Canary Breeding 
for Beginners. 
(46) 
THE BIRD WORLD. 
Nursery Diet. 
The hens sit thirteen days, and two days be¬ 
fore they are due to hatch you must provide 
them with egg-food. A little will do, and you 
can increase the amount when the youngsters 
are born, but let it be fresh and sweet. Give 
plenty of green food, such as watercress and dan¬ 
delion, fresh twice a day, or oftener if you wish, 
but don’t neglect -to give it first thing in the 
morning, and, say, five to six in the evening. I 
make my egg-food as follows * Take one thick 
slice of home-made bread to each egg, put 
through the egg-mill, and mix well together. I 
find bread beats biscuits hollow. 
When the youngsters begin to leave the nest, 
supply them with crushed hempseed besides the 
egg-food, and when you see they can digest it 
alone you will be safe in taking them away from 
the hen. If you do not do this you will find the 
hen, wanting to go ;to nest again, will pull out 
the youngsters’ tails for nesting material; and, 
having got your first nest away with success, you 
will know how to prepare for the second. You 
must, of course, go on giving the first lot of 
youngsters egg-food and crushed hemp, reduc¬ 
ing the egg-food every other day. 
The Training of a Candidate for Honours. 
After your second nest is nicely over, your time 
will be taken up with picking out the birds you 
think will do for the show bench at first-feather 
shows. Let the birds have the bath frequently, 
as it strengthens them, I think, and get them 
accustomed to the show cage by letting it hang 
on the front of the cage with the doors up, so 
that they can run into the show cage. Twice a 
week I take about six birds down into the 
kitchen in their show cages, and place them on 
the table, and with the constant passing of those 
in the house the birds get a lot quieter and not 
so wild. And there is nothing more provoking 
to yourself or the judge to find that, on lifting 
up the show cage to examine the bird, it flutters 
all over the wires, thereby disarranging its 
feathers and knocking itself about so that it 
cannot stand erect. 
Moulting and Colour-feeding. 
After the first-feather shows are about over, 
you will see your birds begin to shed their 
feathers, and you will know the moulting-season 
is not far off. This is the time which lots of 
fanciers look upon with dread, but let the birds 
again have perfect quietness, fresh water, with 
one or two drops of essence of aniseed therein, 
and you need not be afraid. If you colour-feed 
you must keep a lot of the light out, so that 
your birds’ colour does not fade, and you must 
colour-feed if you wish to be in the vanguard 
of the exhibition world, for I consider a non- 
fed bird is just like a wall that has been papered 
and not varnished. 
At colour-feeding time your egg-food comes 
into use again, and with this you mix your 
colour-food. I have used “ Sandiford’s,” and I 
find it very good indeed. Use it gently at first, 
as all birds will not eat it to begin with, but 
by doing this you will get them used to it, and 
then you can strengthen it day by day. If dur¬ 
ing this time you see one or two of the birds 
down, that is, sitting lumpy and half-asleep, 
give them a little ordinary bread soaked in warm 
milk, with a little treacle on it, and this should 
pull them round. 
Conditioning Show Birds. 
Separate the birds you intend exhibiting, and 
let them each have a cage of their own, which 
must be very clean. I give each some condi¬ 
tioning food made as follows : Place one penny¬ 
worth of isinglass in a cup, half fill with water, 
and put into the oven until hot; then take it 
out, let it cool until it becomes a jelly, and mix 
it with egg-food, and give to each bird a tea¬ 
spoonful twice a week. This will have a good 
effect on the birds. 
Let the birds have the show cage again and 
be in the kitchen. You will find them timid at 
first, but use is second nature, so give them 
plenty of use. After the show season I feed on 
plain white seed, with a touch of hemp, say, 
once a week. 
Is Heat Needful? 
After the winter is past—during which I use 
no heat at all—you will be getting near the 
breeding season again, and of course, if you 
have been successful during last season you will 
naturally go on the same lines again; but you 
must also use your brains, and try and remedy 
any defects you may find out. 
I advise all beginners to join an Ornithologi¬ 
cal Society, where they will learn a lot to their 
advantage. 
I trust my remarks will benefit all fanciers 
who have not been as successful as myself, and 
may they breed and rear as many birds which 
will all turn out winners. 
