Canary care in summer
We hope your breeding season was successful and that your flight cages are teeming with active youngsters jumping from perch to perch. It's a wonderful sight and the result of much hard work on your part, not to mention unyielding dedication by the parents to their offspring.
But what do you do now? Summer is a time of liesure for us and it is a time for your young birds to rest also. But that doesn't mean that we can be lackadaisical about their care. Summer is a time of physical recovery for them and they need our strict attention.
Most of your aviary's inhabitants will be near the end of their molt. You should have guided them along that path with increased proteins in their diet, greens, calcium from cuttlebone or suppliments, and frequent baths. The baths are especially important as they help to remove old feathers and
stimulate the growth of new ones. Also, many believe that feeding cucumbers will hasten the molt.
Your adult hens can be returned to their flight cages and your mature males can be housed in their individual quarters. Let them rest from the labors of the breeding season and provide them with subdued lighting throughout the summer.
Your adult males will resume regain their voices after the silence of their molt. It's a welcome sound.
Also, this is an ideal time to begin rudimentary training of your promising young males. Place them into smaller cages, not show cages, but commercial pet canary cages so that they can be moved to different rooms in the house. Let thenm have breakfast with you or spend time with you in the family room -- all the while keeping them exposed only to their schedule of shortened hours of daylight. The purpose is to get them used to movement, new sights and sounds, and most of all, to people.
However, be forewarned that when you do this, the birds often have to be returned to individual cages. So be prepared to cage them separately or fights may ensue in the flights.
Feeding at this time is quite a relief from the regimen of making and serving egg food. While a hardboiled egg is a welcome treat now, the primary diet should be seed with occasional suppliments
such as greens and fruits.
Each season of our hobby has its special routines and excitements. Before long, fall will arrive and our thoughts will turn to the show season. Together with good fortune, the above hints about summer in our aviaries will lead to a healthy team of singers for competition and strong females fully ready to be conditioned for breeding season
But what do you do now? Summer is a time of liesure for us and it is a time for your young birds to rest also. But that doesn't mean that we can be lackadaisical about their care. Summer is a time of physical recovery for them and they need our strict attention.
Most of your aviary's inhabitants will be near the end of their molt. You should have guided them along that path with increased proteins in their diet, greens, calcium from cuttlebone or suppliments, and frequent baths. The baths are especially important as they help to remove old feathers and
stimulate the growth of new ones. Also, many believe that feeding cucumbers will hasten the molt.
Your adult hens can be returned to their flight cages and your mature males can be housed in their individual quarters. Let them rest from the labors of the breeding season and provide them with subdued lighting throughout the summer.
Your adult males will resume regain their voices after the silence of their molt. It's a welcome sound.
Also, this is an ideal time to begin rudimentary training of your promising young males. Place them into smaller cages, not show cages, but commercial pet canary cages so that they can be moved to different rooms in the house. Let thenm have breakfast with you or spend time with you in the family room -- all the while keeping them exposed only to their schedule of shortened hours of daylight. The purpose is to get them used to movement, new sights and sounds, and most of all, to people.
However, be forewarned that when you do this, the birds often have to be returned to individual cages. So be prepared to cage them separately or fights may ensue in the flights.
Feeding at this time is quite a relief from the regimen of making and serving egg food. While a hardboiled egg is a welcome treat now, the primary diet should be seed with occasional suppliments
such as greens and fruits.
Each season of our hobby has its special routines and excitements. Before long, fall will arrive and our thoughts will turn to the show season. Together with good fortune, the above hints about summer in our aviaries will lead to a healthy team of singers for competition and strong females fully ready to be conditioned for breeding season
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