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Posted by Timothy Henderson on July 12, 19100 at 17:29:29:
In Reply to: female canaries posted by A. Hild on July 07, 19100 at 19:19:12:
: On May 30, 2000, I purchased 2 female canaries. I house them in a large indoor flight cage. They have been fairly active, and they appear to be healthy; however, I am concerned because for the last 4 days, they have huddled together in a canary nest that is in their cage, and they have spent very little time out of the nest. During these 4 days, they have produced 5 eggs between them. Is it normal for them to be so inactive? All but one of the eggs was found broken on the cage floor. The other egg was in the nest, but I removed it after about a day. Even though there haven't been any eggs in the nest for a couple of days, they still continue to stay in the nest. By the way, I do have two nests in the cage, but they seem to prefer sitting together in one nest. The same female is always sitting on top of the other female. Again, is this normal? Please help! I've purchase three books on canaries, but none of them deals with these issues. Also, can you tell me how long these hens will continue to lay unfertilized eggs? I am also concerned about being around the canaries if I have a cold or some other contagious illness. Can human illnesses be transmitted to the canaries? Thank you so much for your help!!
It's best to let the birds sit on the infertile eggs for two weeks. If they keep breaking the eggs, you might try to give them a few marbles. This way, they won't keep laying eggs. Continuosly laying eggs will drain the birds energy and possibly lead to death.
As always, but especially now, make sure that the birds have a good source of vitamins and minerals.
For whatever reason, the birds both like the look of the same nest.
Why don't you get another cage -- and a male canary. This way all three will be much happier!
You can alternate the mail between the two cages. Eventually you can leave him with one of the hens. He'll help raise the young. The other hen will be able to do a good job on her own.