# the doves are here!



## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

here are these sweet little birdies...and the set up that came with them. anyone have ideas as to what I can add to the cage to make their life more interesting..and do doves bath like pigeons...they really need a bath..also, Iam not sure of what sex is what....the woman that gave me the birds thought that two in the smaller cage were male...so any ideas on how I might pair some of these up...she knows there is a hen in the big cage as there have been eggs every now and then...so..Im kinda scratching my head here wondering what to do..they have a nice coo and they "laugh"...it is a neat sound...


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## jbangelfish (Mar 22, 2008)

*Food, water, place to nest, perches*

That's about all they need. Doves like a more natural perch than pigeons, such as a tree branch. They will nest in open box or closed with open front. Small twigs or large pine needles work as nesting material, also hay or straw stems.

Someone said that theirs seem entertained by a rope or something. I'd be more inclined to think that they are trying to tear off pieces for nesting material.

Pigeons and doves are not especially playful birds such as parrots and parakeets. Please do not hammer me with comments that yours play, I just do not consider them to be playful or comical birds. They will seem to play by excercising their wings and are most apt to appear playful when in the air, where they are capable of some amazing maneuvers (sp?). Unfortunately doves will fly away if released. In a large flight, you may see them doing some silly flying. Is it being playful or is it excercising and practicing escape maneuvers from predators. Who knows?

They do have an interesting voice, especially the laugh. They are extremely hard to sex and you probably won't figure them out until you have fertile eggs or babies. Same as pigeons though, the male will drive the hen to the nest and is the only one to do so, no matter the sex of the other bird. Doves can be alittle scrappier even than pigeons and seem less tolerant of birds other than their own mates in their space.

Bill


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Oh how pretty. Are they tame at all? Those two in that small cage look sad to me. Do you plan to get them a bigger cage?


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## philodice (Sep 30, 2007)

Lovebirds said:


> Oh how pretty. Are they tame at all? Those two in that small cage look sad to me. Do you plan to get them a bigger cage?


Ah, the eternal search for the larger cage.  I have 2 walk in cages now (one open flight cage and one more sheltered/partially walled) and I wish I had 3 that were part walled in! Then I wouldn't have to put all the birds in the 'dove fortress' during storms.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Lovebirds said:


> Oh how pretty. Are they tame at all? Those two in that small cage look sad to me. Do you plan to get them a bigger cage?


yes, Im gonna hook those two up with a nice space!, I love shopping for animals I think i will keep them on my screen porch in the summer and then in for the winter, I bet they would benifit from sunshine and fresh air...so does any one know if they like water baths?...they are not hand tame, but they are friendly enough not shy...


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

spirit wings said:


> yes, Im gonna hook those two up with a nice space!, I love shopping for animals I think i will keep them on my screen porch in the summer and then in for the winter, I bet they would benifit from sunshine and fresh air...so does any one know if they like water baths?...they are not hand tame, but they are friendly enough not shy...


I don't "know", but I would assume they do. Most birds like to bathe.


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

The doves are lovely, and yes, they love to bathe!

Terry


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## EgypSwiftLady (Jan 14, 2008)

spirit wings said:


> yes, Im gonna hook those two up with a nice space!, I love shopping for animals I think i will keep them on my screen porch in the summer and then in for the winter, I bet they would benifit from sunshine and fresh air...so does any one know if they like water baths?...they are not hand tame, but they are friendly enough not shy...



Yes they love bathes and they do like to play with toys. I'm the one that said mine like to play with a rope perch, its because they like the swinging of it not because they want nesting material. 
If you put them all together and watch you will be able to see who is male and who is female. In the winter I have to bring our doves, 3 pairs, inside and since I don't have an inside flight large enough each pair has a seperate cage because the males are very territoral. Their summer outside flight is big enough to give the 3 pairs enough space.
They tame down nicely but still prefer not to be held, even our handfed house dove doesn't like to be handled but loves to sit on an arm or shoulder
You will enjoy them and all their "talking".


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

EgypSwiftLady said:


> Yes they love bathes and they do like to play with toys. I'm the one that said mine like to play with a rope perch, its because they like the swinging of it not because they want nesting material.
> If you put them all together and watch you will be able to see who is male and who is female. In the winter I have to bring our doves, 3 pairs, inside and since I don't have an inside flight large enough each pair has a seperate cage because the males are very territoral. Their summer outside flight is big enough to give the 3 pairs enough space.
> They tame down nicely but still prefer not to be held, even our handfed house dove doesn't like to be handled but loves to sit on an arm or shoulder
> You will enjoy them and all their "talking".


thanks robin, they have a swing perch in there and they do seem to like it...if I put them all together to see who is who...will the male try to get bossy with the ones I put in there...I have an uneven number so I kinda don't know what to do...should i keep one alone in it's own cage? I don't like to do that, but what else can I do....


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## EgypSwiftLady (Jan 14, 2008)

spirit wings said:


> thanks robin, they have a swing perch in there and they do seem to like it...if I put them all together to see who is who...will the male try to get bossy with the ones I put in there...I have an uneven number so I kinda don't know what to do...should i keep one alone in it's own cage? I don't like to do that, but what else can I do....



If you have all males they will fight together or if you have males & females the males will fight over the hen(s), don't leave them unattended if you do put them all together the males can get very nasty to other males. I had to do this to figure out sexes then I put the slip(?) bands, pink for hens/ blue for cocks, on them so I wouldn't keep wondering who was who. 
If you have an extra hen you can have a trio but I be very careful of putting 2 cocks together.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

EgypSwiftLady said:


> If you have all males they will fight together or if you have males & females the males will fight over the hen(s), don't leave them unattended if you do put them all together the males can get very nasty to other males. I had to do this to figure out sexes then I put the slip(?) bands, pink for hens/ blue for cocks, on them so I wouldn't keep wondering who was who.
> If you have an extra hen you can have a trio but I be very careful of putting 2 cocks together.


great! Im going to do that..Ill get me some bands...glad to here I can have a trio...if I have an extra male, I may need to find him a hen...or give him to someone looking for a male....I will be sorting this out when I know what is what....thanks a bunch that was real helpful!


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## JLee (Dec 16, 2008)

They're so beautiful!


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## Guest (Dec 21, 2008)

well all I can add is this , they look very nice , love that big cage too roomy .. I used to keep all mine in one big cage when I had them and there was very little fighting so if I was you I would at least give it a try and go from there 

p.s. mine loved their swing too


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## RodSD (Oct 24, 2008)

Beautiful birds. Have you tried putting some plastic cover around the bottom of the cage so that when your doves flap their wings feathers and bloom won't be flying all over the place?


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

RodSD said:


> Beautiful birds. Have you tried putting some plastic cover around the bottom of the cage so that when your doves flap their wings feathers and bloom won't be flying all over the place?


..LOL..I see you have had doves in the house before...Iam just vaccuming the feathers up...the bottom grill was taken out and cleaned of the feathers, they arrived with all those feathers stuck on the bars, it's better now, Im sure in a few weeks I will be looking for those plastic covers


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## RodSD (Oct 24, 2008)

Yes, I am experienced. LOL! I have had in the past parakeets, finches, doves, pigeons and several parrots. The finches I had were very vicious. They bite so hard. It is the pigeon that I have now. My parakeets were very intelligent. My doves were nonchalant. The parrots were very noisy. Our house was like a jungle before. When I was a kid, I have had dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, pigs and pet spiders. I can also add dragonfly and beetles as pets. My neighbor had cows, and horses. My grandparents taught me to take care of those animals. 

I wanted to have a falcon when I was a kid, but my parents said no because we don't have falcon back in the Far East. I wanted to have a bird that returns home when release. I went for alternative and by reading encyclopedia I discovered about pigeons specifically homing pigeons. I told my parents about it and my mom brought me a dove instead. I told her it was not like the one in the picture so she went back the next day and brought me 2 pigeons. My dad built me a loft. It was a family affair then until we realized how much poop those pigeons give. LOL! Those pigeons betrayed me by leaving and that was the end of my pet pigeons hobby until 20+ years later. Now I was gifted 8 pigeons at the beginning of this year from my brother's friend. This time they returned so I am a believer now that homing pigeons do come back. End of my story.


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