My Setup

Richard Lumley’s Gloster Canary Environment

My shed is a brick building which I built myself. It is 20ft long by 12 foot wide and is fully insulated so that in cold weather the room temperature never drops below freezing point. I never use heat but I do use artificial light with full spectrum light bulbs as the building faces North and gets no sun at all. I do leave my lights on all day and in the breeding season that’s 15 hours.

In my shed I have 140 cages which are 14″ x 12″, in which I house up to 35 pairs of birds. I like to breed just in pairs as this is the way I have had the most success. I have tried to breed one cock with two or three hens but this has not been as successfull for me as sticking to pairs.

I start to condition my birds from the middle of December giving them eggfood, condition seed,breedmax and increasing the light each week until March 14th when by then I have 15 hours of light. By this time the birds are in condition. The reason I do this is because I show at the World Show each year and you have to start breeding early so as by the end of the year (i.e. next January) your young birds are like adults. I have noticed that by the time the warm weather comes around and I have finished breeding, other breeders are having trouble in their sheds with all sorts of problems. So is the best time to breed when it’s not warm?In “2007″ I bred 165 young birds from 30 pairs.In “2008″ after I had cut my breeding stock down to 20 pairs I bred 70 young birds.In “2009″ I am again breeding from 20 pairs,once again I have managed to breed 70 young birds,for the first time I have bred 1 fawn corona,1 cinnamon corona and 4 cinnamon cosorts,4 blue corona’s,5 blue consorts and 1 yellow corona so I have got a better choice of bird to look at.My breeding with Trio’s did not work for me and in the second round I gave the idea up,I don’t blame the birds I think its me.                                                                                                                                                                       

In “2010″ I have bred 80 young birds from 20 pairs,some are looking very nice birds but the moult will tell if they are to be winners.

 

                                                         

                                                                               

 

                                Enter to the Lumley Stud at your own risk.

                               On the 7th day god created Yorkshire.