male canary pulled nest apart, 5 eggs ok. help.

[auntyelmo]

I have a pair of canaries, both white. eggs are 12 days old. but female got off for a stretch, and male pulled everything out of nest. now female wont sit on them. why did this happen, so close to hatching... what should i do ?

[birdlady49]

That's a tough one. I would remove the male and replace the substrate and eggs. If the female doesn't return to the eggs, she may know something you don't .... that the eggs are not fertile or that they died for whatever reason.

This is not really the season for canary breeding. Most breeders set their pairs up right around Valentine's Day. The days are getting longer and food is more plentiful. Molting is complete. The birds are stronger in general.

So if you're unsuccessful with this clutch of eggs, I recommend waiting until then to breed them again.

[auntyelmo]

thanks for your input, i did take male out and gave female 24 hours with a little extra heat. but to no avail. so took eggs out and put them in incubater... fingers crossed. i did the water test.. they feel heavy, and i will give them a week.. see what happens. sorry i forgot to meantion I live in Tasmania/Australia, breeding season is now.. so eggs out, and put male back in,, see what happens now.
thanks again.
Chrisy

[birdlady49]

Maybe you should sacrifice one or two eggs and return them to the nest for the hen or cock to brood. In that way, when the other eggs hatch, they'll be more accepting of feeding the babies.

Ah Tasmania! My sister lives in Australia (Brisbane) and you're going into spring while the northern hemisphere is heading towards (ugh) winter.

[BigBird]

Hi there

I have a few pairs of canaries but havent come across that problem before. My problem is the naughty girls are nesting in the seed dishes instead of the nice cane baskets I bought for them! So now losing a food container to the little buggers each day! Go to fill it up and its full of feathers! This morning the girls were sitting in them, so know who the culprits are. Ah well would be nice to have some more of them this year, didnt get any last year.