Over the last 2 breeding seasons by using Black lights I have I a better percentage of Hens to cock

Almost 2 hens to 1 cock

Back Lights an experiment to breed more Hens than Cocks

I have been reading on the Internet of breeders using black Lights to improve the Hen To Cock ratio

On the first week in January 2112 I installed 7-4ft fluorescent lights to my shed and one 4ft Black Light

Every week I changed one of the original fluorescent lights for a Arcadia Fluorescent bird light which are specially designed to reproduce the levels of UV light contained in natural sunlight, that normal domestic lights just cannot do. By the end of February I put the black light on 24 hours a day by the end of March I had chicks in the nest by the end of the breeding season I had 125 young.

Hens to cocks ratio was 77 Hens. 48 Cocks.

My 2nd Year breeding with black light 2013. I started one month earlier in December by the end of January all the Arcadia Fluorescent bird lights and the black light are on 15 hours a day the first chick was in the nest on 14^th February by the end of the breeding season I had 103 young.

as a experiment this year when I put the rings on my chicks I needled them the needle said 67 Hens 33 cocks I will tell you at the end of the moult what the ratio is.

Breeding canaries with black lights

Cock Hen Ratio: Breeding, Diet, Lighting, Selection: Tips From The Best of

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I once read something about the quality of foodstuffs and the bird’s ability to survey the situation and produce chicks based on quality and availability of foodstuffs. My own personal research has shown me that the "richer" the nutrition, the higher the number of hens. In my situation, "rich" means protein. As it stands, I get a consistent 5:1, hens to cocks from every pair here. I prepare a dry “protein mix" that is about 54% protein (averaged from the items I mix together), then add about 1 1/2-2 cups of that protein mix to about 10-15lbs of my breeding seed mix (difficult to give exact amounts because I eyeball it for color and consistency when mixing).

Over the course of many years and breeding seasons (10+ years), I have

adjusted this amount to see what happens. The years I use no additional protein, I get cocks 5:1, added protein but less than my current amount, I get closer to a 50/50 split, and the years I use my specific mix, hens 5:1

Linda Hogan’s Canary Tales

High Protein food

The First Ever Tuesday Tipster is Donald Saunders, a border breeder, from South Africa. I received this e-mail January 7, 2009. The canary seasons are about six months ahead in the Southern Hemisphere of the Northern Hemisphere.

Donald, who currently is in malting season and looking ahead to show season, reflects on his past breeding season. He writes: Linda, I have had my best breeding season in many years. Final count is 58 Borders! I must also thank you for the border veggies. We in SA have modified it slightly by putting 1/2 head of broccoli and 1/2 head cauliflower with 2 cups of soaked soy beans. This with the vitamin E really gets the borders into tip top shape. In addition, I am using a new oil which is the palm fruit oil. If you type in palm fruit oil and select the web site, you can see what it contains and the advantages.

Congratulations Donald and Thanks So Much for these tips!! I am a real cauliflower convert!!

The original intent of Border Veggies was to improve border vent development. I had noticed that compare to rollers and colorbreed, their vents were smaller and poorly developed. Being concerned that this would add to infertility problems, I needed to get them to eat more soy products, hence Border Veggies came into being. Although it was designed for borders, it works well with all types of canaries. Not just cocks benefit from Border Veggies, it is also good for conditioning hens, once the hens are about three weeks out from breeding.

The basic original recipe is to soak human quality soybeans, available at health food stores, in boiling water for 2 hours to soften them. Soaked soybeans will double there original volume, so you might like to use 1/4 or 1/2 cup to start. The soaked soybeans were then processed in the food processor and broccoli added and processed again.

Have you ever fed your canaries cauliflower? I had never thought of feeding canaries cauliflower or the advantage it could bring to the border veggies recipe. And was I ever pleasantly surprised! Birds loved it and the mixture was much lighter, which meant that instead of wasting what packed down, every trace was cleaned up!

I like to soak enough soybeans (1/2 cup) to make for two days of Border Veggies. Each day I use 1/2 cup soaked soybeans, process in the food processor, and add in 1/4 head of broccoli and 1/4 head cauliflower and continue processing. Extra soaked soybeans are refrigerated and use the next day to make up a fresh batch!

Donald also recommends palm fruit oil. Are any of you familiar with the advantages of using palm fruit oil? If yes, please comment on this blog post.

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I've Used Black Lights on & off for the past 4 years

The first year, I had at least twice as many hens as cocks hatched out So much so that I shut off the black lighting for six months Started it up again but have not noticed these same results. However, I have changed my birdroom around. I still only have 2 black lights set up.I have a friend who has six 18" black lights set up on the tops of his cages. These are within six inches of his nest baskets and are on 24/7.His ratio of hens to cocks is VERY high; in fact, it is rare for him to get a cock. His belief is that this works but only with a number of black lights that are positioned close to the birds/nest boxes.Adding (2) black lights in the bird room worked for me,I went from a 2 to 1 ratio of cocks to hens to the opposite after hanging these lights When I shut them off, I went back to the original ratio. They are back on and so far, the juveniles that are colouring out are evenly matched in cocks to hens.

Coincidence? Maybe. Black lights are cheap to purchase.