# Ringneck Dove with messy feathers?



## VladZ (Dec 28, 2014)

Hi everyone,
I registered to this forum hoping to get some answers because I can't really find any information on the internet. I hope I am posting in the right place.

I have had my pet ringneck dove for about 2 years now and she's been generally healthy, but lately for the last 3 or 4 months, she's had a lot of trouble taking proper care of her feathers. She otherwise seems healthy and has normal stools, breathing, and coos once or twice a day. 

Here is her when she had healthy, full feathers and big, bright eyes:









But now she's been looking like this:

























I gave her some extra calcium and vitamin supplements which seem to be making her feathers grow a little bit faster but they are still breaking and falling out, and her normal fan-shaped tail is reduced to just one or two disheveled feathers and her flight feathers are not coming in fast or evenly enough. She has uneven and messy feathers all over her body. Her eyes also seem to be less vibrant. She eats and preens herself every day but she's not doing a very good job of it and I am concerned about why this is happening to her.

I should note that I have children who sometimes roughly handle her and I am wondering if this is causing her excessive stress. The children are not allowed to touch her but every so often I find her with them. 

She does not live in a cage, all 3 of my birds live on perches and stands around my house. I also have a conure and a cockatiel and these two are healthy and happy as can be. However in the last few days I decided to keep my dove in a hospital cage only coming out to eat her meals or sit on my shoulder, until I can figure out what to do with her.

Can you guys give me some ideas why this is happening and what I can do to help her get her feathers back to their clean appearance?

Thanks,
-Vladislav


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## LUCKYT (Jan 17, 2009)

Is it possible the Hook Bills are messing with her Feathers? (preening, ect.?)


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## VladZ (Dec 28, 2014)

LUCKYT said:


> Is it possible the Hook Bills are messing with her Feathers? (preening, ect.?)


It is possible as I see them lovingly preening her on occasion but I doubt this is causing the extent of the damage you see here.


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## LUCKYT (Jan 17, 2009)

Hook Bills can be pretty rough on other species when showing affection.


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## GimpieLover (Dec 18, 2005)

Is she getting enough sunlight? (not through a window) They need it to process the calcium


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## VladZ (Dec 28, 2014)

GimpieLover said:


> Is she getting enough sunlight? (not through a window) They need it to process the calcium


Actually you may be on to something! Our house is dark and because it's winter, I haven't taken her outside as often and she doesn't usually get close to a window. Basically she doesn't get direct sunlight more than about 3 hours a week 

I will have to give her some more, this may be her issue.


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## GimpieLover (Dec 18, 2005)

Make sure it's not a lice, and she has a good variety seed diet as well. 
Poor feather quality is usually nutritionally connected. Does she get greens?


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## LUCKYT (Jan 17, 2009)

One winter with out sun will NOT effect the feathers... Once grown out they will not change due to nutrition, OR the lack of Sun. I have raised Doves that NEVER saw the sun and where in beautiful feather. I would look closer at you Hook Bills.
LICE will not show like that.


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## GimpieLover (Dec 18, 2005)

no it would not. You are right. It is long term, so what nutrition and sun she had while growing these out would have effected the state of their condition. 
A tiel will chew them, but they should not flake and fall apart when you touch them.
A tiel chewing on them would not have an effect on the state of the growth as the owner stated they were coming in strange and she is less lively. Dull eyes. That is not just feathers being chewed on.


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## GimpieLover (Dec 18, 2005)

Are her droppings normal looking? 
It could be stress. Was this an over night change after you found your kids with her? Maybe they are doing something or rough holding that is breaking her feathers and making her tired and listless.


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## LUCKYT (Jan 17, 2009)

It is hard to tell from the Pics, what color are the Birds eyes?


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## VladZ (Dec 28, 2014)

GimpieLover said:


> Make sure it's not a lice, and she has a good variety seed diet as well.
> Poor feather quality is usually nutritionally connected. Does she get greens?


She and my birds don't have any lice or other infestations, but she also does not get any greens. I offer my birds fruit and vegetables daily but my dove is very very picky, perhaps because of how she was brought up (I bought her as a 2-year-old adult dove) and she will actually sift through the bird seed only looking for corn kernels or certain white seeds, but will ignore everything else. She eats often in the day so she's never hungry, but I can't really get her to eat anything else. (On this note, actually, we were feeding wild pigeons in a park and we commented on how they gobble down everything but that our dove is as picky as she is).

I have seen people force-feed their doves/pigeons certain foods, would you recommend this? My cockatiel and conure both get all their fruits/veggies daily but like I said, dove is very very picky and ignores almost all types of foods besides the two/three seed varieties she likes.


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## VladZ (Dec 28, 2014)

LUCKYT said:


> It is hard to tell from the Pics, what color are the Birds eyes?


Red/orange, she is an albino.


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## VladZ (Dec 28, 2014)

GimpieLover said:


> Are her droppings normal looking?
> It could be stress. Was this an over night change after you found your kids with her? Maybe they are doing something or rough holding that is breaking her feathers and making her tired and listless.


Her droppings are completely normal but yes, I believe she gets some stress from children handling her roughly.


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## GimpieLover (Dec 18, 2005)

(On this note, actually, we were feeding wild pigeons in a park and we commented on how they gobble down everything but that our dove is as picky as she is).

-Wild pigeons are always starving. They have to eat anything they can find. 

Birds are a bit like kids. They will eat the tasty not so healthy seeds first. Leave the seed in the cage until she eats it all. They need the nutritional variety to stay healthy. 

I have seen people force-feed their doves/pigeons certain foods, would you recommend this? 

-No. No healthy bird should ever be force fed anything. 

What kind of greens are you offering? I find that skimming off the tops of broccoli so all the little green nubs are loose, appeals the best to them. Any green they have to tear might deter.


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## GimpieLover (Dec 18, 2005)

VladZ said:


> Her droppings are completely normal but yes, I believe she gets some stress from children handling her roughly.


Perhaps have a little talk with them. 
Doves are fragile physically, and in regards to stress. 
Supervised quiet visits only are my recommendation for her sake.


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## LUCKYT (Jan 17, 2009)

VladZ said:


> Red/orange, she is an albino.


 THAT.........Explains a LOT...... Doves are VERY tough, BUT not Albinos.


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## GimpieLover (Dec 18, 2005)

being an albino is a pigmentation gene. That has nothing to do with overall health 
Ringneck doves have been in-bred over years to get this desired color as it takes a recessive gene from both parents, or both parents need to be albino, and that can hinder health, but just being an albino is not the explanation for all that is going on here with this dove.


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## LUCKYT (Jan 17, 2009)

GimpieLover said:


> being an albino is a pigmentation gene. That has nothing to do with overall health
> Ringneck doves have been in-bred over years to get this desired color as it takes a recessive gene from both parents, or both parents need to be albino, and that can hinder health, but just being an albino is not the explanation for what what is going on here with this dove.


Sorry, but I disagree, Albino birds of any type are at a disadvantage. eye sight can be effected. Brittle feathers can even result in older albino birds, (not all the genetics behind the Breeding are the same in Albinos) I am not sure were I read this but will post it if I can. 
You said it yourself "Inbred" we have no clue as the how close in this case.


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## GimpieLover (Dec 18, 2005)

That is true about the eye sight, but it is normally shown right off the bat doesn't it? It effects the retina I believe. 
This doves issues seem to have been a sudden trauma, along with listlessness. 
The symptoms aside from the feathers are the worry


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## LUCKYT (Jan 17, 2009)

The first picture already shows rough feathering on the shoulder. (a place wear preening would be seen first.) I do not think the kids have anything to do with it unless they are intentionally rubbing the feathers.If that were the case all my Birds as a child would have been BALD.
Brittle feathers are in my opinion, in a well cared for bird nothing more than an external problem, Genetics is most likely, over preening by another bird,
Some Birds,(and albinos) even when receiving a proper diet, still produce brittle feathers as they Age. 
Being an albino IS an issue to me, you do not know how inbred this Albino family is. I see weakness in many families of "White" birds, not just albinos.
I rarely give my pigeons greens in the loft. the only time ANY Pigeon I have ever owned has gotten or gets Greens on a regular basis is from fresh growing plants in the Yard, picked by them PERIOD. By the time they get to the grocery store you may as well feed them cardboard, as far as nutrition goes, not to mention bacteria.
Hook bills and finches are a different story, greens and fruit are a more normal part of the diet, they require them. 
Rarely do lice do that much damage, don't think it is feather mites, it would be rather unusual, at least in any of my lofts over the years. 
I do believe it is the hook bills, or it being a poorly bred albino.

P.S. Keep the bird out of the sun............


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## GimpieLover (Dec 18, 2005)

When trying to diagnose a problem, you start from the basics. Nutritional, lifestyle, recent changes, environment, etc. 
Dietary she says it eats mostly corn and a few other white seeds. So it could be nutritionally a problem. Greens are not required, but they do offer good vitamins and minerals she could be lacking. 
bugs can chew feathers, but also suck blood leading to anemia causing listlessness.
Feeding too much calcium supplement causes problems to. Too much, without proper UV to process it can lead to it building up. Birds with too much calcium can act listless and can even appear "drunk" so I am not sure why you say to specifically keep her out of the sun?
A tiel chewing on her can cause broken and mangled feathers, as well as if the bird is chasing her could be wearing her out causing the tiredness.
As well as a childs rough handling could cause feather damage and tiring her out. 
being inbred can cause certain problems. But chalking it up to albino birds just have bad feathers and are weak, is not responsible. It could be that, yes, But without looking at all possibilities, you could miss something. 
Bad feather genetics would not cause loss of energy. 
Could it be more than one issue here, possibly. 
I have an albino dove with no feather issues. I have seen non- albino birds with feather conditions. So just because she is white, isn't a great stooping point for trying to figure out what is going on. Just my opinion I'm trying to get across. 
Cover all possibilities and start ruling them out. 
Or, take her to the vet. That is always the best thing to do when there is any sudden change in your pet. 
I hope your little dove gets better soon


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## LUCKYT (Jan 17, 2009)

I have been playing with Pigeons since before i can remember.
feather parasites rarely do that much damage......unless ignored for a long time, NOT THE CASE.
Such a poor Feather condition would not occur from nutrition, unless the bird was Damn near starved, for a long time. (UNLESS there was a genetic problem)
It is RARE, that calcium or minerals, with sun or without sun is EVER going to cause a problem... Pigeons, and most Birds pass extra calcium, grit and trace minerals if not needed.
In fact most people i have known over the years, including this Site seem to NOT understand how VITAL fresh, clean grit, and oyster shells and trace minerals are to Pigeons, and Doves 
My Birds get the best grit, and mineral supplements I can get my hands on,
and they get it fresh all they want daily, never a big dish sitting there getting damp and dirty.
Basics say this Bird is showing genetic problems showing up with age, or is being over "preened" by the other Birds. 

I never said all Albinos are messed up.......... BUT there are many that are.

I am done with this thread, some people do not want to see what is happening, unless there is a Drug involved to be stuffed down the birds throat. 
It is genetic, over preening, or we are not getting all the info.
THAT IS THE BASICS,,,,,,,,,,,,,,


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## CBL (May 13, 2014)

Your bird looks quite sick. I will leave you a PM, look there thanks.


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