I've been raising canaries for 25-30 years and am having trouble in the past few years. My canary eggs hatch and within a few days the babies start dying. One dies then another dies and sometimes they live until they are almost feathered out and then die. I feed them commercial canary mix, fresh water daily, dandelions and/or greens and fresh made daily egg food. Does anyone know anything about this or had a similar experience? Any help would be really appreciated. Thanks.

Hi

Could it be red mites? Are the chicks mouths pale? I have had a few problems this year also and have ended up handrearing more than usual. As you probably know red mites dont actually live on the birds, but feed on them at night. I figured it out by putting a piece of kitchen towel in the cage. Red mite numbers are sky high this year!

If it turns out it is, take them away and rear them on egg food and spinich. Thats really high in iron and will build up their red blood cells quicker.

Another thing it could be is vitamin D deficiency. Are they getting enough sunlight? This can cause clear eggs, DIS and chicks dying in the first week of life. Those that live longer than that develope true rickets. Page 48 of the book below explains the symptoms.

Have a look on Google for Diseases of Canaries By Robert Stroud. Its an online book and has some good advice/information. Type into google 'rickets in canaries' and its the first result that comes up.