Colorfeeding

Canaries: The Art of Colorfeeding

By Kevin Wirick

At this time of year our canaries are in their moult. The adults and the babies must have a correct diet in order for the birds to color as well as they should.

There is always a great deal of controversy regarding this practice year after year from old and new canary breeders alike. This practice has been going on for decades. The only difference from the 30's and now is how we colorfeed our birds.

One of the first coloring agents to color the birds was paprika. This spice when mixed on seed or in nestling food would color the birds. This practice however was a hit and miss operation. Some of the breeders were doing well in shows with this while others had given their birds too much only to cause a rusty look on the bird. If you had yellow birds with the red ones, they to would pick up color. Also, paprika fed in enough quantities to color will deteriorate the liver and could eventually lead to a bird's early demise.

One year, I kept my show stock strictly separate, i.e.; the reds were separated from the yellow/white ground birds. When I took them to a show that year, my yellow and white ground birds showed signs of red color. I couldn't understand why. When I came home, I looked at my cage and noticed my song food mixture. There amongst all the other goodies were safflower petals. Any of you who do any cooking know that safflower petals are used in sauces and gravies to produce a reddish color. Since that time, I have made sure that there are no safflower petals in my mixes.

A more natural way to color red ground birds is from finely ground raw carrots. When fed on a daily basis your birds will have a great deal of the same color as you would receive if you were using a chemical coloring agent. Carrots contain carotene and the carotene will allow the birds to convert this substance to red color in the feather. I can't emphasize enough that to feed a bird carotene, something he/she would normally get in the wild is not making your birds something they are not. It does however, give the birds the ability to show the color they have in their genetic makeup.

Take a look at the Flamingo; if it doesn't receive the carotene it needs they will fade in color. Today in most zoos the birds are given some form of Canthraxin in their food in order to keep the color that they were meant to have. The Flamingo's eat a lot of shrimp and plankton in the wild, this is something that isn't easy to supply in zoos. Natural carotene is present in anything that shows color, both yellow and red. We must find the right kind to feed our birds to achieve maximum color.

There are also products on the market in the form of oils that are meant to color your red birds. When you give large amount of oil to your birds to color them you run the risk of ruining their livers.

In the early 1970's a product was developed by Hoffman LaRoche, Inc. called Roxantin Red 10. This is a product with 10% Canthraxin beads. In a letter received from England in February of 1975 their London office directed us to the U.S. office in New Jersey. At that time this was available in one pound cans for $36.29. I have seen the same in some of today's publications for $200. This amount was so much for the average canary breeder to use. People that have a few hundred canaries could get by with just a few ounces. This chemical was originally used to help color the yolks of chicken eggs. This chemical is a very fine powder that is normally dissolved in hot water and added to the drinking water which makes it look like your birds are drinking tomato juice.
?
To use this to color the canaries use 1/4 teaspoon to one-half gallon of water. Dissolve the Canthraxin in a small amount to hot water and fill the rest with cold water. If you would like to add vitamin/mineral powders you can do this as well. Be sure to add the vitamins after you add your cold water because the hot water will destroy the vitamins. When given daily during the moult, this will allow the birds to show maximum color for his/her genetic makeup. I normally don't store Canthraxin in my stock bottle (refrigerated) for longer than three days. If you notice that your birds stools are rust to red in color, cut back on the strength of the colorfood. Change your bird's water daily! I sterilize my drinkers in bleach and water at least every three days to avoid bacterial buildup. The coloring agent will form a film on the drinkers and the stock bottles.

Another way to colorfeed your birds and one that isn't as messy was written up by Margie McGee in her column May I Help You in American Cage Bird Magazine. She suggest that you sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon full of Canthraxin to a batch of cornbread mix and feed one square inches to 40 birds with good results. (Breeders in our area have feed two square inches of cornbread to 40 birds with good results). Mix your cornbread mixes up, before you add the Canthraxin dissolve what you need in boiling water and mix well. Add to your cornbread mix and bake. For variety I have added poppy or anise seeds, extra eggs and yes even crumble up eggshells to the mixture. After this comes out of the oven and cools cut it into squares and put into a freezer bag and freeze.

A healthy canary will normally take six weeks to complete a moult. However, I have many canaries' babies and adults at all different stages of the moult. I'll keep my birds on the coloring agent form the frost moult until the fall. If you have some birds that you wish to take to show, I would suggest giving Canthraxin to the birds at least twice each week in case a few feathers are lost before the show.

Coloring food is brought through the bloodstream and therefore you would be best to limit the amount of greens you supply your birds. A watery type green or fruit (lettuce, watermelon) should be avoided. Vegetables such as broccoli, comfy, corn on the cob, would be better as they are much drier.

There are many things that can affect the color of your birds. When we show, our birds are given 50 points for color so you must be careful of what you give your birds to produce that color. The last time I purchase this product it was from Avi-Sci, Inc., 4477 S. Williams Rd., St. Johns, MI 48879, 1-800-942-3438.

The last price I had when I ordered in 1996 was $29.00 for a 2 oz; $48.00 for 4 oz.; and $83.00 for 8 oz. which includes shipping. When dealing with most any out of state dealer and if you're in a hurry, send them a money order or pay by a credit card so you won't have to wait two weeks for your check to clear.

A note on the lighter side: In the mid 80's I received a newspaper clipping from a member who had moved to Florida about Canthraxin. It states that a company had manufactured Canthraxin pills that when taken as directed, your skin would take on a bronze color like you have one great tan. A man in Canada started taking these pills but thought that if one a day would work then two would really speed it up. It turned out that his skin turned orange rather than bronze. The editor of the Florida papers pretty much summed it up saying, "If you can't afford to get a tan, you really don't need one."

303-456-0068