How should the male and female Canaries be introduced? Is it normal for the male to beat the hen?
When the birds are in condition, place the male and females cages along side each other. The male should immediately start to sing and the hen should reflexively squat. If this is observed, the birds can be placed together right away. If not, wait until you see the birds “kissing” through the cage bars. DON’T allow the male to beat the hen! This IS NOT a natural or required step, despite what a few morons have written! Once mating has been observed, the cock can be removed and placed with another hen, to repeat the process. Canaries are naturally polygamous. Out of thousands of canary nests, I’ve only observed one case of a monogamous pairing. There is no reason not to leave the male and female together. Though the hen alone incubates the eggs, the cock will help with the feeding of the nestlings.
