New canary - and red factor questions

[Cloverleaf Farm]

This is my son's surprise birthday present waiting for him in his room when he gets home from school today:

I'm really excited. He's going to love it!!! I lucked out, because it's a yellow canary that had been fed red-factor food, so he's orange - my son's favorite color! LOL

The gal at the pet store where I got him said that it's a berry extract in the red factor food that gives them the color - does anyone know what it is specifically? And if it's something I can get seperately to add to the feed I purchased today? Thanks!

 

[BAMABIRDS]

I can not tell you everything thats in it, but pet stores are liars and it is VERY BAD on a canaries liver. You can feed it color food if you want but it is a waste of money and will shorten the lifespan of your little singing friend.

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Quote:
THANK YOU!! That's odd - I read that it was just a berry extract...

BUT my son decided he wants to let him moult out and stay yellow.

 

[BAMABIRDS]

He actually will stay more of an orange color than yellow. Not as orange as his is now but he won't be a vibrant yellow either

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Quote:

Thanks!!

 

[4 luv of eggs]

You can naturally feed foods with beta carotene such as carrots and sweet potatoes. That will keep the orange color. It will not be as vivid but won't harm the little guy. The best time to do it is around the molt, which usually is July and August. Please don't use the color food that is available. It can cause liver damage and shorten the little guys life. He is a beautiful canary ( dilute coloration, I think). If he's a boy, I hope he's not as loud as my red factor. Rafferty can make your ears ring!

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Yeah, I had bought a bag, but I am going to return it. Thanks for the tips on what to feed.

He has quite a beautiful song! When he really gets going, our house sounds like a rainforest!!

 

[4 luv of eggs]

I'm glad he has a pleasant song. I have two males that are old enough to sing. Pazo has a beautiful soft song. As soon as Rafferty hears him, he drowns him out. I'm so happy right now. One of Rafferty's babies has just hatched today. Two more to go. This is their second clutch this season. The last four are on their own now. When you breed, you have no clue what the babies are going to look like. I know Rafferty's lady (Lemondrop) had a white mother. I'm hoping for a white baby.

 

[AquaEyes]

The most commonly used "color food" for red factor canaries contains canthaxanthin (my spelling may be off), which is a vitamin-A derivative pigment. When used correctly, there is no harm to the canary. Previous posts stating that it accumulates in the liver and causes early death are only partly true. Color food is meant to be fed only for molting times. Basically, when you first see a molted feather in the bottom of the cage, start feeding color food. When you see no more, wait two or three weeks, then stop feeding the color food. If you feed more than is required for longer than the molting period (i.e. giving large amounts of color food every day year-round) then yes, you will probably cause problems to your bird. But if you stop at the end of the molt, any excess canthaxanthin that remains in the body will be utilized as vitamin-A long before the next year's molt begins. And if all this seems too complicated, and you'd rather just give something all the time and not have to pay attention to molting times, then look for color food that does NOT contain canthaxanthin. These will contain various caratenoids from sources like paprika and dark leafy greens. Birds fed "natural" color food (without canthaxanthin) will color up, but not to the same intense degree as if they had been given canthaxanthin. Also, the color food works only while feathers are actively being grown. If your bird doesn't have any feathers growing, feeding color food will not change its color.

If anyone's interested, I remember reading a small book about the history of red factor canaries, which the author labeled "the first transgenic pet" because "red" is not naturally found in canaries, but was bred into them by hybridization with the hooded siskin from Central America. First generation hybrids resulted in sterile females and mostly sterile males. When a few males were found to be fertile, back-crossing to canaries began, and over repeated crossings and back-crossings, birds that were almost entirely "canaries" but retained the genes for making red feathers (called "the red factor") from the hooded siskin were created. I don't remember the name of the book, but I'm sure a search on amazon.com will find it.



~Christopher