| Compiled and edited by Paul Brockman
2006
I have compiled this article with the beginner to breeding and exhibiting Red Canaries in mind.In relating the main interesting aspects of this culture,I have tried to keep all details in simple terms without becoming too involved with technical,theoretic or genetic data.In this way it is hoped that the basic details,often sought by newcomers to this unique hobby,can be obtained within the following pages.
Information and inspiration has been drawn from many sources and my thanks go to family of the late Sid Barber for allowing me to reproduce parts of a recently discovered manuscript.
It is assumed that the reader will have already done some research into housing,feeding and breeding canaries and as there are many fine books that deal with these subjects,I have not clouded the issue by relating my own methods.
P.E.Brockman.
e-mail lizcol@sky.com
The story of how Red Canaries first originated is a rather long and very involved subject.It may suffice here just to say that in the 1920's experimental breeders successfully crossed a canary with a black hooded red sisken,thereby establishing the 'red factor' in the domesticated canary.Owing to the efforts of those early breeders we now have canaries far different from the yellow varieties,Red canaries not only require a selective breeding programme to improve and control 'type',they also need the breeders ability to colour feed his birds to perfection during the moulting period.
Exhibition Red lipochrome canaries are visually recognised as being 'clear','ticked',or 'varigated'.The term 'clear' indicates a bird of one clear colour, that is to say no dark pigment can be seen on the plumage. A 'ticked' bird is one that shows one dark pigment ,the size of which is no larger than can be covered by a one pence piece,and the 'tick' mark can be anywhere on the bird. If more dark pigment is apparent on the bird than would otherwise qualify it to be ' ticked' ( ie; it is larger than can be covered by a one pence piece ) the bird is classed as 'varigated'.
Without going into too much detail concerning the pigmented plumage and varigation factors in relation to the clear feathered canary,it can briefly be explianed that the original wild canary,from which all domestictaed breeds have evolved,has the genetical ability to produce three colours in its plumage, these being black,brown and yellow.The black and brown are pattern pigments formed from the bird's body proteins,these are know as 'Melanins'. The yellow is formed from fat-soluble colouring matter which is derived from the bird's diet and this is called 'Lipochrome'. These Melanin and Lipochrome factors are rather unstable and niether factor holds any predicted dominence over the other,because of this circumsatnce it becomes possible ,by progressive breeding methods ,to produce specimens showing fully pigmented plumage,varying degrees of varigated plumage or clear feathered birds. In Red canaries we have replaced the yellow Lipochrome factor with Red Lipochrome colouring.
Many years of endevour by specialist breeders have produced the Red Canary we see to day and there are specialist clubs, such as the Canary Colour Breeders Association,that can guide and assist the newcomer.
For the reader with internet access a visit to www.colourcanaries.co.uk will provide more information alternatively the C.C.B.A. Secretary can be contacted by telephoning 01622 717423.
The Red Lipochrome Canary series has three related but different coloured birds.These are Red,Red Ivory (Rose) and the Mosaic,all can be inter-bred with one another but this practise is not advisable and each variety should be mated as seperate pairs within their own group.Certain circumstances can permit the breeding together of birds within the series to produce specific advantages but the indiscriminate pairing of any birds from any group can bring about some very undesirable results regarding the colour and quality of any offspring .Although the Red Canary started life as an experiment some 80 years ago it can now be regarded as having some 'pedigree' that should be preserved and improved with each passing generation .
Each variety in the three groups have their own characteristic specialities and before dealing with them in turn it should be explained that the Red and Red Ivory birds also carry two distinct feather qualities known as 'Intensive' and 'Non Intensive'. This feather quality is similar to the 'Yellow' and 'Buff' feathering recognised by type breeders of Yorkshire,Norwich,Border& Gloster canaries, but because we are dealing with Red ground birds (not yellow) we refer to them as being 'Intensive Red' , 'Non Intensive Red', 'Intensive Red Ivory' and 'Non Intensive Red Ivory'.
Intensive can be described as being 'hard' feather whilst the Non Intensive is known as 'soft' feather.Not only do these two types of body feather have different textures ,they also have a different shape. The plumage appearence of a clear Intensive Red or a clear Intensive Red Ivory may lead us to believe that it is made up of feathers composed of one solid colour.However ,if we examine the body feather we find that only the tip carries the visual colouring of the bird and the remaining part of the feather is white in colour,this white part is called the 'under-flue' and can vary in colour with different varieties.These feathers,when laid tight and close to the birds body,form the solid looking red plumage.
Non Intensive feathering is found to be quite different ,the tip of an Non Intensive's body feather is still the only part carrying the colour but along the extreme outside edge and blending into the colour we find a delicate line of white.These feathers,when laid tight and close gives a white frosting effect to the whole body plumage colour.If we compare the the two types of feather we find the shape of an Intensive feather is long and narrow whilst the Non Intensive is a broader and shorter feather.
The two forms of feather should be selected to make up suitable breeding pairs because the method of pairing Intensive to Non Intensive ensures a stable balance in the feather quality of the offspring. It is not surprising that clear Red canaries are often the most desired of Colour Canaries,their brilliant coloured and unblemished plumage seems to symbolize a bird of excellent pedigree.
Adult clear Intensive Reds of exhibition standard have a completely full plumage of 'fiery red' coloured feathers and the full description of this bird is 'Flighted Intensive Clear Red'.A young Intensive Red only shows its body and head feathers of red colouring , the tail and wing flights will be white .This bird is described as an 'Unflighted Intensive Clear Red'.
The difference in the plumage of these two birds ( flighted and unflighted) is because we are dealing with a colour-fed variety of canary.Red canaries are not red in colour when they have grown their first feathers as nestlings and on leaving the nest their whole plumage is a creamy white colour.
During the first moult only the body and head feathers are shed and replaced,the tail and wing flight feathers remain in tact and are not shed until the following years moult.Colour feeding only shows an effect on newly grown feathers,so when the first year birds have completed their moult they are left with uncoloured tail and flight feathers. Thus the terms'flighted' and 'unflighted' refer to whether the bird is an adult and has moulted it's flights,or is a youngster in its first year and not yet discradedits flight feathers.This also allows you,to some degree,to ascertain the age of a bird.
Of course the same applies to Non Intensive Clear Reds in that they too will have white tails and wing flights in the first year, although it may not be so pronounced due to the white frosting in the body feather.Terms to identify the Non Intensive are 'Flighted Non Intensive Clear Red' and 'Unflighted Non Intensive Clear Red'.
The above only applies to exhibition standard in the United Kingdom,on the Continent and in the U.S.A. it is the practise to colour feed in the nest.This practise means the colouring agent is in the bird as its feathersare formed and all red feathers will be grown,the only way to ensure you are looking at a first year bird in this case is if it is rung with a current year ring.
We shall deal with colour feeding later but suffice it to say for now that if you intend to exhibit Red canaries in the United Kingdom colour feeding will not commence until the young bird is 5/6 weeks old.
Intensive and Non Intensive Reds have their own characteristic qualities and a feature resulting from their different feather textures tends to present the Non Intensive as a better 'type' bird,their soft textured plumage makes them an ideal exhibition bird.The frosting factor in Non Intensives calls for careful planning by the breeder of exhibition stock when birds are paired up for breeding,without control the frosting can become progressively thicker to such a degree that it can mask the red colouring to present a near 'white'bird.It can also infest the feathering of Intensives to the point whereby it is difficult to distinguish between whether a bird is a frosted Intensive or an Non Intensive.
Hens are more prone to having a stronger frost factor than cocks and this is no doubt due to their ancestral inheritance aquired from the Black Hooded Red Sisken,the species used in experiments to produce the Redcanary.Later we shall deal with the Mosaic Red canary and take the subject of frosting further.
It may also be worth mentioning that varigated birds have a roll of some importance by helping to keep a good depth of ground colour in the clearReds.It becomes apparent that if clear birds are progressively paired together over several breeding seasons the depth of colour in the prevailing stock will become weaker.To hold a deep colour in clear reds,breeders often use a good coloured varigated bird paired to a clear and this method serves to enhance the ground colour in the offspring,which are expected to be Clear, Ticked & Varigated.
The Red Ivory (Rose) is a 'Mutation' relative of the Red Canary,first bred by a Dutchman, P.J. Helder, in the 1950's,from a pair of normal red ground canaries.The effect of the mutation is that it dilutes the plumage colour of the red to give us a very unique salmon pink coloured bird. A 'Mutation' is a bird that has come into being in defiance of Mendals Law which states that "like produces like".Mutations occur when the there is a breakdown within the body molecules "D.N.A" (Deoxyribo Nuclaic Acid), this breakdown renders the bird incapable of producing the same identity as it's parents and in the instance of a Red Ivory it is the ability to reproduce the deep rich red in its plumage that has been lost.
Red Ivory canaries , like clear Reds, are prolific breeders and the usaual pairing of Intensive to Non Intensive is the norm.Again varigation can be used to help maitain the ground colour but it is also advisable to occasionally introduce a good deeply coloured Intensive Red into a strain of Red Ivories to provide the desired deep shade of pink colouring. When using a Mutation canary to pair to a normal the breeding expectations follow a certain pattern with regard to which colour and sex the young will be.
Red Ivory canaries have a recessive sex linked mode of inheritence when paired to a Red canary,but without going into the subject of genetics to explain sex linkage it is enough to note that there are five basic pairings and each produces a different result.Some of these pairings supply us with cock birds that although are of normal Red appearence,'carry' the mutation gene in a mutant form and this gene effectively reappears in later breeding.These are called 'carrier cocks'.Hens from these pairings are either Red or Red Ivory and can only carry the mutation gene if they are the latter.
Basic pairings for the Red Ivory and the expectations from thier breeding ,are given in the following table:-
Red Ivory Cock X Red Ivory Hen = Red Ivory Cocks and Hens.
Red Cock X Red Ivory Hen = All red but the Cocks will be carriers.
Red Ivory Cock X Red Hen =Red Ivory Hens & carrier Cocks.
Red Ivory Carrier X Red Ivory Hen = Red Ivory Cocks , carrier Cocks , Red Ivory Hens , Red Hens.
Red Ivory Carrier X Red Hen = Red Cocks, Carrier Cocks, Red Hens ,Red Ivory Hens.
As you can see from the above pairings 4 & 5 should be avoided as it is not possible to visually indentify Red Cocks from Red Cocks carrying Red Ivory. The pairing that gives the most useful result is a Red Ivory Cock paired to a Red Hen,this gives us carrier cocks (visually red) and Red Ivory Hens which can be put to good use for the next breeding season.
Mosaic canaries have evolved from the early days when experimentation to produce Red canaries took place.All red canaries have an ancestry dating back to pairings made in the 1920's by German breeders ,when Black Hooded Red Sisken cocks were paired to Roller canary hens with the object of presenting to the Fancy a new kind of canary "having exceptional colour and song".In the experimental matings only cock Siskens were used ,Sisken hens are rather drab in comparison to their partners brilliant coloured plumage.
This difference in Sisken cocks and hens is bought about because of dimorphism ( the occurrence of two forms in the same species ) ,and until recently Mosaic's were know as Dimorphics here in the U.K. Several birds have the dimorphic character and we can see examples of this in some of our British wild birds,the Bullfinch hen is dimorphic to it's brilliant coloured patner,as are the Chaffinch and Blackbird hens.
From the experimental matings a form of dimorphism was passed into a new strain of canaries from the Black Hooded Red Sisken cock and this was noted by the fact that several of the offspring failed to produce much colouration.The feature of dimorphism in our present day birds is shown by the masking of colouration with a heavy frosting factor.A remarkable change occurred in these birds and from the accepted natural belief that dimorphism only applied to the hen of the species we have this charecter appearing in both sexes of the Mosaic canary.
It will no doubt be realised of course that this variety should be bred separately and not paired to Reds or Red Ivories.Mosaics are a breed of very attractive birds but beacuse they have such a strong frosting factor it would be detrimental to introduce a Mosaic into a good strain of Reds or Red Ivories.The inherited frost factor within Red canaries has plagued breeders for many years ,lessons had to be learnt with this variety mainly by trial and error and in the early days a mistake made in one years breeding took many years to correct.
Mosaics,being of heavy feathering ,are birds of very good 'type' and some inexperienced breedrs may be tempted to pair a Mosaic into their strain of Reds with the object of improving 'type'.This experiment is best left to more experienced breeders as it can end with disasterous results with the Mosaics frost factor firmly implanted into offspring and progressive breeding seasons will produce stock infested with frosting.
Beginners taking up the breeding and exhibiting of this beautiful variety should pair Mosaic Cock to Mosaic Hen , a good exhibition cock will show rich red lipochrome colouring on its face, wing butts,chest and rump only,the remaining plumage should all be white. The basic colouring of bird's plumage is determined by the genes that are carried in the body and these genes decide whether the bird is to be of any one colour or a varigation of more than one colour.The plumage ,especially on brilliant coloured birds,is maintained by means of a selective feeding diet of colour stimulants that are eaten before and during the moulting period.
In the wild,birds of variuos species select a diet that is suitable to their requirements and the properties within this food,whether it be berries,seeds, insects,vegetation etc. will supply vitamins,protiens and compounds to their body for it to be assimulated and formed into a pigment colouration that is shown on the plumage.Domesticated birds do not have a free choice of diet and brilliantlycoloured varieties in this catorgory often lose that brilliance owing to a lack of pigment deposit in their feathers.Colour can be improved and maintained by feeding compounds that contain the chemical properties needed to enhance the bird's genetic capabilities of plumage colouration.
The last point to be kept in mind is that a bird's depth of colour can only be enhanced to the degree of what its ground colours capabilities are, in other words a bird having poor ground colour genes can be fed stimulants only to produce poor ground colour , it cannot be fed to produce a good ground colour.With regard to Red canaries ,the colour stimulants that are of benefit to ground colour contain componds know as Carotenoids.
Carotenoids appear in several forms but only in very minute quantities ,they are present in various insects ,fish,root crops,vegitation and grass to mention but a few.Most Carotenoid componds are rather unstable and unless a continuous supply is available it will not give the desired effect to plumage colour.Although a minute trace of Carotenoid is found in the seed we feed to our birds ,it is often dominated by the presence of another type of compound called Lutein which is the stimulant to the colour yellow.Canary seed contains a supply of Lutein but no Carotenoid,as does hemp and oats,rape seed contains both but the Lutein content is greater than the Carotenoid.
In the early days of the Red canary many birds were fed on a diet that consistedmainly of sausage rusk and grated or liquidised carrot,with little or no mixed seed,just before and during the moulting period.This diet gave the birds an orange coloured plumage when they had completed the moult,having obtained their orange coloured plumage from the carotene substance within the carrots.
Many other diets were tried by various breeders with birds being fed just about everthing that was know to contain a colouring stimulant for the colour red but there was little or no improvement in comparison to the carrot fed birds and orange seemed to be the full extent of colouration that could be achieved.
About this time another Carontenoid compound ,known as Canthaxanthin came onto the market in a stabilised and pure form from F.Hoffman-La Roche in Switzerland.This was a new product to be used as a colouring agent for food stuffs,suitable for use in poultry food to produce colouration in the hen's egg yolks and for the purpose of a colour additive in various human foods.
The Canthaxanthin product was used at a number of zoos for experimentation on the plumage colour effects of birds and it was that by adding small amounts to the diet an excellent deep red pigment could be produced in the plumage of Flamingos,Scarlett Ibis and a wide variety of smaller birds.
The colouring agent was quickly adopted by breeders of red ground canaries with marvellous results and we are now able to produce good quality birds with brilliant Red plumage.This Canthaxanthin preparation is registered by Roche Products under the trade name 'Carophyll Red' and is approved,recomened and indeed sold by the governing bodies of Red canary exhibition standards. These bodies in the U.K. are the Canary Colour Breeders Association (C.C.B.A) and the Red Canary Association (R.C.A.).Owing to the adoption of 'Carophyll Red' as the main colouring agent the birds have also benefited by being allowed a more varying and nourishing diet during the moulting period,a time when birds need all possible nourishment for energy building purposes.
The moulting of a canary's plumage is a natural process that occurs each year at sometime within the months of July until the end of October,some may start early while others have a later moult but at sometime during the months stated all will enter into this phase to shed and renew their plumage.
The moult takes about 10 to 14 weeks to complete,some birds go through the process quickly but others may take a week or two longer.The approaching time for feather sheading can be indicated by the canary appearing sleepy and 'itchy',often awakening from a doze to preen its wing and breast feathers. During this time birds should be kept in the cleanest possible conditions to avoid any soiling of the new feathers and their living quarters should have been treated with a proprietary brand of mite deterrent.
Red mite are the most troublsome parasite to all cage birds at this time of year and they can soon become established in cages and birdrooms and unless measures are taken to eradicate them they reproduce at a phenomenal rate.Living in cracks and crevices during the day they become active at night feeding from the birds blood cells,this of course is detrimental to the stock at a time when new feathers are being produced.
Red mite deterrents can be obtained in liquid or powder forms or sprays and the makers instructions should be followed to the letter . Regular bathing should be encouraged and a bath of clean water can be offered to the birds each morning, they quickly become accustomed to their morning splash and the bath can be removed from them as soon as they become engaged in drying and preening from the perches. This preening will stimulate the growth of the new feather emerging and help produce the bird's natural oils.It is not advisable for baths to be offered late in the day as there is not enough time for the bird to be completely dried out before roosting for the night.A bird roosting with damp plumage could well catch a chill and this could prove fatal. Plenty of fresh air is also required during this period and good ventilationin the birdroom will prevent stuffy conditions and help keep the birds healthy,dont be afraid to open windows.Some people refrain from doing this as they think the bird may suffer from a draught.Draught is of coursea big danger to birds and a continual draught will be detrimental to thebirds health,draughts are caused by ill fitting doors and window frames whereas an openwindow or door is fresh air ,not a draught.
When leaving windows or doors open it is adviable to fit some kind of safeguard to prevent unwanted losses,many a good bird has escaped through an open window or become a victim of a maruading cat . A strong metal mesh grid should be fitted to window frames and a wire mesh safety door hinged into the main door of the birdroom.
During the process of moulting young canaries will begin to show their exhibition potential and any good looking specimens should be housed in sepertae cages to avoid them becoming a victim of feather plucking.Young canaries often develope the habit of plucking a wing feather or a tail feather from a perch sharing neighbour and once a bird has pulled and tasted a juicy quill it will be looking round for more.This can be observed when a plucked flight feather is continually passed through the offending birds beak until all vitamin juices from the soft pulpy base have been extracted. The reasons for this maybe overcrowding or simply boredom and many breeders will tie pieces of soft string or wool onto the cage fronts in an attempt to keep the birds mischief occupied. To prevent overcrowding work on the rule of a maximum of 5 birds to a double breeder. If a bird is seen to be feather plucking the only know cure is to seperate it from the rest of the stock and remove any loose flight feathers that are lying on the cage floor so that the remaining birds are not encouraged into the habit.
Breeding Hens will sometimes feather pluck their chicks when they are 16/17 days old,this is normally because the hen is ready to breed again and this can be overcome by supplying her with a new nest pan and fresh nesting material before she commences to pull feathers. For colour feeding to be effective it has to be commenced at the correct time. As with everything else this will depend on the individual bird but 5 to 6 weeks old or just as the tail feathers start to meet is a good bench mark.The colour food must be absorbed into the bloodstream and channelled to the root sockets of the feathering system, here it acts as a colouring agent becoming gradually assimilated into the growth of any newly produced feathers.When a feather is fully grown it's base becomes hardened ,or set,in the socket and it's nourishment supply is sealed off.Once colour feeding has begun it must be continued daily until completion of the moult, this will ensure a continuous supply of colouring agent is flowing into the bloodstream and an eveness of colour will be produced throughout the plumage.
A red canary's bloodstream must be conditioned for feather colouration before the moult actually begins,otherwise if you wait until discraded feathers are observed they will have already started to be replaced by newly growing feather shoots and these feathers will not show colour pigment.
Some of the first feathers to be discraded at moulting time are the very small ones on the birds wing butts and the expert eyes of a judge at exhibitions are always on the look out round the wing butt area for colouration faults.
Colour feeding is now as much of an art as is breeding the young birds in the first place, and those that pay attention to detail will meet with some success,each will have his own method but will have learnt through trial and error.
Colour food is simply made by adding Carophyll Red to rearing food be it condition food,soft food or eggfood. Carophyll Red looks like fine grains of sand and is deep red in colour and only a few garins are needed to produce the desired effect.It can be made into liquid form or used dry according to the type of rearing food being used,some foods require to be prepared with a small amount of water while others are oil based and need no addition of moisture.Beginners to colour feeding will have to do what those that have gone before them have done and that is to rely on trial and error to arrive at the correct amount of Carophyll Red they will need to use.This will vary according to how many birds are to be fed and the amount of food being needed.
If the rearing food to be used has to have a few teaspoonsful of water added and mixed to a crumbly moist consistancy a liquid form can be made from the Carophyll Red to substitute the water. For this place a small quantity of Carophyll Red in a container and onto this pour a little water the result will be a rich red liquid and to this can be added more water, by stirring in , until enough liquid is made to give the rearing food the right consistency.
This liquid form of Carophyll Red can also be used in the birds drinking water but this method can stain not only the stock cages but also the birds plumage.Alternatively the rearing food can be mixed to its crumbly moist consistancy with the usual amount of ordianry water and the 'Carophyll Red' can just be sprinkled on , many breeders use a salt shaker for this purpose.
The water method of mixing Carophyll Red into a mixture is found to bethe most economic way of colour feeding , practically every grain of the rearing food will have absorbed a certain amount of red coloured liquid, whereas with the sprinkling method we depending upon the minute grains adhering to the food. Of course the birds eating habit of flicking food about with their beak will cause wastage as many grains of Carophyll Red will belost on the bottom of the cage.
Most breeders usaully adopt a method of colour feeding to suit their own convenience, many who are out at work all day opt for the 'quick' sprinkling method and allow for wastage by using more colouring agent. Whichever method is used ,all will give a similar result , the main thing is that the birds eat a certain amount of colouring agent daily. Red canary breeders must keep uppermost in their minds the importance of feeding for colour and most of the usual foods given to birds will not help to produce the desired colour.
Colour feeding is a gradual process and cannot be rushed, in other words there is no quick fix,you can get an indication on whether or not the
colour food contains too much or too little Carophyll Red by observing the birds droppings. The bird's droppings should appear to be of a pink colour if the food has been mixed to a correct balance of Carophyll Red and rearing food.As mentioned earlier a Red canary can only be fed to bring out a plumage colour that the bird is genetically capable of producing.The plumage cannot be made into a deep rich red by the feeding of a
larger amount of colouring agent if the bird is only endowed with the capability of producing a light red shade.The bird's body will assimilate only a certain amount of colouring agent and the remainder is past away as excreata.Alternatively,a bird that is capable of producing a deeply coloured plumage can emerge from its moult having only a mediocre colour if it has not been fed a properly balanced colour food. To estimate the amount of Carophyll Red that will be needed for a moulting season an allowance cab be based on 3 grammes per bird if the sprinkling method is preferred or 2 grammes per bird if the liquid method is adopted. Breeding Red Canaries either for exhibition or your own visual enjoyment is a vastly rewarding yet inexpensive hobby,enjoyed by people of all ages from all walks of life.If you are inspired to set up your own stud,visit local and national cage bird shows that are held up and down the country from October to December,from these visits you should soon be able to establish a contact with a Red Canary breeder local to you.If you are to purchase birds from him dont be embaressed to ask all the questions you need answers for and if he should decline to offer assistance then my advice would be to find another breeder. Most established Red Canary breeders are only to happy to help newcomers to the hobby but as in life there are bound to be those who's company you'd prefer not to keep.
It is important to have your housing in place before purchasing your initial stock ,remember it is possible for each pair of canaries to produce 8 chicks per breeding season,and your hobby should not become "work" or interfere with family life.
Purchase, or lend from the library ,a book on canary management to give you the finer points of canary breeding but if you provide the fundemental requirements of all living creatures,good food, clean water and a healthy environment, nature will take over and the birds will want to do what comes naturally and breed.
The exhibition side of Red Canay breeding can provide a new social element to your life and many friendships have been formed through the 'friendly' competition of exhibiting. The 'fancy', as it known, provides for the newcomer in the way of the Novice classification in the show schedule.
Most specialist societies allow the tyro to remain a Novice for a period of five years thus giving him/her time to build up a stud before having to compete against Champions. At first glance the Show entry forms can appear duanting but as withanything else ,if in doubt ask, Show Secretaries will welcome your entry and be only to pleased to help.
I hope this booklet has been informative and whilst not exhaustive has pre-empted many of the questions you may have had on your way to becoming a Red Canary breeder.
The LizCol Canary Stud is Owned by Paul Brockman , and this article may only be reproduced with express agreement. |
