At the time of this writing, the old year still lingers, but by the time it is tucked into your mailbox, the new year will have begun.
I hate shopping, and all the pre-New Year’s flyers advertising post-Christmas sales that plug our mailbox tell me one thing only – how much they were ripping shoppers off beforehand.
I do what little Christmas shopping I do well before the big rush. And I usually shop for things that are reasonably priced, needed, but not necessarily wanted. And I quite often irritate the cashier at the counter by returning an item that I’ve just discovered was not made in Canada to the shelf. It is just a habit that the Little Lady and I adopted quite a number of years ago, and it has not rubbed off.
Actually, I am really looking forward to the new year. I have already paired my canaries in their breeding cages, which I annually do during the week between Christmas and New Year’s. The reason being is that they originate from the Canary Islands, which are off the northwestern coast of Africa, and their little biological clock ticks to the tune of their ancestors.
Domestication has not changed that, but it has changed within the fact that they will raise several clutches, each rapidly one right after the other, over a much-extended period of time. This is, of course, if proper ample feeding and clean water are provided on a daily basis.
I start off by extending the corresponding light period in their aviary up to 16 hours daily. Shortly after that, I increase their feeding habits by increasing their diet. I do this by feeding, in addition to their seed, water and gravel, a twice-daily small piece of fresh, crisp Romaine lettuce, and changed daily, half a hardboiled egg. This is placed, just as it is, in an egg-sized cup. They will eat, in part, both white and yoke and nibble sufficient of the shell to replace the calcium in their system, which depletes when they put shells on their own tiny eggs.
Canaries need clean, clean water. You can’t get away with just refilling their dishes. They must each time be scrubbed clean. I use small crockery dishes, as they are easy to clean with a swipe or two of steel wool in slightly soapy water. I have had no problem with Dawn soap.
Canaries build their own nests out of cotton string (don’t use wool). Cut in two-inch lengths in the wire screen cups provided. Just stick the cut-up string in between the wire of the cage and leave them alone. If you try to help them by putting nesting material in the nest cup, the chances are they will abort the process, thinking some other bird has claimed the nest. You’ll find their eggs dropped on the floor.
Canaries usually lay two to five light blue, sparsely-speckled eggs in each clutch, and with the extended lighting, seldom are any infertile. The eggs are laid on successive days, and the babies hatch accordingly 14 days later.
The young grow fast and will leave the nest at 14 to 16 days old. Though they need to be fed by their parents for another week to 10 days, the hen will build another nest and start the cycle again.
Though the average is three, I have had them do this as many as seven times during one winter/spring season. They are prolific and fast-growing. The young are as large as their parents at 16 days but won’t start to sing, ready for the market place, until they are 10 months old.
They are, without doubt, a hobby that pays for itself.
Take care, ‘cause we care.
barrie@barriehopkins.ca
519-986-4105