A couple of years ago an acquaintance reported eggs at the end of the breeding season in September. Recently the same breeder had babies hatch in mid-November. Investigation revealed a relatively low lighting level in the flight cage and a 7 watt white lamp used for nighttime lighting year round. Consequently this environment does not provide a ten to one ratio. Lighting Management Suitable for Showing American Singers With American Singer shows being staged earlier into the fall months to avoid conflicts with older more established show dates it becomes a management problem for breeders.
Males sing to attract attention to themselves.
It is their method of attracting a mate and establishing and defending a territory to nest in. The objectives of the American Singer breeder is to advance the daylight hours to stimulate song without interfering with the breeding process. Most breeders do not have the luxury of being able to provide separate rooms for hen and singers. When singers are exposed to too many hours of light they are apt to lose their good tonal qualities and commence a harsher mating song. For hens the extra hours of light commences the egg laying process which really complicates mating management.