Lessons Learned In 2020

2020 was a good year in my bird room.  

1)  I increased the number of birds in my oldest two American Singer families.

2)  This was the second year for a new bloodline, and it gave me several good birds.

3)  The newest family line is still in testing stage, but no terrible trait has appeared so far.

4)  I expanded into a second canary area in another room... so I was able to separate the hens to another room when I wanted breeding season to end.

2020 also had some lessons to learn.

1) For the first round of all hens, I left each egg under the hen as she laid them.  Some breeders I trust do this with success.   I found it depended upon the ability of the hen.... good mothers had no problem with a late hatching chick.  First time mothers, and nervous mothers, didn't do as well, and I shuffled hatchlings around to foster parents. 
>>> I will take out each egg as laid and put in a small numbered cup, as I have done in years past.
***  I did try Julian's (of Julian's Bird Room) Top Tip ( in episode 5 of Season Three of The Canary Room) to take the nest out after the hen laid each day's egg, hang it on the outside of the cage, and return later in the day.  I will do that again.  HOWEVER, be careful not to knock off the nests!  I would not recommend it in small bird rooms or if someone is as clumsy as I am!

2)  There were two pairs in the same family line of Opals/Agates that did not produce any keeping youngsters.  Feather quality was off, size and shape were poor.  I had no idea they would produce such inferior kids.  They were culled late summer... and that is the end of that family.  

3)  I did lose my two oldest American Singers .... but I was consoled by the fact I do have many nice sons and daughters.

4)  I did have some thin shelled eggs, so will be adding a calcium supplement to my schedule.

5) I am questioning my use of bread crumbs in my softfood mix... definitely will not be using as much, and not until they are weaned.  I think I will be keeping a higher level of protein in the soft food for the youngsters all the way from hatch to end of molting. 
>>>  The frequency or time of day that I fed eggfood may have been a contributing factor, but I think I did everything okay, even if not on a schedule.  Somehow, I wasn't happy with the final size/shape of some of the very last hatches. This will be an area for more notes and thinking over this coming year.  I have notes on overuse of bread crumbs in my journals from years past.

6)  I am also questioning the correct use of artificial /LED lighting.  As well as the newest sets of cages.  The cages are enclosed except on the front and each section can be lit with LED cage lights. 
>>>  I have not proven this theory yet, but I feel the bright light within the cage, resulting in a darker world on the outside .... led to birds not as aware of me/what I did outside their cages.  Results were that the youngsters were not as tame, friendly and calm as the youngsters who grew up in a more open wire-only cage.

Here are several photos of my bird room and the new expanded area with the new enclosed cage  units... taken as I transitioned from 'After Molt Rest' to 'Winter', with cages for sale birds, the hens together in some type of flight, and males in individual cages so I can make notes on their behavior.

My Pairings --- Past and Future:

I did alot of reading and thinking about my Breeding Goals, for both now and in future years.
I will write about this in a post in the very near future, with photos of my most promising keeping youngsters! 

I have updated the Canary Links page... there are now over 140 web links to good, interesting, and useful information.

December In The Bird Room --- Month by Month Journal

December was warm and sunny outdoors, and also sunny in the bird room.
I actually shipped birds this month!  Amazing!
I usually order bulk seed for the coming breeding season, but found postage costs were rising higher and higher!
I determined not to fall into the old habit of simply ordering smaller bags off Amazon.... and experimented with several new sources with online stores.  Some good, some bad.
Generally, I still recommend Herman Bros. Seed, WingzStore, and MyParrotFood.  All have online stores, plus great personal attention to phone orders.
November was my Canary Fun and Games month, where I host a few games on Facebook.... oh, it was fun!  There were many photos entered in the Photo Contest.... and four winners throughout the month!
I have added several of the winners, plus a new jigsaw puzzle to the Canary Fun and Games page here.

Here is one of the puzzles:
Have fun!

December In The Bird Room --- Month By Month Journal

December 2018 In Summary:
I fed a different diet than usual.  Not by choice!
Was it wrong?  We will see!
One of the most important things to success with breeding canaries is the canary seed mix, in my opinion.  I prefer a plain mix of canary seed and rape.
In fact, this seed mix is the Number One thing that I feel is responsible for success or failure in breeding canaries.  There are several other factors to do in canary breeding, but what you feed them is number one.
Most canary/finch mixes, especially the ones available in 2 pound bags at pet shops, contain too many other types of seeds, such as millet.  The bits of pellet or egg food and dehydrated fruits such as coconut are not necessary and I think of them as 'candy'.  I have nothing against pellets, but I feel the ones in a seed mix are of inferior quality.  These mixes also contain broken oat hulls which lower the overall protein of the canary's diet. 

They LOVE to take a bath in the Ioford/DufoPlus water!

Oh, and I learned several new things about genetics.... and I bought 15 new birds!

December in the Bird Room -- Month by Month Journal

December
Month by Month
Journal
=============
This is the first post in my new 'Month by Month In the Bird Room' Journal!  I am hoping to share some of the tips and tricks I've found help me in the care of my canaries all year.  It will also be fun to share some of the JOY I find while watching and working with my birds!
     COMMENTS are enabled for these journal posts so please jump in with your advice or questions!
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     My first goal for the month is to finish my paperwork for 2016.  This includes my master hatch record, records of birds sold, and updating my Bird Book with new birds purchased and youngsters kept.  I will explain my record keeping when I begin printing the new forms ready for next year.

•      December is the month I deep clean my bird room!  That means walls, floors, cages, seed containers, watering bottles, table, chairs, and anything else that I find in my bird room!  :)
       I will also go over this past year... and if something needs changing for next year, now is the time to plan for it.  I will rearrange my cages, and use a few smaller cages, since my breeding plans for 2017 include over 30 pairs.  I also need to invent some way to mobilize the row of cages on the north wall;  the main breaker box for the whole house is on that wall... and I live in fear that we will need to flip a breaker in the middle of my favorite hen's incubation!  Yikes! 
•      I will also begin to make my softfood mix.  (The recipe is included in my Care Sheet.)  I freeze the dry mix in quart bags or deli tubs.  If I make it now, when I am not busy, the mix will be more uniform, plus it is FUN! 
•     I treated my adult birds with S76 in their water, as per instructions, in November.  This month, I will treat all the birds. 
•     This is also the time to check all birds for overgrown beaks or toenails.  It's not a difficult task, after the first time.
•     Now to the topic of DIET.
      The males and youngsters are on a 'normal winter' diet of an enriched canary seed mix, which has a few treat seeds included, with a small amount of veggies occasionally.  The hens are on a modified 'austerity' diet of a basic canary seed mix, with apple slices once or twice a week.
       The austerity diet was began in September when the adult hens seemed to be over the molt.  I placed them in a larger flight and moved them into a different room.  I also began to simplify their seed mix, and cutting out some of the 'treats', both greens and eggfood.  Mineral powder and cuttlebone were kept in front of them all the time.  And they have all the seed they want.
       I feed the young canaries and males with a slightly 'richer' seed mix, with more oil-rich seeds.  And I feed them the occasional treat.
       BUT, I am trying to prolong the beginning of the hens' breeding impulses.
       The apple is an experiment!  I discovered, by accident, that consuming a large amount of apple stopped my chickens from laying!   And I have read that putting water cleansers in their water may also slow the canary hens' egg laying.  The water cleanser mentioned contained citric acids.  So, I am trying the apple, with an occasional water treatment, as an experiment this winter.
       I will begin to gradually increase the variety of raw foods and treats, first with the males and young birds, then with the adult hens.... beginning in December for the males.
•     I also have a curtain I draw across the open doorway to the birdroom, so they are not kept awake when we are moving around the house, with lights on, in the early mornings and late evenings. I want the light hours in the bird room the same as outdoors!

    I just received seed from Herman Brothers...and I love it!  I ordered a simple mix of canary seed and rape seed, plus other special supplemental seeds such as thistle, fennel, anise, white and black lettuces.  Oh, and cuttlebone!  : )

   I am also rearranging and cleaning the bird room!  : )