—The hen you are expecting to lay again is found crouching in a corner of the cage, trembling and quite apparently in severe pain. She is probably suffering from egg-binding, and must be attended to at once. Take the hen very gently in your hand, and put three or four drops of olive oil in her beak. Carefully place her back in the cage, and after a short time the egg will be passed safely.
—The “sweating hen” problem occurs. Her breast feathers will have a moist appearance leading one to believe that she is sweating. What actually happens is that the hen loses condition, probably as the result of eating food that is sour, stale, or too sloppy, and this is passed on to the baby chicks. Diarrhoea results. Normally during the first week or so, the excreta from the young is expelled in a tiny transparent bag which the hen picks up in one piece when cleaning the nest. Being unable to do this if the young have diarrhoea, her feathers become sticky and matted.
—The hen starts picking feathers from the backs of the Round One chicks to provide nesting for the second nest even though ample nesting material is supplied. When this happens separate the cock and the chicks from the hen, using the wire partition.
THE NON-FEEDING HEN
It is normal for a hen to stop feeding her babies when she takes to her second nest of eggs. The cock bird can usually be depended upon to continue the job. However, a hen sometimes stops feeding at an earlier time, often because of an upset condition resulting from improper feeding—or from a fright. Such things as stale or soured soft foods, food deficiencies, or lack of sufficient fresh green food are most often the root of the trouble, although overfat and lazy hens sometimes seem to find proper feeding too much trouble. Try allowing the cock to carry on alone, giving the hen normal feeding until she resumes her duty. When the chicks are not being fed by either bird, it is advisable to divide the nestlings among the other nests if you have other pairs with chicks about the same age.
Otherwise, handfeeding is imperative. Chew either Pablum or oat flakes and when mushy, feed it to the babies from the end of a toothpick. In a day or two the parents may resume feedings. Should they not, the chewed food will have to be supplemented with greens, egg yolk, and after the chicks are ten days old, a little soft cuttle bone scraped from the soft side of the bone sprinkled over the mush. A few grains of table salt should also be added.
If a chick is out of the nest, it is likely to be afraid and refuse to open its beak for food. Take such a bird in your left hand, pry open the beak with the right thumb nail and hold it open with the nails of your left thumb and forefinger. Avoid injury either to the bird’s eyes or through too firm a hold. Keep the head elevated for easy swallowing and feed from a toothpick. Always feed warm food. A little milk sop from toasted whole wheat bread makes a good change. The babies usually will begin to feed themselves a few days after leaving the nest and can then be given moist nestling food, sprouted rape seeds, and cracked seeds prepared from regular French’s Bird Seed.
(Continued on [page 64])
A Canary Family
