they need time to mature.

Make sure while the babies are weaning to be offering soft
foods - the articles talk about that too. With the hen ready
to nest again make sure her diet is up to par, raising a
family is hard work and make sure she is getting enough
calcuim. It is much harder to prevent soft shelled eggs than
to try to correct it....

Best wishes~! If you have more ?'s I'm around, not as much
in the summer as I am gone alot but I do check back pretty
regularly.

Elizabeth
aka
kEna

Posts on this thread, including this one

• Elizabeth, I have another question about my baby canaries, 7/19/06, by kim .
• Re: Elizabeth, I have another question about my baby canari, 7/21/06, by elizabeth.
• Re: typo ....have another question about my baby canari, 7/21/06, by kEna.
• Re: Elizabeth, I have another question about my baby canari, 7/21/06, by kim .
• Re: Elizabeth, I have another question about my baby canari, 7/22/06, by kEna.