| WEANING FIRST ROUND CHICKS Article published April 2003
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It pays to use common sense, rather than following books, when weaning canaries.
To the newcomer, the canary breeding season seems to be a constant battle aimed at heading off disaster. If so, then keep hold of that thought, because it will stand you in good stead, over the years! No sooner have you anxiously peeped into the nest (only when the hen is already off, tending to her needs) to check whether any chicks have hatched, than you are checking the cage floor for fallen nestlings, or anxiously awaiting the days when the first chicks venture out of their nests for the first time.
Return to baseThey will return to base during the evening, and usually will continue to do so for several days. After a few days out of the nest, you will see the chicks happily feeding themselves, rather than simply crying to be fed by their parents. At this stage, it is safe to move them into their own quarters.I am not a believer in rushing the time when I remove the first round chicks from their parents, because these chicks are much more important than any later bred birds you may be lucky enough to rear. They will form the nucleus of your show team and your future breeding team, so they need treating with the utmost care. I cannot see any point in removing chicks early - say at 21 days or so, just because the guidebook says to do so. If they need a few extra days in which to develop - and assuming their parents are not plucking or bullying them, then there is no rush. Gambling their survival against the possibility of full eggs in the second nest, and the consequent struggle to rear those chicks, is simply a non-starter! I usually try to wean two or three nests of chicks at the same time, preferring to house a group of eight to twelve birds together, so that they may each learn from the more forward ones, for the first week or so.
PerchesI place several perches at a height of two inches off the cage floor, all about four inches apart, at one end of the weaning cage, which is usually a double or treble breeding cage. At the other end, I place trays of soft food, and I remove all hard seeds from the cage. Water is available although rarely used, at least for the first few days. Paper sheets are used on the cage floor, and I remove a sheet with every feed, in order to remove any stale foods that may cause digestive disorders.If occasionally a young bird continually cries to be fed, after a short time I will replace it into the hens cage, where it is soon fed, and begin the weaning process again, the next day. Safe rather than sorry is the motto. After a week or so as a group, the young birds are ready for single cages, and at this stage, hard seed can be provided, with rapes, millets and perilla seeds preferred initially, building up to the harder seeds over the next couple of weeks. |