October in the Bird room --- Month by Month Journal

October
Month by Month Journal
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 COMMENTS are enabled for these journal posts so please jump in with your advice or questions!
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I have TWO BIG THINGS to face head on this month!
Managing the 'winter rest' period for the birds, and setting a good goal for myself and my bird room!
I have continued the simpler diet and also shut off the heat vents from our central heating system.  The average temperature in the bird room was actually rising, because we had turned on the central heat in the house, and because the sun is lower in the sky at this season in Montana and was shining directly in the large window. 
I now have my adult males caged in groups of three and the hens are in several larger fight cages.  Everyone seems happy, and content to eat and sleep!  No thoughts of nesting!
Everything has settled into a routine.... cleaning the bird room continues  as I sell some of the youngsters and rearrange remaining cages.
So, now to the BIGGEST TASK of all:  setting a realistic and satisfying goal for myself!
Every breeder's situation will be different, depending upon their time, other jobs, space, future breeding plans and your original reason for keeping canaries!
For me, I originally bought canaries for my interaction with them... for watching their individual personalities and how they responded to us humans.
In a few years, I realized I loved making breeding plans and kept a few tame ones that had attached themselves to me!
That began the slippery slope toward buying more breeds, types and colors... of keeping this one and that one 'to see what their pairing would produce'.  This summer I spent my bird room time cleaning, feeding, washing and keeping records!
I did not have time to sit in a rocking chair with a cup of coffee and watch the birds.  I took notes of the ones that were especially tame, were first to sing, or grew long nails and beak.  But no time for anything else!
I do not want to be a COLLECTOR, where I would need a pair of every type that caught my eye.  But it seemed to be where I was heading.  
I want to remember why I began with canaries:  the fun of each individual bird!
I have decided to keep only those that make me smile.. the ones that I have future plans for.  I have five or six family lines of exceptional birds, both in singing and personality... and I have several family lines of American Singers.  Plus, I have been very impressed with the qualities of the agates and opals.
This spring I began with 30+ pairs... and I set a goal of 20+ pairs for next year.
I feel happier already!

September in the Bird Room --- Month by Month Journal

September
Month by Month Journal
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This month, I was busy with ranch and family, so I spent less time in the bird room, which turned out to be a good thing!
I began a 'simple diet' for my adult birds: a basic seed diet, almost no fresh greens or treats, and no egg food.  The young birds were given a few oil seeds, and various treats such as fall dandelion leaves, etc.
All the birds look healthy, happy and are growing like weeds.  I have been VERY HAPPY with my new crop of youngsters this year!  I have 35 set aside that I want to keep for myself!  Yikes!!!
At this time of year, I want my adults to totally forget breeding!!!  They have earned a rest period.  If everyone is coming out of the molt in good condition, I even stop mineral supplements, except for cuttle bone.  The youngsters do continue to have mineral powder in their cages.
I did intend to begin my 'apple-feeding' experiment this fall but I forgot this year!
(I posted last year, how feeding apples to my poultry flock caused them to stop laying eggs... so I feel daily feeding of a small slice of apple may help my canary hens stop tearing paper and laying.)
I was also late at photographing the young birds for sale... I just ran out of time.
I began my 'deep clean' of the bird room and all breeding supplies such as nests, cages, fake eggs, etc.
Both the cleaning task,and the realization of just how many birds I had for sale, made me realize... really and truly realize, I had begun this breeding season with TOO many pairs!  ( I will address this top next month!) 

Can Canaries Share a Cage? and No, He Won't Be Lonely!

You may think:  what a strange question!  Of course, canaries can share a cage!
Yes, they can share a cage... in fact, you can put many canaries in a cage.
Remember our grade school language lesson:  'Can' means you are physically able; 'May' means you have permission and it's a good idea!
In many situations, two or more canaries can co-exist in the same cage.  I've heard of two male canaries living peacefully in the same small cage for years.  Only one would sing at a time.. one did not sing much until the other one died.
My dad had a pair who lived happily side by side also for years.  Recently, my mom bought a pair, and they did not exist peacefully!  The hen was the Boss, and would not let the male eat until she had eaten her favorites and was full.
I've seen birds who died of a broken heart soon after their mate passed away.
One lady had a beautiful aviary and tried many times to set up a flock of multiple canaries.  Time after time, they fought and squabbled until all were dead but the strongest one.  How sad.

PLEASE watch your birds.... please separate any that have personality conflicts! 
Some canaries will peacefully share a cage.... others will not stop fighting, picking feathers, keeping others from eating... often times until one or more are dead!

Are you thinking:  won't a single bird be lonely?
Like other companion pets, such as cats, one bird alone will attach itself to you, if you give it any attention at all.  If you have more than one canary, they will be more interested and entertained by each other, and won't be as devoted to you!  Just like a two-cat household.... what trouble one doesn't think of, the other one will!
A cage that is in a room where people spend time, such as a kitchen or living room, is ideal for a single canary.  Make sure you feed him everyday, and that is all the time and attention he needs.  He will appreciate and respond to more time spent talking to him, feeding him treats, or having your chair close to his cage.  But if you have a busy schedule, throw away the cups that hold feed and water for a week... and simply give him seed, water, and treats every day.

Here are two interesting articles to read, and then make your decision of how many birds to buy, how many to put in a single cage, and how a canary or two will fit in your life and your house!

And read this article:

Canaries are particular about their Territorial Rights!

August in the Bird Room -- Month by Month Journal

August
Month by Month Journal
=============

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I really like the Ioford/DufoPlus combination!!!
I have changed my softfood ingredients, as usual for this time of year.  I cut back on the actual hard boiled egg... reducing the protein.

In my opinion, too much protein in the diet of young canaries causes leg soreness and excessive beak growth.
Too many carbohydrates can cause obesity and poor health in future years.

Before weaning from the parents' cage, I like to feed high protein softfoods, and for a few weeks after they are in their own cage, I continue to feed egg food.
But as they get older, and are eating well... I begin to add raw grated carrots, even more greens, and a bit more oats to their soft food.
To help with molting and to keep them growing well, I make sure they have a good mineral supplement and all the basic seed mix they want.
This is the month I love, because I get to hear them begin to twitter!
The first ones to begin really singing are the ones I get the most excited about!


This year has been a great one... I see improvements in color, size and shape that I am excited about!
I am photographing each bird for sale, and the SALES pages will soon be online!

Watch your flights of youngsters....!!!!!

Please watch your young canaries, especially if they are in groups in flights.
There is always some noise as they flock to the seed dishes, with hens bickering.  Young males will often compete for a favorite perch. 
Some of these disagreements become out and out battles.  You notice tattered and broken feathers.
Other times, a weaker bird may simply be kept from eating and drinking.


I watch for a few minutes each morning for a couple of days, and can usually pick out the ones that are starting these conflicts... and they are moved to their own cages.


This advice comes from another breeder:  as you begin to see which are hens and which are males, separate them by sex.  She says this is one way to 'keep peace'.
http://canarytales.blogspot.com/2011/09/this-years-hatch-puffing-up-in-flight.html

July in the Bird Room -- Month by Month Journal

July

Month by Month Journal
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I also learned something this month:
FOLLOW YOUR INSTINCTS!
If you suspect the seed mix you have trusted is NOT as good as it was in the past, stop using it and find another source for fresh seed!!!

For the past four months, I have battled seed/flour moths that I KNOW came from the 25# bags of seed mix.  I also cringed every time I emptied the bottom 'dust' of each bag into the garbage.
Last fall, I purchased 100's of pounds of canary seed mixes from two sources.  I had good storage areas and I was hoping not to worry about buying seed for some time. Well......
From the first bag, one of the mixes was less than ideal.  I kept thinking the next bag would be better.  It wasn't.

Poor mixes with stale seed and low quality ingredients WILL have a noticeable effect on your birds!
I 'got by' because I also had a good seed mix to feed... and my soft food mix recipe is very nutritious.
But as soon as I bought a new brand of FRESH seed mix, there was an immediate improvement in the youngsters' condition!!!


So, do not ignore your instincts!  If you think something is not quite right, change it.


Another tip:  Watch your youngsters for cage mates who fight.  Sometimes it is simply a normal squabble around the feed dishes.  Or it could be something really serious, such as young males fighting.  Even if they don't show broken, tattered feathers, the more dominate birds usually keep one or more of the more timid ones away from the food.
Please watch for slower, thinner birds in cages where you have multiple canaries... they may not be eating or drinking enough. 
I always keep extra cages ready so I can move out any that are causing disruptions in the flights.

June in the Bird Room -- Month by Month Journal

June
Month by Month
Journal
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 COMMENTS are enabled for these journal posts so please jump in with your advice or questions!
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This month was a month of DON'Ts and mistakes!!!
      There were some exciting, big events happening in my family, and I was needed many places besides the bird room.  I had made plans for several SHORTCUTS, that I thought would let me spend less time in the bird room.
     Well, I discovered there is no substitute for TIME.
     First, the things I did right:

• I had placed a calendar on the wall of the birdroom, with three pencils!  : )  That made it easy for me to jot down when a hen began laying, when I returned the eggs to her nest, etc.  Definitely will do that next year!
• I also made an 'egg box' to store/organize the eggs as I took them out of the nests.  It was simply a large cardboard box, with a piece of paper as a lid.  ( I will do something a little more sophisticated next year!)  I padded 12 little foam cups with cotton balls, numbered them and 12 clothespins.  Inside each I placed 4 plastic eggs.
  When a hen layed her first egg, I put a clothespin on her cage, placed her egg in the corresponding cup, and placed a fake egg in her nest.  When I got busy and wasn't paying as much attention, the four eggs were a reminder that I was supposed to return all her eggs to her nest.  Sometimes if I was busy, and saw there was only one plastic egg left in the cup, I would simply return all the eggs to her that morning.
  The box also was a reminder for me to check the hens' nests.... I counted how many little cups had hen eggs, and would make sure I had check that many cages.
  You can tell how rushed I was!!!!!
• I also made sure I was stocked up with everything I would need for breeding:  extra nests and nesting material, extra bags of feed and seed, etc. 
• I also recommend, if you are rushed on time, to have twice as many feed dishes and waterers as needed..... this way, you will have a clean dish without washing the same one.
  Just remember, a tray of dirty dishes and water tubes do not wash themselves!  One of my chores just before bed was washing a sinkfull of canary stuff!

     Now... on to the things I did wrong!

• I did not schedule days to band chicks... sometimes chicks in each nest grow at different rates  and of course, different hatch dates mean clutches are ready for bands at different times.
  I just didn't have time for banding... but I do think two scheduled days each week would have made it possible, even with little time to spend in the birdroom.  Next year.....
• I did not feed softfood twice a day every day.  And the hens that were raising a nest by themselves, a poor feeding pair, and an older pair did not do well by themselves!  I did lose 4 young chicks that I think were because I did not provide softfood as often as was needed.
  :(  That was a sobering lesson to learn.
• I did not sweep the floor every day, and there was birdseed all over the rest of the house! 
• I did not write down my observations right that day.... and when I did scribble something on the calendar, often times I cannot read my writing or do not understand what I meant!!!
  I do remember which hens fought with which males, and which males were good fathers, etc., but I did not have any observations about the youngsters, which I will miss!
• I left some chicks with their parents too long.  Several hens plucked the tail feathers of their first kids while building their second nests. One hen is a sweetheart, and still has two of her first clutch while she is nesting now, but I am taking them out today!

     Got the bad out of the way, now on to the GOOD!   I was very pleased with my pairing plans.... I have some great youngsters!  I have already begun making plans for next year.  But more on that in the next two months!