widowed elderly canary hen

[flaring]

I'm a bird newby. A couple of weeks ago, I received a pair of canaries from an elderly lady who could no longer care for them. I knew there were problems when I first saw them: the male had a lame foot (though he got around pretty well) and the female had bald patches around her neck and vent. The woman told me they were four years old.

Well, they weren't four, they were nine. And they were malnourished and underweight from eating parakeet (not canary) seed and nothing else. And they had an air sac mite infestation that, despite treatment, the male succumbed to. They both seemed to be improving, all tucked in with a heat lamp and all, but I went away for a few hours and found him dead when I came home. Probably if I were more experienced I could've seen he was in distress and done more to help him. But then, if I'd known the birds were nine years old (I should've read their bands at her house) I wouldn't have taken them (but I'd already agreed to take them...).

At any rate, the female seems to be improving. For several days after the loss of her companion she was very quiet, but now she's taken to flitting around her cage and talking back to the fiddle music on the CD player (she tells me she's a old-timey bluegrass rather than classical kinda gal).

I've gotten her a bigger cage (30"l x 18"d x 36"h-- she's not in it yet), and I'm doing my best to feed her well and get her filled out some so maybe she can regrow some of those feathers.

So, to the point: several people have advised me that canaries are social, flock-oriented creatures and that this little girl might appreciate a companion. Well I can understand that.

First thought: a male canary. A pretty little American Singer (that's what her lost companion was) who would sing pretty songs to her (and me!). But, then again, I don't want some young hormone-ridden hot guy makin' her feel all broody like she has to lay at her age. And would he treat her well if her feathers don't grow in (and she looks "weak")?

Second thought: a female canary. Another hen wouldn't try to mate with her, but I do wonder about a younger healthier bird picking on this old girl.

Third thought: a pair of finches. Maybe Society or Spice finches -- such cute critters! But with Societies (I've read the Spice finches are less ready to hop in the sack than Societies, but maybe that's just a relative observation without any real-world meaning, as everything seems to be less ready to hop in the sack that Societies), I'd have to consider babies: how to help the bird have them and then what to do with them. In my life I've bred cats, dogs, and several breeds of fish (and food for the fish!), but I don't know what to do with birds. I'm assuming that a whole other species wouldn't care if she looked old or weak, er, right? Also I wonder whether the pair of finches would become so enamoured of each other that the little canary would get left out in the cold. Or maybe just their presence is all she needs? And would three teeny birds overtax the size cage I've gotten?

Fourth thought: just one finch. Maybe just one finch would be a creature she could interact with, without the resultant pressure to breed? I haven't found anything about a canary hybridizing with Society or Spice finches (though, with my luck...). But then, what if she didn't like the little thing? Or vice versa? This is how I got so many fish tanks.

I was hoping that someone might be able to offer an opinion. About any of these options or something I haven't considered? Of course the new bird would have to be quarantined for a month. After all that time of her living alone, would the point be moot?

Thanks very much for your thoughts,
flaring

[sarziebond]

Congrats on your new friend, sounds like she's not had the best of lives and I'm so pleased you've now got her , at least she'll live out the rest of her days in comfort. As for companions, I don't know much about canaries so best wait for someone with mor expertise but first thoughts are that since she's an old girl, it may be best to leave her and talk to her loads, just be there for her or put another bird next to her in a seperate cage to keep her company but not invade her space.....

[Joel]

Hello Flaring, welcome to the board........What part of the country do you live in, if ya don't mind saying?....IMO, I would not get her a companion for now. I would interact with her yourself as much as possible and get her in the best shape ya can before introducing another cagemate/playmate if that is your desire. I would give her occassional greens, fresh eggfood in moderation, well done ground up eggshells also, some apple and orange wedges in moderation, natural direct daily bright sunshine not through window glass but provide her the ability to get out of it at anytime she wants.....Sunshine through screen like in a porch or patio or thru another window would be safest and that is probably best accomplished as the sun comes up in the morning at an angle from the east. Putting canaries outside can be hazardous to their health as they are very susceptible to Avian Pox spread by mosquito bites............I assume she has a "closed" ID band on and not an "open" band............ Best of luck & health to your lil girl..... :)

[flaring]

sarziebond: Thanks for your good wishes and your vote of confidence. My aim is to do everything I can for her.

Joel: Thanks for the welcome. I'm in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.

I was thinking a cagemate would be good for her because, frankly, she doesn't seem to like me very much. I know that canaries are not the most personable of birds and don't tame well even when they know you from the nest, but when I come near the cage she makes a FWEET call and hops from perch to perch as far away from where I am as possible. I was thinking that it could be an excitement response, but really she just seems alarmed. I was thinking that maybe another bird-shaped critter would make her feel more secure. I understand the need, though, to get her healthy (at least as much as possible) before the added stress of adjusting to a new friend.

I'm setting up the new cage here in the living room just five or six feet away from where I sit when I'm at the computer which is most of the time. I'm hoping we can come to some sort of accord. I'm giving her seed and water and cuttlebone all the time. She also gets various greens, egg food from a box, egg food I'm making up (with the ground up egg shells), a piece of apple or melon. She's a bit of a picky eater. Kale is Good. Zucchini is Bad. Watermelon is Bad. Cantaloupe is Good. Granny apples are good. Macintosh apples are bad.

Someone who has some larger birds told me that she cuts up a bunch of vegetables and throws them in the batter of some Jiffy corn bread. Sounds yummy to me, but Jiffy is sugared corn bread, and I wonder about feeding her something with sugar in it.

I understand the need for sunshine not-through-glass, but it's getting on to what passes for winter around here. It'll be too cold to open the windows soon. What do cage birds do for UV radiation in the winter months? A reptile lamp?

We have three brands of mosquitos around here so she's probably not going to get any outside time even when the weather warms up: there are these huge stripey-legged asian mosquitos that'll bite you in the broad sunshine at twelve noon if they feel like it.

She has a closed band, but all it has is "1996" on it.