CLEAR YELLOW YORKSHIRE CANARY

The ideal Yorkshire Canary is a favorite of fanciers all over the world. It is a soldier-like bird with graceful outline, bold and fearless expression, and smart lines and movements.PLATE 21

The stance of this canary is excellent. Note its tapering wedge shape which is a characteristic of the Yorkshire Canary Club ideal.PLATE 22

The silky feathering of the Buff canary is well developed in this specimen. In Buff feathering the yellow pigmentation does not extend down into the tips of the feathers. As a result the bird is lighter in color and should have a frosted appearance across the shoulders.PLATE 23

The Scotch Fancy was once extensively bred to develop this strange posture but is almost extinct today. Without doubt, the unnatural formation of this type is the cause of its gradual disappearance. The canary shown here was painted from one of the few remaining specimens and was imported directly from England for the purpose of making this illustration.PLATE 24

The Lancashire Coppy, regrettably, is also being bred much less extensively today. It is an outstandingly large, erect bird—a veritable giant compared to the average roller or chopper canary. The difficulties faced by breeders of this type are many since the effort to produce increasingly large birds has led to considerable deterioration in other desirable characteristics, such as feathering.PLATE 25

The Gloster Canary is a heavily crested bird, much smaller than the Norwich. The crest itself comes down, ideally, almost level with the center of the eye. The feathering of the specimen we show here is outstanding in quality because of its compactness and its fine texture.PLATE 26

The red face of this alert bird distinguishes it from other finches. The goldfinch breeds freely in the aviary and is kept not only because of its own attractiveness, but because it readily breeds with other finches, including canaries.PLATE 27

This cross provides some very outstanding singers. The goldfinch ancestry of this bird shows in its orange face and the traces of yellow wing bars. Its canary ancestry is evident in its beak, posture and conformation.PLATE 28

The linnet is popular for breeding mules and hybrids because it is one of the most outstanding singers among our finches. The effects of the linnet are especially clear in the coloring of the head, back and wings of this lifelike illustration.PLATE 29

The canary and siskin cross was considered infertile for many years just as are many other canary hybrids. Fortunately it was discovered that these hybrids were sometimes fertile when crossed back with a canary, furnishing a new incentive to thousands of canary fanciers now on the trail of both an all-red and an all-black canary. Today, many fanciers believe that the introduction of the Black-hooded Red Siskin’s blood will provide the means of producing a red canary.PLATE 30

This attractive but much less lively colored “other half” of the Black-hooded Red Siskin will also produce fertile canary hybrids. The female siskin illustrates very well the dimorphic colorations common to many wild birds, being slightly orange in many of the areas showing deepest red in the male Black-hooded Red Siskin.

These siskins are considerably smaller than even very small canaries, and they have an unattractive wild song. As might be expected,their coloring, size, and song characteristics are transmitted to the hybrids resulting from crossing with the canary. The fancier, through selective breeding back to desirable canary stock, endeavors to eliminate the unwanted siskin characteristics and at the same time retain the effect of the red coloring which produces many shades of apricot, orange and copper.PLATE 31

The canary and siskin hybrid is always a very dark bird and usually small in size. Depending on the depth of color they are usually called a copper, bronze, or mahogany. When these hybrids are mated back to pure canary stock, the chicks obtained are called second cross and generally have a much more attractive appearance.PLATE 32

The deep orange coloring of this second cross hybrid was obtained from a fertile canary and siskin first cross that was mated back to canary stock carrying some cinnamon blood. The orange tint has little, if any, tendency to fade and is often as bright as that temporarily obtained through color feeding. In a second cross bird such as this, the siskin heritage is usually very noticeable in the song.PLATE 33

When the second cross canary and siskin is mated back to pure canary stock again, the apricot coloring is one of the possible results. This bird illustrates the way in which the Red Siskin coloring has been diluted and evenly spread throughout. The apricot stock is used by breeders in crossing with unrelated hybrid stock in order to intensify desired coloring, form, feathering, and size characteristics as well as to further introduce the color to type birds such as Border Fancies.PLATE 34

The frosted pink canary is usually considerably removed from the first canary and siskin cross and it represents much progress. Many fanciers are concentrating on this pink coloration rather than the deep orange colorings in their work toward producing the red canary.PLATE 35

The dilute factor was discovered by accident some years ago by a fancier keen enough to recognize something of its potential value. When this factor is present it dilutes by graying or thinning out otherwise standard colors. If it were not for this dilute factor in the bird illustrated, the cinnamon markings and the yellow would have been noticeably deeper in color.PLATE 36

PLATE 1YELLOW ROLLER CANARY

PLATE 2YELLOW CHOPPER IN SONG

PLATE 3VARIEGATED YELLOW ROLLER IN SONG

PLATE 4GREEN CHOPPER CANARY

PLATE 5VARIEGATED CHOPPER CANARY

PLATE 6CINNAMON CHOPPER CANARY

PLATE 7BLUE CHOPPER CANARY

PLATE 8WHITE CHOPPER CANARY

PLATE 9FAWN CHOPPER CANARY

PLATE 10CLEAR CAP GOLD LIZARD CANARY

PLATE 11CLEAR CAP SILVER LIZARD CANARY

PLATE 12YELLOW BORDER FANCY CANARY

PLATE 13YELLOW-GREEN BORDER FANCY CANARY

PLATE 14TICKED BUFF BORDER FANCY CANARY

PLATE 15MINIATURE FAWN BORDER FANCY CANARY

PLATE 16CINNAMON-MARKED NORWICH CANARY

PLATE 17PLAIN HEAD CLEAR BUFF NORWICH CANARY

PLATE 18COLORFED NORWICH PLAIN HEAD CANARY

PLATE 19WING-MARKED DARK CRESTED NORWICH CANARY

PLATE 20WHITE YORKSHIRE CANARY

PLATE 21CLEAR YELLOW YORKSHIRE CANARY

PLATE 22WING-MARKED YORKSHIRE CANARY

PLATE 23BUFF YORKSHIRE CANARY

PLATE 24SCOTCH FANCY CANARY

PLATE 25LANCASHIRE COPPY CANARY

PLATE 26GLOSTER CANARY

PLATE 27EUROPEAN GOLDFINCH

PLATE 28CANARY AND EUROPEAN GOLDFINCH CROSS

PLATE 29CANARY AND EUROPEAN LINNET CROSS

PLATE 30MALE VENEZUELAN BLACK-HOODED RED SISKIN

PLATE 31FEMALE VENEZUELAN BLACK-HOODED RED SISKIN

PLATE 32MAHOGANY CANARY AND SISKIN 1ST CROSS

PLATE 33ORANGE-CINNAMON CANARY AND SISKIN 2ND CROSS

PLATE 34APRICOT CANARY AND SISKIN 3RD CROSS

PLATE 35FROSTED PINK CHOPPER CANARY

PLATE 36DILUTE HEN CHOPPER CANARY

Frenchy

The chances are you already own one of the birds you plan to use for breeding. For best prospects the male should be healthy and sleek, a good singer, and between twelve months and four years old. The hen should also be healthy and sleek, from one to five years old, and should differ from the cock bird in coloring. For example, with the cock a yellow, the hen could be a lighter colored buff, or vice versa. Pair yellow and buff, green and white, cinnamon and white, yellow and green, and so on. Your hens should be vigorous and if not overbred (used for more than two nests the previous season) it is a good thing to use those with proved capacity on your first attempt.

Most breeders allow the hens to have flying exercise daily. For this purpose a flight cage or room is best, and if you intend to mate several pairs, it is a good investment. Its size can depend on the space available. A very useful flying cage is four feet long, two feet high, and one-and-a-half to two feet deep. Place the seed at one end, the water at the other, and keep the perches widely spaced in order to insure exercise. Smaller flights can be used satisfactorily, and if a spare room is available its whole area can be used. Many successful breeders use attic space divided into flight rooms with hardware cloth and screen doors. The floor of each flight room is covered with gravel.

One of the best breeding cages for canaries is metal, box-shaped, with two sliding partitions in the middle, one of regular cage wire, the other of sheet metal. It is about twenty-four inches long, eleven inches high and eleven inches deep. The bottom and tray are removable, and there are sliding doors in the front of each compartment. In addition, there should be a swinging door in the upper rear corner of each end.

Nests are hung in the corners bythese doors, so that the top of the nest is about one inch higher than the perch. The nesting material should consist of specially prepared nesting hair, moss, shredded burlap, short pieces of string or such material. Line the nests with warm cloth pads. Use two when necessary. Sew the pads to the nest using short stitches inside and long outside to prevent the hen from catching her feet in the stitches. As a precaution, dust the lining thoroughly with insect powder.

We shall be glad to supply plans for home built breeding cages, flight cages, and outside aviaries on request. Write us what you have in mind.

Select a shielded location for the breeding cage. Wild birds seek seclusion and privacy when they nest, and will often leave the nest and eggs entirely if disturbed, and relocate in a better hiding place. Although canaries have been bred in cages for hundreds of years, this tendency to desert the nest and nestlings persists. The breeding cage should have a solid foundation and the perches should be tried individually to be sure that they are steady and firm.

Provide a flashlight for the breeding room. It will come in handy for brief nighttime checkups on the birds; for removing the male, which is best done at night; and for candling the eggs after the hen has been setting for about six days. Provide a small cardboard box half filled with a dry cereal such as corn meal, or with cotton. This receptacle is for the first few eggs and its use is explained in the paragraph “Round One.” Another early season chore is to secure three or four dummy canary eggs. Such dummy eggs can be purchased from pet dealers, but a small ⅜″ diameter marble or wooden ball will suffice. Their use is also explained under “Round One.”

Early in January the birds should have their nails trimmed, if overlong, to prevent punctured eggs or accidental harm to the nestlings. Allow the hen as much flying exercise as possible. If you have no flight cage, the added exercise she will get in the breeding cage, with the partitions removed, will be helpful.

In early February the regular seed diet should be supplemented with egg food. This is prepared by sieving a 30-minute boiled egg and mixing with toasted bread crumbs etc., to a crumbly consistency. See “Egg Food” in “General Care” section. A little poppy seed sprinkled over the portion given each bird is beneficial. A daily teaspoonful of this mixture for each bird is sufficient until the early part of March. About once a week scatter a little ground oyster shell on the cage floor with the gravel, and keep a cuttle bone in the cage at all times. A few tender dandelion leaves, when procurable, are relished once a week. Some breeders like to use freshly sprouted seed at the stage when the sprout is a quarter of an inch long or less and also greens they raise themselves from the regular bird seed mixture. The early part of January is a good time to practice raising these greens. Just be sure that there is no evidence of mold growth on the sprouted seed when it is fed.

Small diameter perches for the chicks just weaned can be secured in advance. A visit to your shrubs or grape arbor will easily provide a handful of suitable length perches of moderately rough surface, from ¼″ to ⅜″ in diameter. Starting about the firstof March a little niger seed should be given the hen in a treat cup two or three times weekly. This oily seed should help prevent egg binding. At this time both the solid and wire partitions can be put back in the breeding cage, and the cock changed to his half of the cage.

At mating time the hen is lively and alert and will usually call loudly. The cock will sing lustily and dance on the perch with lowered wings while singing. When these signs occur, remove the solid partition, leaving the wire partition in place. When you see the cock feeding the hen through the bars, remove the wire too, and let the birds run together. They may quarrel for a short while, but will soon become devoted. Place the lined nest in the cage along with a little nesting material.

Do not be in a hurry for the hen to lay. She will produce her egg at her own time and no sooner. As soon as it is laid, take it out of the nest with a teaspoon and place it in the small box you prepared earlier, replacing it with a dummy egg. Remove the second egg likewise. Turn the removed eggs daily. As a general rule an egg is laid every morning until a clutch of from four to six eggs is completed. There are occasions when a hen will produce only two or three eggs to a clutch, and many times she will skip a day between eggs. When the third egg is laid, remove the dummy egg, dust the nest again with insect powder, and place the other eggs back in the nest. The evening is a good time to do this.

When the hen takes to her nest entirely, separate the cock and hen by replacing the wire partition. The hen’s bath should be withheld for the first eleven days she sits. On the sixth day you should candle the eggs. Cut an oval hole slightly smaller than the dimension of an egg in the bottom of a small cardboard box, and place an egg on the hole. From beneath, shine your flashlight through the egg. If the egg is clear it is infertile, but if slightly red with a dark spot it is fertile. If the eggs are all clear remove them and the nest, and after a few days start over, letting the cock run with the hen again. If there are fertile eggs, place them back in the nest, where the hen will continue through the setting period, which is fourteen days from the day she took to the nest steadily.

After the eleventh day allow her to bathe daily as the moisture from her feathers tends to soften the egg shells and is an aid to the chicks in picking their way through.

When the hen takes to the nest, it is a good plan, because of her inactivity, to restrict her diet somewhat—particularly the egg food and greens. She will likely leave much of this anyway, and she should never take any that has soured, as she may do if it is left in the cage partly uneaten all day.

Upon hatching, egg food should be given three times a day in addition to the regular seed mixture. The first feeding each day should be given as early in the morning as possible. See “Egg Food” under “General Care.” Fresh greens may be fed daily. Newly hatched youngsters require very small amounts of food. “Feed little and often,” is a good rule to follow. You will soon be able to judge the amount, bearing in mind that quantity should be increased as the youngsters grow.When the nestlings are about six days old their eyes will have opened, and when they are around ten days old the partition can be withdrawn and the cock allowed to rejoin the hen. However, if the hen is not feeding the young as she should, or if she doesn’t stay on the nest sufficiently to keep the chicks warm, the cock should be allowed to return at once.

Many successful breeders prepare “soaked seed” for morning and evening feedings for the hen and nestlings from hatching time to six weeks later. Prepare by putting a little of your regular seed mixture to soak at the morning feeding. Then, at the evening feeding, stir this well, strain, and put to soak again in fresh water. On the following morning, stir, rinse in fresh water, strain, dry, and this “soaked” seed is ready to use. Soaked seed for the evening feed is started each evening, strained, put to soak again each morning, and in the evening strained, rinsed, dried between paper towels, and fed.

Soaked seed often does wonders for a nonfeeding hen, and it is valuable for chicks after they are separated from the hen. As the birds gain in age, gradually increase the seed proportion and cut down soft foods, until they are about six weeks old. At this age they are able to crack their own seeds, and the regular French’s Bird Seed and Biscuit may be given them together with feedings of egg food about three times a week until they have completed their moult.

Between sixteen and twenty-one days after the hatching, the hen will probably show signs of wanting to go to nest again. Place the second nest in the opposite corner of the cage, and stuff bits of fresh nesting material between the cage bars near the new nest. Be sure that enough is allowed, otherwise she will pull feathers out of the young birds. When the hen lays her first egg, it should be removed as before, and Round One repeated. As soon as she takes to her second nest entirely, the chicks from Round One and the cock should be moved to the other half of the cage, and separated from the hen by the wire partition.

Although a very vigorous hen and a good feeding cock can hatch three or four nests in a season, best results are had by not allowing more than two. If the nesting is finished early in June, the parents and chicks will be in condition for the moult in late summer. The added strain of more than two nests will likely make the birds unreliable for breeding the following season.

—A nestling falls out of the nest the first few days. When this happens pick up the young bird and warm it in your hands for a few minutes and then, if it is alive, place it back in the nest.

—One or more of the eggs do not hatch, though fertile. Sometimes a chick is too weak to pick through the shell which may be unusually hard due to excessive dryness if the hen does not bathe. Should many of the eggs turn out this way, put a few teaspoonfuls of common salt, or even rock salt in the bottom of the nest pan, below the lining, as this will attract (and retain) moisture from the air. There are many other reasons why fertile eggs do not hatch, most of them indicating a weakness in the embryo. However, one of the mostcommon causes is chilling of the eggs due to the hen leaving the nest for too long a time. A sudden cold spell may have the same effect.

—One or more of the hatchlings are found dead in the nest. Remove at once. Accidental smothering or crushing by the hen is likely the cause, or if the eggs hatch out over a period of two or three days, the first hatchlings may be getting practically all the food. That is why you should remove the first two eggs, so that all hatch as nearly as possible at the same time.

—The hen you are expecting to lay again is found crouching in a corner of the cage, trembling and quite apparently in severe pain. She is probably suffering from egg-binding, and must be attended to at once. Take the hen very gently in your hand, and put three or four drops of olive oil in her beak. Carefully place her back in the cage, and after a short time the egg will be passed safely.

—The “sweating hen” problem occurs. Her breast feathers will have a moist appearance leading one to believe that she is sweating. What actually happens is that the hen loses condition, probably as the result of eating food that is sour, stale, or too sloppy, and this is passed on to the baby chicks. Diarrhoea results. Normally during the first week or so, the excreta from the young is expelled in a tiny transparent bag which the hen picks up in one piece when cleaning the nest. Being unable to do this if the young have diarrhoea, her feathers become sticky and matted.

—The hen starts picking feathers from the backs of the Round One chicks to provide nesting for the second nest even though ample nesting material is supplied. When this happens separate the cock and the chicks from the hen, using the wire partition.

It is normal for a hen to stop feeding her babies when she takes to her second nest of eggs. The cock bird can usually be depended upon to continue the job. However, a hen sometimes stops feeding at an earlier time, often because of an upset condition resulting from improper feeding—or from a fright. Such things as stale or soured soft foods, food deficiencies, or lack of sufficient fresh green food are most often the root of the trouble, although overfat and lazy hens sometimes seem to find proper feeding too much trouble. Try allowing the cock to carry on alone, giving the hen normal feeding until she resumes her duty. When the chicks are not being fed by either bird, it is advisable to divide the nestlings among the other nests if you have other pairs with chicks about the same age.

Otherwise, handfeeding is imperative. Chew either Pablum or oat flakes and when mushy, feed it to the babies from the end of a toothpick. In a day or two the parents may resume feedings. Should they not, the chewed food will have to be supplemented with greens, egg yolk, and after the chicks are ten days old, a little soft cuttle bone scraped from the soft side of the bone sprinkled over the mush. A few grains of table salt should also be added.

If a chick is out of the nest, it is likely to be afraid and refuse to open its beak for food. Take such a bird in your left hand, pry open the beak with the right thumb nail and hold it open with the nails of your left thumb and forefinger. Avoid injury either to the bird’s eyes or through too firm a hold. Keep the head elevated for easy swallowing and feed from a toothpick. Always feed warm food. A little milk sop from toasted whole wheat bread makes a good change. The babies usually will begin to feed themselves a few days after leaving the nest and can then be given moist nestling food, sprouted rape seeds, and cracked seeds prepared from regular French’s Bird Seed.

(Continued onpage 64)

1. Mating time, canaries wooing

2. The female builds her nest

3. The eggs are laid

4. Hatching process begins

5. Mother bird feeds new-born babies

6. The babies now 8 days old

7. Fourteen days old

8. Twenty-one days old

(Continued frompage 59)

In slip claw the bird is unable to grasp the perch normally because the back claw is bent forward between the front claws. Treat by binding the affected claw back against the shank of the leg with adhesive tape. Let the binding remain for a week to ten days, but be sure that it is not so tight as to stop circulation.

Ever since it was discovered some years ago that the hybrid chicks resulting from crossing the canary and the South American Black-hooded Red Siskin were sometimes fertile when bred back to canaries and that this crossing could produce a natural red tint in the canary feathering, there has been much experimentation by breeders all over the world in an endeavor to produce an all red canary. To date some beautiful tints of orange, copper, and pink have been produced and a truly red canary seems a possibility. This discovery of a fertile hybrid has proved a major contribution to canary breeding, and breeders today are reexamining some of the other crosses between canaries and related wild birds for fertility.

For the amateur who has gained a degree of proficiency in handling canaries, there is hardly a more fascinating phase of the hobby. We welcome questions from those who undertake this work.

We have seen many experts sex canaries, and have come to the conclusion that the best proof that a canary is a hen occurs when she produces an egg, and likewise, that her companion is a male, if the egg is fertile. However, there are many other characteristics associated with the sex differences of canaries.

For example, the cock canary:

The hen canary, by contrast,

These characteristics are all subject to exceptions. We find good males that do not sing, good hens that do sing; males of one strain having a female appearance about the head when compared with hens of a heavy strain of birds, and vice versa. There are also cases where the vent areas of both male and female are very similar except when in breeding condition.

Errors are most likely when a breeder sexes spring hatched canaries in the fall. The breeder will separate the observed singers from the non-singers, as male and female. Then he goes through the non-singers for some indication in the appearance of the head or vent area, and makes a further tentative separation. Such division can only be moderately reliable, becauseonly a few strongly sexed young males tend to come into breeding condition early. An error of as much as 25% is not unusual in fall sexing.

For your guidance a good indication of a young male canary is that he sings with a noticeable swelling of the throat. From January and February on through June the male in breeding condition will have a noticeably raised vent as well as strong song. In pairing birds it may be expected that any male in breeding condition will pair with any female in breeding condition, providing there is not a very great difference in size.

Frenchy

With good food and care, and barring accident, there is no reason why a healthy canary from healthy parents should live less than a normal span of 12 to 14 years before old age causes a breakdown. The ailing singer is not difficult to pick out. Usually the first sign is that he stops singing. Whether the bird is cock or hen, a sudden change from its normal sleek appearance and lively action bears immediate study.

When two crested canaries are bred together some of the chicks will be permanently bald. Another cause, apparently, is the tendency for some birds to constantly rub their heads against the perch or bars of the cage. This condition is sometimes accompanied, or perhaps caused by the presence of lice.

Sometimes baldness is caused by an incomplete moult, the lost feathers not having been replaced during the regular moulting season. Sometimes severe changes in the weather during the moult, or food deficiency during the moult is the cause of incomplete feather growth.

There is no treatment for inherited baldness. If lice or mites are present, treat the bird as indicated under “Mites.” See that the bird has a normal seed diet with plenty of greens, a cuttle bone in the cage, plus egg food and moulting food two or three times each week. Allow the bird to exercise as much as possible, and there is a good chance that during the next regular moult the feathers will return.

There is no cure for blindness. We have known birds to be totally blind for months before the condition was observed by the owner. There is apparently no pain, and blind birds sometimes sing freely. However, they move about very little, and while the variety and balance of their diet mustbe maintained, they should not be fed as much as normal birds.

Wing, upper leg, and toe breaks should be allowed to heal with no assistance other than seeing that the bird is not disturbed. Breaks in the lower leg can often be set and splinted successfully with thin cotton padding on the leg and pieces of toothpicks bound snugly with cotton thread, but not so tightly as to cut off circulation.

Always remove the swing and all high perches from the cage, and arrange food and water so that the bird can get at them with as little movement as possible.

When tail and flight feathers are broken, they will grow in again at once if they are carefully pulled out. If it is near the regular moulting season, it is advisable to let them be shed naturally.

A chill or a cold in a canary is recognized by the bird sneezing and sitting with its feathers puffed up. Sometimes there is hoarseness, and if the nasal discharge is very heavy there may be complete loss of voice, temporarily. The cold will usually work itself off if the bird is given reasonable care. Sometimes, however, if the bird is in a more or less rundown condition and the infection is strong, a more serious condition such as pneumonia will result quickly.

Keep the bird free from drafts, and locate the cage where the temperature is as even as possible and warm rather than cold. Return to a regular diet with plenty of green foods. If the room cools off at night, cover the cage and avoid awakening the pet at night. Test for the presence of mites. If some are found, treat as directed under “Mites.” Observe the droppings and make adjustments in the food if they are not normal as explained under “Constipation and Diarrhoea” below.

In addition to ten drops of French’s Iron Compound in the drinking water daily, feed a teaspoonful of egg food, fresh each day.

Constipation is a digestive disturbance usually caused by feeding an insufficient quantity of green foods. The correction is to give a variety of green foods, including sprouted seed, regularly. Lettuce, sweet apple, Chickweed, watercress, and dandelion are beneficial. Green food should always be crisp, clean and fresh. When a bird is being fed generous amounts of fresh green foods, the natural result will be more liquid droppings. This should not be confused with diarrhoea, a condition in which the droppings are usually excessively watery.

There are many possible causes for diarrhoea. The diet itself may be unnatural for the bird, or it may be inadequate to the seasonal needs of the bird. For example, in the breeding and moulting seasons freshly prepared egg food should be given. Diarrhoea may also be merely an accompaniment of an active disease. The bird should be kept warm. A change of diet will usually afford relief. Temporarily, eliminate rich and stimulating foods from the diet. Supply as much of the following mixture daily as the bird will eat:

Back to Index Next