CAGE BIRDS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23339, 6 May 1939, Page 7 (Supplement)

CAGE BIRDS

A LL aviary birds in general have now completed their moult. JL JL It is time to think about their winter quarters and the arrangements necessary to keep them comfortable during the worst period of the year, the winter, and to bring them through to be in good breeding condition for the spring. At this time of the year aviaries and cages are generally overcrowded. Birds should be gone over carefully and those marked which you are definitely going to retain. The others should be disposed of as soon as possible by sale, gift or exchange. If they are going a distance it is far better for them to travel before extreme cold arrives. You should determine the number of pairs of different birds to bo carried forward, and ruthlessly cull, keeping only the very best. Breeding cages should have a thorough cleansing with soap, water and antiseptic and, even if left empty, should be scrupulously clean. Examination of Aviaries There are endless jobs to be done by those keeping birds in aviaries out-of-doors. The whole of the enclosure should be carefully examined for breaks in the netting or places where vermin could gain access. If possible, concentrate some of the birds into a smaller number of enclosures. Allow some of the aviaries to lio fallow, sprinkling on the ground a dressing of lime and a little common salt, raking thoroughly while so doing. This sweetens the soil, promotes growth of grass and shrubs and ensures' clean, sweet aviaries for the commencement of the breeding season. Growing shrubs should bo pruned, and twiggy growths produced that will produce good nesting sites in a year or two's time for those tyrds which breed better in an out-door nest.

Loose Staples

Examine the stapling of the netting where it is fastened to the wood as, with the constant expansion and contraction in the summer, staples sometimes loosen in tho wood and therefore should be re-driven. Exterior woodwork is all the better for a coat of creosote, while interior enclosures giving night shelter in aviaries should be cleaned out and given a dressing of whitewash or some other non-poisonous'white distemper. (To be Continued.)

By TAILFEATHER®

Letters requesting Information regarding the care of oage birds will be answered in this column each week. Readers are invited to write to Tailfeathers, New Zealand Herald Office, Auokland.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS H.V.K., Taumarunui.—Crest Canaries: i'air your original crested canary cock next breeding' season with one of bis daughters, »°n P r . e ' c^ ence the ono with the largest crest. All of the young from this pairing should be crested birds. Pair the young crested cock next year back to tho original hen canary, and this will give you a percentage of crested birds. You could keep the same pairing going for tho third season that you used for the second season, but in addition pair 6ome of the young from the second year's breeding together. Unless you are experienced or study lino breeding, you aro likely to lose vigour andyour attempt at lino breeding may become serious in-breeding. C. A. House publishes a vory good book "on line breeding, and this book is recommended to you. The colour of tho crest is not as imiHjrtant as its correct formation and regularity. There are not very many crested canaries in Auckland Province at the present timo. If any particular points have not been mado clear, kindly ask again. E.G., To Aroha.—Yorkshire Canary: Your eye trouble must bo highly infectious. Scrub all the perches with a 6trong solution of non-corrosive antiseptic. Remove all drinking and bathing water from tho aviary, leaving only one earthenware dish, tho water in which should be coloured to a doep pink with Condy's crystals. Catch your birds and wash their eyes every other day with a strong solution of boracic acid. If they aro not better in a week, get a 5 per cent solution of mercurochrome from a chemist and put a drop of this brown fluid on each eye. While treating the birds it is advisable to keep them in roomy cages, a few birds to each cage, but be careful that porches aro kept perfectly dean. Is there any chanco of tlio birds being affected by creosote or some other strong paint which you have recently been using on the aviary? Clean tho floor of your enclosure, and if you can wash the wooden part of the floor with antiseptic, so much tho better. I would be pleased to know how you succeed in controlling tho visitation, as it is unusual.

J.R., Kaikohe.—Aviary: It is advisable to divido your new aviary. Canaries will not prospor in with budgorlgars, as eventually the lanror birds will playfully nip and possibly break tho logs of the smaller birds. The may-trees would not do the birds any harm, but it is almost certain to be killed in time by the budgerigars and the cannries. Tho latter eat tho now green buds, and so kill the tree or prevent it growing, while the formor eat leaves and buds. You are advised to plant a hedge plant such ns olaria outside the aviary, and it will then glvo shelter and pleasing appearance. Tho shelter for tho canaries and budgerigars should bo a small liouso built for each at the end of the aviary with the back of the house toward the quarter from which tho cold wind comes.

R.C., Mt Eden. —Budgerigar: There should bo no reason for the two birds quarrelling once they settle down in tho new cago, providing it is sufficiently large. Be suro that you have not got a nest in the cage for th«m. This is tho timo of tlio year when the moult is completed, and thero is therefore no occasion to be alarmed at the few feathers flying around. Tho other bird you mention would not think of breeding until a suitable companion was obtained for it ill the spring. H.Y., Pap'akura.—Budgerigar Deformities: This requires a more oxtensivo reply, and will bo dealt with next week.