single female canary laid eggs

[jesterbird]

Hi there,
I'm new, so I'm not sure this qualifies as a new topic...but I have a question.
I have one canary which turns out to be female. I thought she was female, but then she started singing like a maniac, so I thought it must be a male (though I know females do sing, though not generally as much). But a week ago she started laying eggs. :blink: In her food dish. hmy: There are three of them upon which she has dutifully been brooding. Since she has no mate they obviously will not hatch.
What should I do?:dry:

Thanks

[Rivera]

a) Remove the eggs now.
b) Remove the eggs later, when they *stink*.
c) Wait and see if she stops paying attention to them and either removes them herself or just refuses them, and remove them then.

I think the girl was giving you a hint: she wasn´t singing like a maniac, she was yelling "Get me a dude!!!" :woohoo:

G

[Florence]

Jesterbird, welcome to the forum, I hope you will like it here

Rivera said it all. I have nothing to add

[jesterbird]

Thanks
I gather that the three options Rivera proposed are listed in order of recommendation. If I remove the eggs now, do I need to replace them with dummy eggs? Will that encourage her to ignore them? If I just remove them will that distress her and compromise her health or encourage her to lay more eggs?

Now that she has demonstrated this nesting behavior I feel guilty about keeping her alone. I would like her to be happy and I know that canaries are social. Since I moved her near a window she has been happier and more animated. I'm sure sees the many birds who fly in to nibble at the feeders outside. I didn't mean to tease her; I thought she would just enjoy being near nature and her wild cousins. I would have set her free if I felt she would survive and find companionship with other birds. Obviously that is absurd.
So now, the dilemma: get her a mate? Move her from the window? What?
If I get her a companion and they produce offspring will I be able to find homes for them? (I wouldn't be able to keep them all.)Does it matter what variety of canary with whom to pair her? I'm not sure what type she is ( she's varigated in color. Beyond that...) I'm not prepared to set up a full scale breeding operation with incubators, etc. Should I try to find a home for her with someone better equipped to meet her needs? Comments? Suggestions?
Thanks for the help.

[Florence]

Well, Jesterbird - to be honest I don't think anyone can give an answer to that since it is you who has to decide what are you prepared to do to make her feel happy. I personally wouldn't have any trouble in keeping her and let her lay infertile eggs. I am a bit apprehensive against caging birds in general but canaries wouldn't survive in the wild in most places anyway so if you cannot meet the conditions in order to set up a breeding place I think it's better to just keep her as is.

Perhaps Rivera will have a different opinion about it and react with that here

[jesterbird]

Thanks, Florence.
As long as it won't stress her and make her ill or desperately depressed I'll just keep her as she is. I'll kep talking with her (we exhange "gweeps" and chortles) :whistle: and just keep an eye on her. I appreciate your help.

[Florence]

We always had our canaries at the window sill in the Netherlands when I was small and they all lived long (unhappy canaries die younger is my rockfast belief)

[Rivera]

I have a couple of parakeets and they laid eggs once, and they did not hatch. Since then, they have not laid eggs. Despite the fact that they are a couple, and that they already mated, it doesn´t mean birds will mate like crazy all the time (though I do have a couple of doves that mate more than Hug Heffner and his gals).
Yes, she will go bezerk the day you remove the eggs, but she will not slit her feathers, don´t worry.
Now... about getting her a "mate"... Just now I have 2 dove babies of 2 different species getting along wonderfully. And on youtube I´ve seen many videos of birds of different species getting along great.
So that might be another option: getting her a friend, and not necesarilly a "husband".
She might keep on laying eggs, but you won´t have to face the problem of "placing your grandchicks".
Also, if she´s laying eggs, regardless of wether they are fertile of not, remember to give a mineral supplement, cuz she´s taking the shell calcium out of somewhere and odds are it´s her bones. At the petstore you can find some already mixed.
If you do chose to get her a hubby, I don´t think it will matter much to her what kind or color it is: instinct will take over.
Hugs.
G

[Jenna8877]

don't move the eggs let her laid on them, she will keep them warm and they will hatch. I know by expertince I have parakeets and they been laiding eggs. do you have a large cosy sack? if you do put the cosy sack were you have the feeding dish and put the eggs in the cosy sack and show her were the cosy sack is, do that twice show her were the cosy sack is if you have one.

[Florence]

Hello Jenna8877, welcome to the forum. Thank you for the advice. I hope jesterbird will check back in soon and read it

For how long did you have parakeets for and (this is impertinent to ask, I know :blush: ) - do you have photos? :blush: