Why Do Canaries Eat Their Eggs:
The canaries eating their eggs; is a rare case while breeding canaries. The most common reasons behind canaries eating their eggs are stress and lack of calcium. Despite these factors, some other things affect this condition, like males’ aggression, long nails, combined birds in the aviary, and others.
I have seen my breeding pair in such conditions more often. As I have a variety of breeding pairs to handle and breed. The canaries eat their eggs occasionally where they get little or no calcium for their breeding. This case is so rare that most experienced breeders don’t face it regularly. However, newbies and beginner pet owners do face it.
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The reason is that they don’t have an idea and know the proper diet of canaries which results in canaries eating their eggs.
To know the facts and reasons why do canaries eat their eggs, I have come to the following main factors which cause such situation for the breeders and they get troubled. So, let’s begin with the following reasons for canaries that eat their eggs. Â
Why Do Canaries Eat Their Eggs: 4 Reasons
1. Calcium
2. Stress
3. Male aggression
4. Nails
1. Calcium Deficiency
The newbies and beginners canary bird owners lack knowledge regarding the proper nutrition of the birds. Canary birds while getting ready for the breeding season or even coming to adultery, need a sufficient amount of nutrients including calcium.
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Especially female canaries require a decent amount of calcium that can produce and maintain the level of calcium required for producing eggs. The amount of calcium in mixed seeds is very low where the canary need to have it extra.
Lacking the calcium in the diet, eggs come as delicious and full of calcium supplements for the female and sometimes male canaries as well. Once they are habitual of eggs taste, they repeat the process of eating eggs again and again unless treated.
2. Stress
Why do canaries eat their eggs? even after a proper diet and nutrients are supplied. The next reason is the stress of a canary bird. When canaries are under stress they do such unnatural activities which they don’t do normally.
I have personally observed that my canaries would start unnecessary activities like plucking their feathers, eating eggs, etc. Â The cause of stress is mostly experienced in the bird room or aviary where proper space is not provided to birds or the space is full of birds.
I have also noticed that keeping other pet birds or even pets like dogs, cats near the aviary, most of the birds get stressed and don’t perform well. I have also experienced that some of the canary birds don’t mate or even sit on eggs in the presence of a human.
So, stress doesn’t only result in eating eggs but also reduces the performance of canary birds’ breeding and singing qualities.
3. Male Aggression
The next and another main factor why do canaries eat their eggs is the aggression of males. A male in the breeding season is very aggressive and wants to mate regularly with a female canary. Once the female canaries lay eggs and start to sit on for incubation, the male canary’s mating routine gets disturbed.
In such cases, I have seen a male canary starts singing so aggressively near the nest and start fighting with the female canary to leave the nest so that he could mate with the female. Such conditions affect eggs in the following ways;
- Male aggression and fight may cause the eggs to drop out from the nest.
- Male while being so aggressive may eat the eggs to avoid females sitting on them.
- Female canary may leave her nest permanently and after some time she may eat them.
So, this could also be the reason that why do canaries eat their eggs.
4. Nails
The grown nails of the canaries either male or female can damage the eggs shell in the nest. In my earlier days as a beginner canary pet owner, I have also seen that my breeding pair had larger nails that I was unaware of.
Consequently, my female canary had damaged the eggs where the shell was damaged. The same damaged egg was eaten by the female canary in the nest.
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So, this can also be the reason for canaries eating their eggs. But, I have also noticed that most of the experienced female canaries through them out and avoid eating such eggs. Â
These were the main reasons when a canary starts eating eggs. Â There are still some other factors, but they do not occur as often as these above do.
I hope you have come to know regarding the issues of why do canaries eat their eggs. Let me know if you have experienced any situation like that and what were your observations regarding that. I would love to hear from you and learn anything new.
If you want to know How to stop canaries from eating their eggs, just let me know I will have a detailed post on that as well.