The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1882-04-13
CANARY RAISING.
How These Little Household Pets Can be
Economically Reared.

/
Economically Reared.
If among your readers there are any
who would like to have something to
care for, to look after, and to study that
have not the room for poultry, pigeons.
or pheasants, or do not wish to invest
the necessary amount of money to make
| either of them success, to all such we
| would say, turn your attention to the
study and rearing of Canaries; and you
Will find more genuine pleasure, more
satisfaction than you would at first i'm
| agine.
If you are a lover of music we would
recommend the German or Song Canary.
But If you wish to breed for fancy
points, color, plumage, or position, you
must turn your attention to the Nor
wien, Lizard, Turncrest, Copies, Man
| chester, Scotch Fancy or Belgian. These
are show birds and like poultry or pig
cons are bred for points and not song.
In this article we will not spend any
Time or confuse the reader with any Of
the above varieties; but will tell him
how to breed the German Canary.
If you do not wish to invest much
money you can make a very good start
with a small outlay. A good pair of
German Canaries can be purchased for
four dollars, breeding cage for one
dollar and fifty cents, a bath dish and
wire nest for twenty cents; so that with
five dollars and seventy cents you are
ready to begin. Your breeding cage
should be a square one, ten inches deep,
II inches high and fourteen TO eighteen
inches long; it may be larger but must
not be smaller. Scatter a little sand on
the bottom, put your nest in one corner
or between the lower peTches against
the back of the cage; fill your water and
seed cups and your cage is ready.
As rule birds that have been in sep
arate cages in sight of each other for a
few days, will mate more kindly; yet
we have mated strange birds that did
just as we'll, and in many years expert
ence we do not remember total failure,
yet we have had some pairs that made
us as much trouble as the pTOVerbiaI
hen did the Frenchman.
After the birds are in the breeding
cage give them little bits of string and
paper to play with; this they will carry.
about for a week or two in a most pro-
vOking manner, now pulling it all into
the nest, now throwing it all out again.
If you watch them closely you will see
tbs all play, but at the end of a week
or two you will find that whenever the
hen calls, the cock brings her food and
is very attentive while she carries the
rubbish about the cage into the nest,
gets into it every minute and moves
around in it in very nervous way.
Take down the cage, clean it out, sup
ply them with bristles, a few horse
hairs or anything of the kind that is
short, not long enough to entangle their
feet. Put the cage where you expect it
to remain undisturbed, then watch
them and if you have made no mis-
take in interpreting the signs you will
find fine nest and an egg in it the
next fOrty-eight hours.
The hen usually lays from three to
five eggs; she will set after the second
egg has been laid, and in thirteen days
from that time will have two birds out,
and one each day thereafter until all
are out. The cock does not sit as in
pigeons, but he is not idle; the hen
calls him every few minutes during the
day after this style: Bring me a canary
seed, Dick; now a little water and then
| little egg food if you please, after
which you may sing a little for me; and
poor Dick from early morn until late at
night is kept busy at work.
After the young are Matched both hen
and cock feed them, but when once out
of the nest his trouble increases; she
will lay and sit again and ne must then
feed both her and the young, and the
latter are always hungry. He is kept
so busy that he has scarcely a moment
left to sing; but he sticks to it like a
utlOJ MANY Lltu nave DG6u ulSCOuIdBeu
by smaller tasks.
During the breeding season the food
of the Canary must be more liberal and
varied than at any other time. They
should have constant supply of canary
and rape seed, two parts of the former
to one of the latter, little sweet apple
or cabbage, chick weed or lettuce,
and constant supply of egg food,
made by mixing equal quantities of
har h,fl lnI = IL, 4,
enough water to reduce the whole to
stiff paste. When the young are old
enough to feed themselves they should be
removed to a separate cage. The whole
process is very simple and easy, and
boy or girl of IL or II years old can
make it a success. The influence upon
family is worth more than all the
costs or trouble.
1t is now p. m, and fiRish this ar
ticle while listening to songs from one
of my sweetest night singing Canaries.
j. P. SCHILLING.