# Hello, new to forum



## neohistory (Oct 25, 2013)

Hi, I just joined up a few minutes ago. I live in Oklahoma, and have had 2 pet diamond doves for the past few months. Well, I bought one, then a few months later bought another. I also have two parakeets who are brats and try to pester the doves if they are out at the same time lol.

Anyways, I sought out this forum because I had a question. The first diamond dove I bought was Coo. I thought it was a female, smaller ring, rarely would coo (sometimes she would coo if I imitated a diamond dove coo, 2 short/pause/long/short/long. So this other one I bought, I named jack. I thought it was a male because he cooed so much. If I do the dove coo, he responds almost every time (coo still just sits there.) Well here it is tonight, and jack has begun to twitch his wings. He quickly shakes his head at coo. I couldn't believe it when I saw coo (who I thought was female) mount jack and do that funny thrust then COO on top of...well her I guess now. I must have completely read them wrong, because it seems I got the sexes mixed up. Just now, jack is cooing and coo flew over and did the mount again. I better switch names lol.

So my question is: Is this just a coincidence the identifying seems reversed? As in, identifying sexes isn't set in stone I guess?

So when will I be a Grandpa?


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

They can definitely fool us sometimes as to their genders. Sounds like the doves have sorted it out for you Do you want them to have babies? If so, they need nesting material and a nest bowl. Once the eggs have been laid and they start to incubate them, it only takes about 14 days for babies to be on the scene.

Terry


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## neohistory (Oct 25, 2013)

Yes, I do actually want them to have babies. I'm a little concerned about the male. He has been pecking at the female almost all day today. It looks like he's finally stopped. He wouldn't even let her in the cage when I had it open, just kept chasing her out. Is that normal?


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## Lefty07 (Dec 30, 2009)

Welcome to the board. Male Diamond Doves can get quite aggressive with females. Sometimes they only calm down once they are breeding. To start with, are you sure your "pair" is unrelated and not brother and sister? As with people, you do not want to breed related birds as it leads to genetic problems. So if your "pair" are related, you might want to swap one of the birds with another breeder's birds so the parents are unrelated. I mention this because doves tend to have 2 babies per clutch so the young are often sold in "twos" - but they are often brother and sister and, as such, they are unsuitable for breeding together!

Anyway, assuming you have an unrelated pair... To get them breeding, give them some sort of small open bowl for a nest and some nesting material, as was suggested above. It could be an open ceramic bowl on the floor of the cage or a clip-on wicker "canary nest" you can buy at the pet store. I've even used old Easter baskets! Nesting material could be some clean hay, like you can buy for rabbits. Put some in the nest and on the cage floor also. I have also used lint from my clothes dryer, to line the nest, and they seemed to like that. Once they lay eggs, you are in business. In addition to regular seed, nesting doves may like some finely-crushed hard-boiled egg to feed the babies. Also, nesting female doves need extra calcium because laying eggs depletes their body's calcium so make sure you supply some *hi-cal grit* in a small bowl (actually doves should have access to grit at all times - Diamond Doves need fine grit, the size for parakeets and canaries).

Once the babies leave the nest, your male may eventually show aggression towards them. When I bred Diamonds, it seemed like everything was OK until the baby Diamond Doves grew a long tail like their parents. Once the babies had the profile (body shape) of their parents with long tails, my male became aggressive and wanted them OUT of the cage immediately and would chase them endlessly. So be ready with an extra cage for the grown-up babies, if you breed Diamond Doves (but of course don't remove them until the young are 100% self-feeding). Also, if your male keeps pecking the female after you let them breed once or twice, you might have to take her out of his cage too, for a while, so she can recover from being pecked!

Remember, breeding can be tough on the parents - especially the females who lay the eggs - so it's best not to let them breed more than 2 - 3 times a year.


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## neohistory (Oct 25, 2013)

*Awesome*

Hey thank you for the great reply. I'm beginning to wonder if they are. Both were bought from the same store, but about 3 months apart. So there is a possibility, but I cannot be sure without DNA testing I'm guessing. Can't really do that right now, restructuring finances. Anyways, The female is continually doing the wing twitch before the male and rapid head shake outside the cage.

I think they have mated successfuly twice that I know of (the full mount and not the jump to the side coo thing.) But now the female is attacking the male. I'm actually beginning to see some bald areas on the males head. This pair is so weird to me because they are opposite of everything you guys are telling me. I'm thinking maybe the cage needs to be bigger because they are stressed. But I let them out a lot. I'm going to keep watch on the males feathers and continue on. So far no nest building or anything. Thank you again. Here are some pics. The doves and then I had to include the parakeets because they'd be jealous if I didn't. Some how they would just know I didn't post it.

The female is Coo, and the Male is Jack.









I'm sure both are males due to the ceres. The green is Artemis and the Blue is Hermies.


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