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 ISSN 1492-8132 Issue 116, © 2005 No reprints without permission Table of Contents The folks at Bird & Cage aim to provide birdkeepers with a great selection of good quality cages and cage accessories for great prices and top-quality customer service. There's even a wrought-iron cage that 's perfect for pet canaries or other small cage-birds! Check it out along with the other best-sellers listed on our Best Sellers page! Breeding season is here, and you will want to see the new stackable large-size breeding cages, and order yours while they last! A recent customer comments, "Can you believe it!!.....I just had them delivered in good shape....thanks again for your usual prompt service. Your response is rated a '10' in my books..." For a full selection of cages and cage accessories, visit BirdandCage.com. Table of Contents Everybody seems to know that calcium is necessary to make eggs - but did you know that Vitamin D is also necessary, in order for a body to be able to absorb and digest the calcium properly? It's true! Vitamin D is known as the 'sunshine vitamin' because sunlight helps our skin to make vitamin D for the body to use. But what a lot of people don't realize, is that it's the ultra-violet wavelengths of the spectrum that enable this. Birds, though, use another system - it's not necessary for the sunshine to reach their skin for the bird to benefit from exposure to the ultra-violet wavelengths of sunshine. A quote at Exotic Pet Vet on the function of the uropygial, or 'preen' gland located just above a bird's tail, states that; "The secretion from the uropygial gland also contains vitamin D precursors that are also spread over the feathers by preening. With exposure to the ultraviolet portion of sunlight, the secretions are converted to an active form, vitamin D3, which is then ingested with subsequent preening." Do please note that if your birds are exposed to sunshine that is filtered through a glass window, they will not be able to utilize it for this purpose - lead is used in the manufacture of glass, and the lead content blocks the UV rays from being able to penetrate the window. So if your birds live indoors, you have two choices - provide full-spectrum lighting that includes light from the ultraviolet end of the spectrum, or provide vitamin supplements that include vitamin D. Lack of vitamin D, rather than lack of calcium, is one of the biggest causes of egg-binding. Without the vitamin D present to help ensure proper digestion, the calcium may be present but not available for use by the bird's body. Table of Contents
- Home Table of Contents Our CD of Robirda's canaries singing consists of 12 16-bit true-stereo tracks, each averaging almost 5 minutes long, for a total of 58 minutes and 48 seconds of canary songs. You can hear a 10 second mp3 sample here. Listen carefully, and you will be able to hear the different positions of each bird! A recent customer told us, "Received the CD! Man can they sing! Hope our American Singer will sound half as good! Thank you." Another says, "The CD arrived and it's just great! Hansie loves it and has been warbling away for the past 2 days." Another says, "Your CD sure did start him singing. He was hanging from his swing looking out the way of the CD player and singing right along with it. Thanks again from a very contented canary and his owner!" Learn more here!
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 For breeder or pet bird owners who care. Hello! Welcome to Flock Talk's 116th issue. Subscribe and unsubscribe information for the email version of this ezine is at the bottom of this webpage.
Table of Contents Robirda's had so many questions over the years about her websites and successful approach to website design, that she's decided to offer her skills and experience to the public. Now you can tap into Robirda's design skills to aid in developing your own website! We can help you with design, custom graphics, useability, search engine optimization, website hosting, domain registration, enabling your site for e-commerce, and more! To learn more, visit 'Keep It Simple Websites', at www.kiswebsites.com Table of Contents The time has come, and you've decided to move. Almost everything has been settled, the packing is underway, but there's one big worry still niggling at your mind - how are you going to move your canaries without upsetting them too much? If you happen to be moving in the middle of canary breeding season, as will happen if you are moving during the spring, the dilemma is even worse - how do you see that your hens don't get upset and abandon any babies that happen to still be in the nest? You can expect to face these quandaries and more if you plan to soon be...
by R C McDonald There's a lot of details to remember if you plan to move your household at any time of year, and often the problems of how to ease the transition period and actually transport your pet birds will get put on the back burner while more urguent matters are being dealt with. But sooner or later you will have to face facts; no matter how you avoid thinking about it, the fact remains that (unless you sell them all) your birds will have to move, too. If it is breeding season, don't despair, chances are good that you will not lose the entire season. First, check the timing of your planned move, and try to see that none of your hens will have any eggs in the nest when the actual move is taking place; if you find any, replace them with fake eggs. The reason for this is because any chicks still in the egg during the move are almost certain to be killed during the moving process. This is due to being shaken about inside the egg during the drive. The effect is the same as if you picked up the egg and shook it back and forth - this is called 'addling', and in effect it thoroughly scrambles the material inside the shell. Since its extremely difficult to move a fertile egg without shaking it at least a little, save yourself and your hens the trouble, and let them go ahead and sett on the fakes for now. Remember, once you have the move completed and your hens are comfortably set up in your new home you can let them try for another round - unless you are moving in early summer or later, there should be plenty of time to spare. Chicks still in the nest or still being weaned are another story. While physically they can handle the move much better than eggs, there's always the chance that their parents could get upset about all the changes in their routine, and stop feeding their youngsters. The answer sounds simpler than it usually turns out to be - you will need to see that the birds' environment changes as little as possible, and that any unavoidable changes are minimized as much as possible. If you can manage this, it will mean you will have much greater chances of successfully moving your entire flock, chicks and all. In order to see that your chicks will continue to be fed by their parents, you will need to plan to keep all the birds in the cages they are used to being in; being allowed to remain in their own familiar cage is a large part of the solution, even if it may mean more work for you. Also, if you will be driving during the day, plan to stop regularly to refresh their food and allow them some peaceful time to eat and feed. Once the cages are packed into the vehicle, you will want to cover each cage with a tightly woven light-coloured (preferably white) sheet. This will help to keep any drafts out and allow the adult birds in each cage to keep their feeling of privacy, while still allowing enough light through to allow them to be able to see to get around and eat and such. Of course, that's assuming that the vehicle they are being moved in has windows! If you know that you are going to be driving during the day, try to ensure if at all possible that the birds will have enough light to see by, because it will stress them far less than having to adapt to a 'dark' day. Even if you've arranged for the birds to be able to see enough to move around, eat, and feed, though, less of this will happen while the vehicle is actually moving. This is why frequent rest stops are recommended while driving. If you can, it's a good idea to try to stop for at least 15 to 20 minutes every hour and a half to two hours or so at the very least. Take away their water dishes while the vehicle is moving, but be sure to replace them during rest breaks. You can also provide plenty of grerens for your pairs to eat during the move, to ensure that your birds and their youngsters will have adequate moisture available when wanted. It won't hurt that most canaries adore greens - if a canary parent will feed anything, it will usually feed greens. Depending on how far you are planning to move, it may be possible to move the birds at night. This is the most preferable option, if it is available to you, and can reduce the stress of moving tremendously, for your birds and yourself too. Again, leave them in their own cages. Not long before they go to sleep for the night, pack their cages in your truck, cover them with the afore-mentioned light-coloured, tightly-woven sheets, then allow them a little time to settle down before full dark; particularly make sure that any hens with featherless chicks in the nest (if any) have returned to their nest and are covering the youngsters. If you will be driving through territory that tends to have lots of bright lights during the night, you might want to throw a 'black-out' cover over the cages to block all external light, once the birds have settled down nicely. Then just go ahead and just drive straight through to your new home - once your birds are asleep, it will take a lot of strange noises and rattling about to wake them, so as long as you drive carefully and go easy on the brakes and acceleration, they should be fine. This was how I moved my birds here to Kelowna a couple of years back, right in the middle of breeding season - a drive of over 300 miles. I was exhausted the next day, but the birds make the trip really well! Once you've arrived at your new home, leave them where they are until daybreak. Then as soon as possible after that you can start bringing them into their new quarters. Do your best to see that the cages are arranged in as similar a fashion as you can manage to the set-up you used in their old birdroom. This includes, if you can manage it, orienting the cages in a similar manner as before. For example, if your flock was housed in a room with eastern exposure, if at all possible place them in a room with similar exposure, and try to arrange the cages in a similar manner to the way your old birdroom was arranged. This may sound a little odd, but the fact is that canaries are able to discern which direction their cages face, and may become upset if used to living in a westerly-oriented cage which suddenly becomes easterly-oriented, or some such change. Your care and attention to these details should help to prevent the adult birds from becoming upset enough to throw them off their food, which in turn would cause them to stop feeding their youngsters. Also, it should help prevent any just-weaned youngsters from going off their feed from the stress, too. Moving is stressful enough as it is, without having to add the extra stress of worrying about your birds. So plan to take a little extra time to see that this part of your move goes as smoothly as possible, and your care will pay for itself handsomely both during and after the move. Saving yourself and your birds from extra stress that none of you need is easier than you might think, and when all that unpacking gets to be too much for you, go ahead and spend a few minutes in your new birdroom admiring the refuge you've created full of happy, healthy, unstressed birds, and pat yourself on the back - you've earned it! by R C McDonald Table of Contents Recently Robirda's book Brats in Feathers was reviewed by Mr. G.B.R. Walker, one of the most respected canary authors and judges on the planet. His comments make it clear why this book has been getting such a great response from its readers. Mr Walker said, "I have just finished Brats in Feathers. My overall impression is that it is an excellent introduction to a first time canary owner, and a useful reminder to those that have owned a pet for a time...The chapter on training was particularly well received. I have never seen anything like this in written form before, and frankly had never even considered it. "Whilst we and 50 other breeders in the same room will all give different opinions on various aspects of breeding canaries, the basics always remain the same, and you have covered them well. A new breeder following your guidelines should be successful, and at the end of the day that is all that matters. I loved the photos from the cam, and was most impressed by Jim's chapter." Brats in Feathers is available as a book, or as two (unprintable) ebooks. You can find more details, including a link to download sample chapters, at www.robirda.com/books.html. Table of Contents Whenever canaries are caged together, sooner or later trouble will arise, but how to tell? One sure sign that at least one bird is being aggressive to the rest, is if it has full feathering on its neck and back, and others don't. The bird not missing any feathers will be the culprit. Missing feathers on the back of the neck and upper back of some birds, along with the fact that others don't have this bald patch, is a clear and certain sign that there is a serious aggression problem, even though to you the the birds may seem to be getting along. Canaries are VERY good at faking getting along peacefully when they know they are being watched - even if there's some extreme aggression going on, you will almost never see a sign of it while you are watching, until it gets to the point where the birds on the lower end of the totem pole are too weak to resist. At that point it is very difficult to save them. If ever you should see such a sign in a shared aviary, remove all the birds who don't have bare patches on the back of their necks or backs, and let each have its own cage. I have heard this same tale many a time now, and most times newcomers to keeping canaries go right on believing that their birds are getting along just fine, until the birds lower down the totem pole begin to die. This then becomes a 'sudden, unexpected' death. But if you know what you are looking for, the signs are there! It's just that the birds will do their best to hide any such activity from us, only acting up when they know they are alone. Do please note too that most real aggression in canaries is done rather quietly - so a lack of noisy disagreements is not a reliable indicator of peace.
Table of Contents We rely on you to help keep this publication and its associated websites alive. If you find help you need in this ezine or on our websites, please consider joining our sponsors. Read testimonials or find more details on sponsorships. If you're looking for something different, check our home page for links to all our great products and services!
Our next issue is due March 27th. We hope you and your birds stay safe, well and happy in the meantime, and we look forward to seeing you all then!
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