You Got Your Rollers - Now What?
Richard May, Lou Abbott Roller Canary Club
Okay, we've decided to raise Rollers and gotten our initial stock. Where do we go from here? The first step in my opinion is to develop birds that are easy to breed, nothing takes the fun out of breeding season faster than birds that don't come into condition or fight you every step of the way. Birds that were obtained late in the season can become problem breeders their first year while adjusting to your methods. Not to worry, these birds will adjust to your methods and bred better the second season.
The factors that bring on breeding in our birds consist of conditioning, increasing light duration, temperature, food additions, and pairing at the correct time. When do we begin conditioning? Conditioning is a year round process; the birds should receive the proper food, vitamins and minerals, and exercise during each season of the year to remain in top shape. Everyone develops a feeding system that works the best for them, stick to this rather than trying everything you hear that is new and works for someone else.
Lighting is an easy job to accomplish. I turn down my lights to nine hours at the end of breeding season although they are still getting the benefit of the outdoor natural lighting cycle. Once show season is over the lights can be gradually increased each week, or be turned up all at one time. Both systems work, you need to decide which works best for you. Canaries will breed best at twelve to fourteen hours of light daily. I run the temperature at 55 degrees during the winter, and turn it up to 65 degrees when I start the process of bringing them into breeding.
The males should start receiving a richer diet in very small quantities four to six weeks before the hens do. Adding water soluble Vitamin E to the male’s water one day a week will help to bring them into condition and increase their fertility. Hens must be treated more slowly because they reach breeding condition faster and can turn into egg laying machines. Once males have reached the point where their vents are protruded like a pencil erasure and pointed forward is the time to start conditioning hens. Once the hens vents have swollen and turned red and the hens are constantly calling to the males is the time to cage them up and introduce the males. Foods I use for conditioning usually include sunflower seed chips, song food, sprouted rape seed mixed with a little egg food, and greens. Quantities must be controlled to avoid over stimulating the birds or causing gout. I keep all my breeding stock in large flights to ensure plenty of exercise.
After you have gotten through the first breeding season it is important to review and take notes on how well the parents fed chicks and clutch size. Hens that lay one or two eggs will do nothing to help your breeding program, and their daughters are likely to follow that pattern. I try to save daughters from hens that lay four or more eggs and were excellent feeders. Excellent feeders are those hens that seek out the smallest chicks and make sure they are fed. Using this process year after year will result in good breeding hens.
The selection process with males is different from the hens. My decisions on males in the beginning are to select males who "want" to sing. Males who love to sing freely usually produce sons who love to sing. At that point hens can be selected to add to the song, but the males have to "want" to sing. Shy or reluctant singers will not add anything of value to your birds.
By the time you have developed good free breeding birds that love to sing you should have learned more about the song. By keeping careful records you can select birds to pair that will improve the song you have. The goal at this point should not be to win the show; instead it should be to improve scores every year especially in hollow roll. If you achieve the goal of improving the scores each year the wins will come, and you will have developed a line of birds you can be proud of. It may sound daunting at first but the challenge is so worth it.
Okay, we've decided to raise Rollers and gotten our initial stock. Where do we go from here? The first step in my opinion is to develop birds that are easy to breed, nothing takes the fun out of breeding season faster than birds that don't come into condition or fight you every step of the way. Birds that were obtained late in the season can become problem breeders their first year while adjusting to your methods. Not to worry, these birds will adjust to your methods and bred better the second season.
The factors that bring on breeding in our birds consist of conditioning, increasing light duration, temperature, food additions, and pairing at the correct time. When do we begin conditioning? Conditioning is a year round process; the birds should receive the proper food, vitamins and minerals, and exercise during each season of the year to remain in top shape. Everyone develops a feeding system that works the best for them, stick to this rather than trying everything you hear that is new and works for someone else.
Lighting is an easy job to accomplish. I turn down my lights to nine hours at the end of breeding season although they are still getting the benefit of the outdoor natural lighting cycle. Once show season is over the lights can be gradually increased each week, or be turned up all at one time. Both systems work, you need to decide which works best for you. Canaries will breed best at twelve to fourteen hours of light daily. I run the temperature at 55 degrees during the winter, and turn it up to 65 degrees when I start the process of bringing them into breeding.
The males should start receiving a richer diet in very small quantities four to six weeks before the hens do. Adding water soluble Vitamin E to the male’s water one day a week will help to bring them into condition and increase their fertility. Hens must be treated more slowly because they reach breeding condition faster and can turn into egg laying machines. Once males have reached the point where their vents are protruded like a pencil erasure and pointed forward is the time to start conditioning hens. Once the hens vents have swollen and turned red and the hens are constantly calling to the males is the time to cage them up and introduce the males. Foods I use for conditioning usually include sunflower seed chips, song food, sprouted rape seed mixed with a little egg food, and greens. Quantities must be controlled to avoid over stimulating the birds or causing gout. I keep all my breeding stock in large flights to ensure plenty of exercise.
After you have gotten through the first breeding season it is important to review and take notes on how well the parents fed chicks and clutch size. Hens that lay one or two eggs will do nothing to help your breeding program, and their daughters are likely to follow that pattern. I try to save daughters from hens that lay four or more eggs and were excellent feeders. Excellent feeders are those hens that seek out the smallest chicks and make sure they are fed. Using this process year after year will result in good breeding hens.
The selection process with males is different from the hens. My decisions on males in the beginning are to select males who "want" to sing. Males who love to sing freely usually produce sons who love to sing. At that point hens can be selected to add to the song, but the males have to "want" to sing. Shy or reluctant singers will not add anything of value to your birds.
By the time you have developed good free breeding birds that love to sing you should have learned more about the song. By keeping careful records you can select birds to pair that will improve the song you have. The goal at this point should not be to win the show; instead it should be to improve scores every year especially in hollow roll. If you achieve the goal of improving the scores each year the wins will come, and you will have developed a line of birds you can be proud of. It may sound daunting at first but the challenge is so worth it.