52 CANARIES 



before the young are hatched. Others there are who 

 set about smashing the eggs as soon as the hen begins 

 to sit. These must be removed as well, and kept away 

 from the hen until it is desired that she shall go to nest 

 again. They can then, whichever of the two classes they 

 belong to, be run in with the hen for about half-an-hour 

 morning and night for two or three days, so that they 

 may renew their courtship. It must, however, be done 

 under the eye of the owner, and when they have mated 

 two or three times, the running in may cease, and the 

 hen left to go to nest again when she feels incUned. It 

 is said that many hens feed and tend their young far better 

 without the cock bird than with him. 



The Value of Soaked Seed. 



Many times have I wondered why so few fanciers give 

 their birds soaked seed. For pulling birds into condition 

 that have run down during the show season, for promoting 

 quick and sturdy growth in youngsters, and for inducing 

 bad feeding hens to become attentive mothers, I have 

 never found anything to equal it. Crushed seed is wasteful 

 apart from the the fact that once it is crushed some 

 seed is quickly affected by the atmosphere and goes sour. 



Another point is that when the seed is finely crushed 

 the birds cannot separate it from the husk, and as the husk 

 of hemp contains a certain amount of poison the birds 

 often suffer from inflammation of the bowels. 



Soaking the seed softens it, makes it more easily 

 digested, and draws from it the acidity and pungency 

 that so often upsets the bowels of young nestlings. 



My method of preparing and using soaked seed is as 

 foUows : — I take equal parts of canary, rape, and hemp 

 seed, and half -fill a 3 lb. jam jar. I fill the jar with cold 

 water and let it stand twelve hours. I then stir it well 

 up and strain off the water, filling the pot with fresh water, 

 I stir the seed well with a wooden spoon and again strain 

 off the water, then re-filUng the pot with water I let it 

 stay another twelve hours. Again I stir and strain off the 

 water, and renew the water and stir and strain again. 

 Then^it is ready for feeding to the stock. This means 

 that seed that has to be used one morning is put in soak 



