Canaries are the most common pet birds in the world, due to their pleasant and melodious song, so it is very common to see them in all kinds of houses, patios, gardens and terraces in their cages.
They have the peculiarity that most of the males sing and, however, most of the females do not. It is the representative bird of the Canary Islands, but it breeds all over the world. Its breeding began in the 17th century, when the monks began to breed the wild canary in captivity, and it immediately became a highly appreciated bird by kings, nobles and wealthy bourgeois, as it was very expensive, since only the males were sold. When the obtaining of females became generalized, it spread and its possession became cheaper for the population throughout Europe.
The breeding of canaries is a very widespread hobby, although, contrary to what one might think, it is not only practiced to have singing canaries, but there are two other branches in this hobby: the breeding of canaries of shape and color. And it is that in terms of the latter, the canaries are not only yellow, but actually there are a large number of shades, from pure white tired or black, passing through the marbled and of course by the yellow and gold. This has been achieved since the canary is a bird that can be crossed with others quite easily.
Canaries do not need great care to keep them at home, however, the breeding of the canary is something that requires patience and care, since it is not a very sociable bird, and it is not just about putting a male and a female together. Canaries, which live between six and twenty years, are fertile from seven months of age, and females up to four years old, although males are fertile for a couple of years more. They mate in spring, when the temperature rises and the days are about twelve hours long, but if these conditions are reproduced artificially, they breed at other times of the year.
If you have plans for your canaries, we give you some guidelines on how to breed canaries successfully below.
What do you need to raise canaries?
- Male and female canaries
- A large cage, better with an intermediate grid
- Nest base
- Nesting materials
- Special foods
- One or several cages for the pigeons
Instructions for raising canaries
- Individual cages. Obviously, you must have a male and a female canary, but not together in the same cage. Canaries are solitary and do not tolerate coexistence well, because if you have two males together, they will tend to fight each other, and if you put a female and a male together, he could kill her if he is not in the mating phase. What you can do without any problem is to have several canaries, each one in its own cage, in the same room, without stressing them out or causing aggressive behavior. When you consider that they breed, you can opt for a double cage, divided by a grid, for the male and for the female, and remove the grid when the breeding time approaches.
- Matting materials. Before putting your canaries to reproduce, you should provide yourself with various materials that you will need for when the time comes. You will need a large cage, where both have plenty of space, the one we mentioned above being highly recommended, which can be divided with a grid, and which will allow it to get used to the proximity of the other, but without contact; a basket type nest or similar where the female will lay the eggs and hatch them, twigs and straw to make the nest. These materials can be purchased at a pet store.
- Attention to signs. Those canaries are in a position to mate. As has been said, this will happen in spring, when the heat grows and the light also grows. In general, the males are ready before the females. The males give signals such as lowering their wings when singing, chirping with more shrill and noisy sounds, or dancing in their cage swings, or being more territorial with other males that may be nearby. The females will tear any paper you may have on the bottom of the cage, but the definite sign is that the cloaca (anus) will be red and swollen. They may also raise their tails or crouch when the male is near.
- Couple in the cage. When the pair of canaries is prone to copulation, put them together in the cage with the grid, or in cages next to each other, touching each other. This is how they get used to being close to each other. If you do not use a cage with an intermediate grid, then use a large cage where they will mate so that only the female is in it, next to the male. In the female’s cage put the base of the nest, and leave the materials nearby for her to complete the nest. When the female begins to prepare the nest, it is a sign that she is ready for mating. Another important sign is that the female accepts that the male gives her food from beak to beak.
- A special diet. The canaries that are going to mate and raise chicks need a special diet for several weeks before the couple meets, which complements and increases what they receive on a daily basis. It will consist of giving those chicken eggs, gelatin, breadcrumbs or cookie crumbs, crushed cuttlefish bone to provide them with the calcium they need for the proper formation of the shell of the eggs they lay. Chicks should also be given live insects and germinated seeds, in a soft diet rich in protein.
- Join the couple. When you see the signs of heat repeat, such as the powerful song of the male canary or the building of the nest by the canary, or that they feed themselves in the beak, or “kisses” without food, put them together carefully in the same big cage.
- The matting. You have to be careful, because when you put them together, if they are not ready, fights can still dream. But you have to make sure that they try to attack each other and that it is not the real cover, which can seem a bit like a fight. But if they do fight, separate them immediately and put them back in separate cages. Wait a couple of days, see if the female progresses with the nesting and try again. When the female becomes available, she will do so by crouching down and then the male will mount her in successive short jerky movements.
- The setting. Seven days after mating, the laying of eggs will take place, at a rate of one per day or two, completing the laying in 14 days. Normally, the female lies between 3 and 5, although sometimes they lay six. They are a couple of centimeters wide, and gray to green in color, with brown flecks. Some breeders change the first eggs for others made of plastic or porcelain because the female is placed to incubate while she is laying, which makes the first ones grow faster, and problems of crushing or lack of feeding may occur, because the chicks go doubling in size with each passing day once they have hatched.
- The Chicks. These grow quickly and in twenty days they will run around the cage and will be the same size as their parents and will be completely covered in feathers. After thirty days they will be able to feed themselves, and a few days before it is convenient to separate them from their father and mother and put them in a cage that is attached to theirs so that they can be fed if it is still necessary. You must do it so that the parents do not attack them and so that they can make a second clutch if you want. Once the chicks are removed from the common cage, the male and female must be separated again and placed in separate cages.
Tips for raising canaries
- Observation is key so that you can put the pair at the right time and they are ready to mate.
- It is essential that you give the couple, although especially the female, the foods that complement the usual diet that you give them, so that she lays healthy eggs with normal shells.
