IRISH FANCY CANARY

Many seeds have many different values but mixed together they make up a balanced diet. Most canary mixes contain plain canary, black or red rape, linseed and some niger seed. It is very important that your seed is clean and dry, dusty or mouldy seed can be very harmful to your birds.  Grit is another important aspect in your feeding program. The reason for grit in the canaries diet is that canaries don't have teeth so they need grit to digest their food. The food is stored in the crop were it is softened, then it is passed to the canaries gizzard were the gizzard's muscular action grinds it up along with the grit so digestion can take place. The next thing and a very important one is Water the essence of all life, clean fresh water is a must and should never be neglected. Now we come to the Green food there are many different types to choose from such as lettuce, broccoli, Spinace, Cabbage etc. I also feed Peas (Petit Peas) which are bought frozen I found these to be a great substitute for the green food. Then there are the wild seeds and weeds, which are an excellent source of vitamins, and are "free" you must collect them from an area that is not sprayed, weeds such as dandelion groundsel chickweed plantain. There are lots to choose from. Then we come to Soft food were there is also many different products on the market; I use Orlux as I have been using it for many years with great success. I feed soft food about once a week in the winter and after the shows, but at the breeding season this is a very important part of the feeding program, feeding two to three times a day along with soaked seed (soaked seed is a seed that is soaked in water over night, it must be rinsed regularly the seed then softens and it is easier digested by the canary so they can feed their young) I only use it at the breeding season. These are the basic foods for your canaries, as you will probably find your own system, everyone has a slightly different method of management but as long as we end up with the same results that fine.