The song contest is now a thing of the past, we have conditioned our birds for the breeding season, the hours of work in selecting, the best possible matings, the cleaning cages, seed cups and containers, are all done, our best hen are sitting or hatching few babies and hope, just hope, some of them will make it to the next show and maybe even win some trophies in their class.  It is now when questions start.  It seems that no one of us is sure, since every year, from novices to master breeders, we hear the same questions over again.  When do you take our male out? Or do you leave him in?  When do you put him back?  Do you add second nest, or do you wait until the young birds leave the nest to place the new nest in the same spot where the old one was?  Then we start talking about plucking.  Why some hens do that?  Do you think it is a form of cannibalism?  What do you do to avoid it? 

In pairing our rollers to enhance the quality of their song, one of the principle factors to consider is the depth and tone of the stock to be used. All birds should have at least one of these qualities bred into them so that with the blending of the strains a composite may be reached so that our future show birds will have resemblance of the inherited song.

The average time taken by hen a canary to complete incubation is 13 days. For example, if a hen began to sit on her eggs on June 7, the chicks should hatch out on the 20th.  This period may vary, however, according to the number of eggs for it is a common practice among breeders to remove the first three eggs as they are laid, and return them to the nest on the evening that the third egg is deposited.

A few members recently regarding the loss of canary eggs and chicks in their infancy have approached me.  There are a few reasons why a hen may actually hatch eggs and then fail to raise chicks to a stage where they can support themselves.  An immature hen may leave the nest before the eggs hatch, or fail to feed chicks properly. She doesn’t seem to know what she should be doing and almost appears bewildered by the whole affair. These hens often do an admirable job when allowed to go to nest for a second time some weeks later. 

May is the month when most Novices will begin to see the results of the weeks spent in preparing their birds for breeding season.  With a little good fortune, nests of healthy chicks will be clamoring for more food.  The importance of correct feeding and a routine will ensure that the breeding season goes along according to the plan.  As I stressed in an earlier article, it is wise thing to keep your management as simple as possible, and to work out a strict routine you can follow according to your circumstances.  In my case that means that all seed hoppers are replenished, the drinkers washed in hot water and filled with clean water, every day of the year before I have my own breakfast.