There are many ways to raise canaries and there is no one right way. What works for one person may not work for another person for a variety of reasons, such as environment, personal schedule, the strain of birds, etc. So, trying to do everything exactly as another breeder does is no guarentee of success. One needs experience to learn how to observe the birds and know when to make modifications. No matter what you do, sometimes things will not work out. Everyone eventually works out their own way to do things. However, we all have to start somewhere. This page provides a list of what I use and how to get it.
Here are some of my articles that you might want to read to
understand why I use what I do:
Basic Pet Canary Care
Introduction to Canary Breeding
Here is a webpage with some photos of my nests,
showing the way I attach the liners with a fastener.
Ginger's Canary Breeding Photos
Many of the supplies I use are sold by Sunshine Bird Supplies, the retail division of Higgins. They don't have a current catalog available, so you need to phone them and describe what you want. Their phone numbers are: 1-800-878-2666 or 1-305-593-2666. They are located in Florida, so remember they are on Eastern Time.
Bands
I recommend ordering closed bands from a society that
represents the breed of canary you are raising. If it has
no society for bands, then order from your local canary club
if they sell club canary bands. Failing that, order directly
from Red Bird Products
P.O. Box 376, Mt. Aukum, CA 95656.
Phone: 530/620-7440.
They also sell plastic open bands.
Bathtubs
For individual birds, I use small, shallow plastic bird baths,
available from pet shops and many mail order suppliers. For flight
cages with large doors, I put a larger, covered bathtub inside the
cage (not hanging on the door). The type is Hagen All Seasons
Parakeet/Budgie Bath With Transparent Cover. It can be mail ordered
from Dr. Fosters, Toll
free phone: (888) 224-3247.
Breeding Cages
Model RB-35 from Sunshine Bird Supplies, buy a stack of 4 cages
with the stand. Here is a webpage I created with more information
about these cages and how to assemble them. RB-35
Information
Cage Paper
I line all my cages with Kraft brown wrapping paper,
which I cut from 18 inch wide rolls. I usually buy 40 pound paper
(that is how the thickness is specified). I currently buy
my paper from Kelly Paper in Palo Alto because it is close
to me. To find a supplier near you, look in the
yellow pages under "paper". This is too heavy to mail order.
If you cannot find a local supplier, I recommend using newspaper.
I have a paper cutter that I bought at a garage sale years ago.
New cutters can be mail ordered from large stationery suppliers.
Two sources are:
Becker's School Supplies
1-800-523-1490
Commercial Bag & Supply Company 1-800-383-1269
One mail order source of paper is Uline Shipping Supply
Conditioning Food
To condition my birds for breeding, I switch the hens to small bird
breeder formula of pellets. I used to use Kaytee Exact, but they
discontinued it late 2007. Starting in 2008, I use
Mazuri Small Bird Breeder pellets. This is sold in 25 pound bags. You can
order from
Cuttlebone Plus (800) 747-9878 or find a
Mazuri dealer near you.
Cuttlebone
There are many sources of cuttlebone. I usually buy small ones in
bulk at local feed shops or large pet supply shops.
Keep a cuttlebone in each cage at
all times, especially when a hen is laying.
Cuttlebone Holder
I use the plastic holders sold by Sunshine Bird Supplies.
Diatomaceous Earth
Non-toxic control for ants, sprinkled around the
perimeter of the bird room. Never use the swimming pool filter grade,
only use DE sold for garden pest control. Available from
Biocontrol Network and
Gardens Alive!
Egg Candler
I recommend using a small pen light, available at auto parts stores.
Fake Eggs
I always remove eggs as they are laid and replace them with fake
canary eggs made of plastic. These are available from many mail
order bird supply sources, I buy mine from Sunshine Bird Supplies.
Egg Food See Nestling Mix
Flight Cages
I move my weaned chicks to flight cages made by
Corners Limited
Phone: (800) 456-6780 or (616) 345-7599.
Greens
I provide fresh greens almost every day. I rotate between
kale, commercial dandelion, broccoli, collard greens, romaine
lettuce, bok choy, spinach and chard. I do not feed spinach or
chard during the breeding season because they bind calcium.
I don't feed fruit because the sugar can attract ants. In hot
weather I may provide cucumber or sweet corn.
Grit
I haven't supplied any grit to my canaries for several generations
now. They don't need it and it is my recommendation to not
give any to canaries, never, ever!
Hand Feeding Formula
I do not hand feed canaries completely, but occationally I feed
young chicks to give them a boost, especially late hatched chicks that
become runts. I use Kaytee Handfeeding Formula for Baby Birds,
which can be purchased from most pet supply shops. Or, you can
mail order from
Dr. Fosters, Toll free phone: (888) 224-3247. Read my article:
Handfeeding Canaries
Light Fixtures
To extend the life of full-spectrum florescent lights, use a
fixture with a real ballast, not a cheap, solid-state "shop light".
You may have to go to an electrical supply store instead of a local
hardware store. Do not use a glass or plastic filter, expose the
birds to the direct bare bulbs, but position them at least 3 feet
away to avoid cataracts. A light fixture can be hung vertically
alongside a stack of breeding cages.
Lights
I use full-spectrum Vita-Lites in my bird room.
They can be ordered from Gary Padawer at Specialty Lighting Solutions,
Tampa, Florida
Phone: 800/994-8662
Light Timer
I use a light timer from Europe which simulates sunrise and sunset
by controlled dimming of incandescent lights, but uses florescent lights
for the time in-between the start (on) and stop (off) times. I mail ordered
my timer several years ago from Audubon Publishing, as advertized in
American Cage Bird Magazine. They are no longer importing, but a similar
(or possibly the same?) timer is available from a distributor near Los
Angeles. It is called the Avi-Lite. Contact Bijan Fayyad (818) 349-3438
email: tanrobi@earthlink.net
Nests
I use open plastic canary nests which can be mail ordered from
Dr. Fosters,
Toll free phone: (888) 224-3247.
Nest Liners
I use the reusable foam nest liners from Sunshine Bird Supplies. I attach
them to the nests with brass paper fasteners, as illustrated on the
webpage linked above. Felt nest liners could also be used and
attached this way, but I like to wash and reuse the foam liners.
Nesting Material
I purchase one pound bags of the short cotton strings sold by
Red Bird Products
P.O. Box 376, Mt. Aukum, CA 95656.
Phone: 530/620-7440.
Nesting Material Holder
I use the wire holders sold by Sunshine Bird Supplies.
Nestling Mix
I use Quiko yellow egg food for my nestling food. The U.S.
distributor is now
Simbad's Birds and Pets
Email: simbads@ix.netcom.com
Phone: (877) 642-2473,
ask for Fernando when calling about the Quiko product line.
Pellets
For their maintenance diet most of the year, I provide pellets and only
feed dry seed as an occational treat. This provides a
balanced diet with all the vitamins and minerals.
I used to use Kaytee Exact, but they
discontinued it late 2007. Starting in 2008, I use
Mazuri Small Bird Maintenance pellets. This is sold in 25 pound bags or 2 pound. You can
order from
Cuttlebone Plus (800) 747-9878 or find a
Mazuri dealer near you.
Another source for the 25 pound bag is
The Cheshire Horse.
Read my article,
Feeding Canaries a Pellet Diet
Seed
I feed hard seed occationally as a treat, no more often
than once a week. In cold weather I may give some oat groats.
For most of their diet, I feed Pellets.
Soaked Seed
I soak seed in plain water for 2 days
whenever there are chicks in the nest. The seed is rinsed thoroughly
at least once a day. I provide this to the fledged chicks until they
are fully weaned and able to eat dry pellets. I use M-M Seed
Company's 48-Hour Soak Seed Mix, which I buy from Bob Erkson in
California. Phone: (209) 606-5046. For those who live further east,
Abba Products Corp. in New Jersey
and Herman Brothers in
Detroit, Michigan sell similar mixes which are formulated specially
for soaking or sprouting. Also
Clifford's Pets has a soaking mix under Miscellaneous Diets called
SSG - Soak Seed and Grain.
Water Drinkers
I like LiXit brand drinkers with 2 steel balls in a tube. For single
canaries and breeding cages, I use model BB-5 (5 ounce). For larger
flights, I use BB-10 (10 ounce) or larger bottles. Available mail order
from Woodland Bird Supply
Phone: (530) 661-7460