# Weaning a Diamond Dove



## DestinyLynette (May 6, 2014)

_day 18_

This is Pidgey. Pidgey is a diamond dove, turned 3 weeks old today, May 5th. I work at PetSmart, our birds laid eggs, and someone did not toss them like they should've, an after they reached a certain point in incubation I basically forbade everyone to touch them and I offered to take the babies once they hatched. The last time eggs came to term in our store, they "mysteriously" died after a few days, so I took these immediately.
Baby one did not make it, and passed away its second night.
Baby two, born a day after the first, always did okay with me. I have raised him since he was a little over 24 hours old, spoon fed him formula, and now we have approached weaning. He is very active, and hops and flies around his cage in short spurts. I have been feeding him by putting seeds directly in his mouth, BUT the pecking aspect of it, he doesn't seem to understand. I have "pecked" with my fingers, and he'll copy me for a bit. He occasionally picks up a seed but always drops it, then gets frustrated and begs me for food. 

He thinks his seed cup is something you sit in, not get food from. SO, this is my game plan, and please correct me if I'm wrong:

I covered the bottom of his cage with newspaper, because I did have a corn cob bedding, and I wanted him to be able to see the seeds. I scattered a lot of seeds across the bottom, and put his seed cup on the ground as well. I'm planning on not feeding him directly for a day or so (keeping an eye on him / his weight of course) in the hopes that this will give him the motivation to teach himself. 

OR

should I feed him completely once in the morning and once at night, so I know he's still getting food, but make him eat for himself (or try to) in the middle of the day? 

I've been a total worry-wart this whole process of raising him; he is my first bird, period, and raising him from day one much less, I've been beside myself. Especially after losing his sibling. I've been referencing diamonddove.info for help, but oh my LORD their growth chart seemed to be ridiculous, he always seemed dramatically behind in how feathered he was / how much he weighed, but I followed their advice on hand raising babies exactly. Curiously enough, he also doesn't look like a fledgling; he doesn't have the brown colors I see baby diamonds pictured with, which I find odd?

Buuut yes, hello, my name is Destiny, and this is me fretting over my baby lol. I weighed him this morning at 18g. His weight seemed to stop climbing as quickly when I started him on seeds, but I have been spacing his feedings out to once every 2-3 hours as well. But I bring this little guy to work with me, and I'd be endlessly happy if I can go ahead and succeed in him feeding himself, heh.

The attachment picture was from today.


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## DestinyLynette (May 6, 2014)

Also, I have a couple of people that suggest waiting until he'd 4-5 weeks old before I start giving him seed at all, but I'm so confused because I've also heard that once they start fledging they're ready for seed, and the diamond dove site I've been referencing has babies TWICE his size, fully fledged and functioning, and the same age.


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## Lefty07 (Dec 30, 2009)

To me, he looks too young to eat seed on his own. As long as you can feed him formula safely and he will take it, give it to him. Ideally, he should be fed in the morning, mid-day, late afternoon, and evening. The formula should be slightly warm - not cold, just out of the refrigerator. You should NOT force seeds in his beak - he may choke on them. Just leave some seed on the cage floor and he may pick at it. Let him start eating seed as his own speed - don't starve him to make him eat on his own - he will learn to eat seed when he is ready.

You might also try offering some finely mashed hard-boiled egg - leave this on the floor of the cage as well but remove it after a few hours as it can go bad. All his food and water should be offered on the bottom of the cage as Diamond Doves are ground feeders. Once he is eating seed, he needs some fine bird grit, also on the cage bottom. I use old coffee can plastic lids as food plates for my bottom feeding birds.


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## DestinyLynette (May 6, 2014)

So probably keep him on formula for another week or so? Should I mix in some seeds with it, or no?
EDIT: Also how often should I be feeding him at three weeks of age?


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## Lefty07 (Dec 30, 2009)

I would just give him straight formula without seeds in it. If he's 3 weeks old, maybe feed him 3 times a day. But really, let him have as much formula as he wants. If he's hungry, feed him. You have to keep his weight up. He will learn to eat seed when he is ready. 

You can encourage his interest in seeds by "pecking" at them, with your finger, so he gets the idea - but, beyond that, keep up with the formula until he doesn't want it anymore. You can't feed him as efficiently as his mother can so weaning may take longer than normal.


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## DestinyLynette (May 6, 2014)

Alright, awesome. Thank you so much. So many different sources and I just wasn't sure what to do. Also, that's a relief. I was panicking trying to make sure I fed him every hour and a half / two hours lately. 

Any idea why he has adult colors instead of brown feathers like every other young diamond dove I've seen? Or do they look silvery like this when their feathers first come in?


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## Lefty07 (Dec 30, 2009)

I don't know about the feathers. I only ever had normal Diamond Doves (which are hard to find these days). Mine had brown young but with all the newer mutations, the babies could be any color I guess.

Again, I would just say feed him as much as he is hungry for. He might be further along in terms of weaning, if he was fed by his mother, but hand-feeding by people is an "imperfect science" so he may need to be fed by you for a longer time than normal. The important thing is that he has plenty of food and grows in size and weight. 3 - 4 times a day seems like it might be enough at 3 weeks - but if he begs for food more often, feed him!

If your house is cool, he might also like a (human) heating pad under the cage (turned on low) and a towel on top of the cage to make it a little warmer. Heat is important for baby birds and it helps them digest their food better / grow faster.

p.s. I would always use newspaper instead of corn cobs for your Diamond Dove, even after weaning, because as doves they like to walk / feed on the bottom of the cage. But he might like a little nest right now - maybe like a margarine container, lined with tissues or cloth.


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## DestinyLynette (May 6, 2014)

Oh, I have a ceramic heat emitter on top of the cage, closest to where his nest is. It emits heat but not light, and I have a thermometer with the temp probe in his nest, which is a woven Nature's Nest (I used the high-sided ones meant for finches and just cut the top off; I don't like how shallow the ones suggested for doves is) and it's lined with paper towel, a bit of hay, and some of the round bedding for absorbency. I change out the bedding whenever it looks like it needs it.

I originally kept him in the lower to mid 90s when he was naked, but since he's feathered out more I just keep him in the 80s somewhere.


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## Lefty07 (Dec 30, 2009)

Sounds like you are doing a great job with him! He will be a great tame pet for you. I had a tame Diamond Dove, who wasn't hand-raised - he just tamed himself - his name was Pecker and he lived for 15 years (1982 - 1997)!


I only have Ringneck Doves right now. Here are some baby photos. There's nothing like a tame baby dove!


It broke my heart to sell these 2 babies - they were so nice and friendly.


I kept this baby - his name is Lefty, because I put the band on his left leg by mistake.


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