Brian's Yorkshire Canary Page
Articles - Breeding & Management - Eggstraordinary.
| EGGSTRAORDINARY Article published May 2003
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The canary breeding season never gets underway without its share of problems - regardless of how long you have kept birds, says BRIAN KEENAN. This season, I deliberately paired later than last year, and my birds were in fine form when I let them go to nest. Because I line breed, I invariably keep several birds off the same parents, and this time I had four sisters - all of whom had bred the previous year, and were virtually 'vice free'.
Early nestersThese hens nest early, so it was no surprise when three out of the four all laid on the same day a week after being paired, to produce my first eggs of the season. Two hens were paired to two brothers from a line I intend to develop, whilst the third and fourth hens were paired into two related cock birds from their own bloodline - father and grandson. By using these pairings, then next year if all goes well I will have birds from my main line, and a selection of young that have been altered slightly, but which still carry 50% of the same blood, for pairing back into my original stock.I could not foresee what would happen on day two, when I went to inspect my nests. One sister had laid along the nest rim, and was sitting with the egg precariously balanced next to her shoulder. A second had laid on the cage floor, I suspect from the perch, although the thick layer of wood shavings had protected the egg, and it was unharmed. The third hen had not laid at all. These things happen in the first round, and sure enough, the following morning I gathered a second egg, plus another two - this time laid correctly in each nest, from the three sisters. I waited until the fourth day to return the eggs, and again each hen had made another contribution. One egg laid on the cage floor, one on the nest pan rim (a different sister this time) and the third egg deposited into a soft food container.
I thought it was only the unflighted hens that would cause me any concerns. In every case, I had to lift the hen off her individual well-constructed nest, and all were confidently sitting on their dummy eggs. They have each immediately started incubating, as soon as I cleaned out their cages and returned their eggs and nests. And the fourth hen? She has just started laying, only three days behind her sisters. I found the first egg this morning, laid in the corner of the cage, by the seed hopper. Vice free hens? Who knows what surprises they will have in store for me as the season unfolds - or what trouble their own offspring from last year will cause, when they start laying this next week? Whether you are an established Champion or a raw beginner, you never can tell what lies ahead, and you can never let your guard slip - which is one reason why canary breeding is such a fascinating hobby.
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