# Need help breeding ringneck doves and other questions..



## B_Apple1987 (Jun 29, 2013)

We were trying to breed our tamed ringneck doves for a while to no avail now.
We have 4 of them. I have a total of 6 questions, 4 for one couple, 2 for the other. if you could help me, it would be deeply appreciated. 

-Although 2 of them are already a pair, and although we were able to provide them with good roosts to perch on, whenever they try to mate, the male falls down almost all the time without completing his job. After that, they do their kissing ritual again where one of them sticks their mouth into the other's. They try mating again, and the same thing happens. Only rarely did they succeed in completing their mating habit.
On 3 different occasions, the female has managed to lay only one egg, one of these such occasions happened a few minutes ago. So I need some help to understand what is going on and what I need to do now.

First question based on this: A week before laying an egg, all four doves start acting a little different than usual, a little hectic. They start cooing as soon as they see the face of the sun, they fly all around in their cage, they beat each other up. They coo so much to the point that their voice get hoarse. They twitch their wings and coo. Is this normal?

Second question: Based on my observations, the male coos and twitches his wings on a designated spot, indicating that he wants the eggs to be laid on that spot, but I am not sure. Yet, whenever I tried to put twigs & small branches in the cage, none of them tried to build a nest, I even put a nesting box in there but the only thing they did was to play with the twigs, in fact, all 4 of them thought they were something other than twigs, they tried EATING them, and played with them. When I put an empty nesting box, all 4 of them got in it and played around until they had to go in their boxes and then they started playing with their droppings every day. I tried putting many nesting boxes from time to time but all they did was that they used it to eat their droppings literally. Do any of my doves know how to be a parent? Because at this point I don't think they are going to have any squabs. 

Third question: Before laying an egg, the female acts like she is going to die, she looks tired and can't even walk straight, after the lay, she sleeps like a sick bird who is about to die for hours then after a day, she recovers. Is this normal? i don't want to lose her in the future during the process of laying an egg.

Fourth question: The first egg she laid, she immediately abandoned it and we tried putting her near the egg so that she could sit on it, but after a while, while she was walking around, she popped the egg open with her fingernails. Now, after laying this egg, she left it to sleep on her perch. I don't think she knows how to incubate an egg. And aren't they supposed to lay 2 eggs? In the past they have only laid 2. Is this egg fertile? Please help me..

These are all the questions I wanted to ask for the first pair of doves I had. Now for the second pair.

Question One - This couple is not actually a couple. The male coos all the time to woo the female but the female never gives any response to him. Then the male beats the female up. We even tried putting them in a smaller cage by themselves. Is there any way we can force breed them?

Question Two - Now, this question will be a little different than the others. All these birds love me when I try to pet them, they play with my hair& with my beard, they jump on my arm etc. with the exception of this one male bird. As soon as I approach him with my hand, the pupils of his eyes shrink and the red eyerings get bigger. And all you can see in his eyes is anger. He avoids me like the plague and when I take him in my hands, he does his best to set himself free. After I let him go, he 'laughs'' at me because he gets very very angry. Lately, he started getting this twitch, when I try approaching him with my hand, his eyes become red but he also starts scratching the back of his right wing for a few seconds, looks into my face and goes scratching again. Should I stop playing with him? Can I make him like me?

These are all the questions I have. Any answers would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.


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## Lefty07 (Dec 30, 2009)

Hopefully, you do not have all 4 doves in the same cage and are expecting them to breed successfully? That is asking for trouble. Each pair needs their own space and 2 pairs together will disrupt each other, _even if_ one pair is not _really_ a pair. Nesting doves should be 1 pair per cage. And, of course, the parents should be unrelated, to avoid genetic problems with the babies from inbreeding.

Next, it is normal for doves (and most other birds) to lay an egg and not incubate it right away. They may not start incubating until they lay the second egg. This way, the babies hatch the same day. You don't need to do anything to make the hen sit on her egg(s). Just leave them alone and they will figure it out. If your doves are laying eggs on the bottom of the cage, they may or may not be fertile. They could just be "accidents". But they may not want to sit if you have too many doves in the cage, there is no real nest, or there is too much commotion. 

Have you supplied them with a proper nest to lay their eggs in? A deep bowl, shallow box, or shallow basket, filled with hay, is what to use. I have even used old Easter baskets attached to the side of their cage. But doves will not use any type of closed "box", like a finch or parakeet "birdhouse" type nesting box. They will only breed in open nests. For nesting material, you can buy clean hay at a pet store, sold for rabbits. And you should avoid letting them nest right on the flat bottom of the cage, with no concave "nest" structure, because the young sometimes develop a condition called splayed legs, a deformity which is very hard to fix. But if you give them a nest (a deep bowl, shallow box, or shallow basket, filled with hay), you can put that on the bottom of the cage. Or you can attach it higher up in the cage, if you can do so safely so it doesn't tip. And BTW, putting a nest in the cage, while you have more than one pair in there, could *really* start the fighting between the pairs - so I suggest getting them _one pair per cage_ before you put in any nests.

You mentioned an egg breaking because a dove stepped on it. That _might_ indicate weak eggshells and a calcium deficiency. Nesting doves need extra calcium. Make sure you are supply them with hi-cal grit, crushed oyster shells, and/or crushed eggshells in a separate bowl. They should have this all the time and especially when breeding. You can also buy liquid supplements for birds that you mix with water, to augment the calcium levels for breeding birds, such as "Calciboost" (available over the internet):
http://www.allbirdproducts.com/newproductpages/calciboost.html

Regarding your other questions about cooing, wings twitching and pupils shrinking: these are all normal dove behaviors, mostly associated with courtship and breeding (the pupil shrinking could be aggression too). Note, in nature, that most birds don't touch or "pet" each other _except_ when mating. If you are handling, stroking, or petting your doves, your actions are probably being interpreted as sexual. Generally, pet birds either *don't like being petted* (because you are being "too forward") or they *like it too much* (confusing them into wanting to mate with you). That's why it is best not to pet, stroke, or otherwise grab your doves. "Petting" is a mammal thing, not a bird thing. Better to just be "friends" and let them sit freely on your arm, shoulder, or finger, at their own will, and leave it at that. I'd say in the case of your male dove, he just doesn't like being petted - you are either scaring him or just being "too familiar" (or, possibly to him, even too sexual?) - so you need to stop. He will probably not come around and "like it".

Lastly, you mentioned that you had a second pair of doves that didn't like each other. There's not too much you can do about that. But giving them their own cage, so they have their own space, may help. But sometimes male doves get aggressive about breeding, especially if they are otherwise stressed from over-crowding or another male closeby, and the females just don't want to breed. If giving them their own cage (and plenty of room) doesn't work, then you just have to separate them or the female will get beat up.

If you get your doves to breed successfully, a great supplemental food to offer the nesting parents is *finely mashed* hard-boiled egg. They will feed this to the young and it will provide extra protein and nutrients. Non-breeding doves can also get mashed hard-boiled egg but it is very rich and so should only be an occasional treat, every few weeks. But the juvenile doves, after they are separated from their parents but before they are fully grown, will like it more often.

Some photos of my nesting doves:


At about this age (below), I often take the babies out of the nest for a minute, pull out the dirty nest material and replace it with fresh hay - and then put the babies right back in. The parents don't seem to mind. It's not necessary but it is cleaner for the babies.


An Easter basket is the perfect nest for doves!


Baby doves, handled early, become great tame pets. It broke my heart to sell these. They would fly right to me when I called them.


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## B_Apple1987 (Jun 29, 2013)

Thank you for your well detailed answer. I have seperated the other two from my original couple, I'll just wait and see what happens with the egg now. 
I provided them with a nest, an open nest made out of a shoebox, with twigs, they did not like it one bit. I even put in a plastic basket, they decided to use it as a toilet. I decided to put in a shelf now, I'll talk about this later.
First things first: I need to feed them with more nutritious food.


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## B_Apple1987 (Jun 29, 2013)

The first picture shows the shelf I had in the cage for the birds to walk on. When the birds decided to lay their eggs on it, I removed it and put in that custom made flat surfaced shelf. They did not like the nesting box, they always cooed on the shelf with bars and laid their first egg on it.


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## Lefty07 (Dec 30, 2009)

I think now you should just give them some time. Having them as 1 pair per cage and providing an open nest may work, but it may take a while. As I mentioned, sometimes doves lay some eggs when they are not really 100% ready to breed.

Meanwhile, maybe you can try the egg food and see if that stimulates them? Also, maybe put some twigs or straw on the bottom of the cage. I find just having nesting material in the cage gets them interested in breeding. They will start playing with the sticks and usually then "finish" their nest to their own liking (and then finally settle in and breed).


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## Kat’s Doves (Dec 9, 2020)

Lefty07 said:


> Hopefully, you do not have all 4 doves in the same cage and are expecting them to breed successfully? That is asking for trouble. Each pair needs their own space and 2 pairs together will disrupt each other, _even if_ one pair is not _really_ a pair. Nesting doves should be 1 pair per cage. And, of course, the parents should be unrelated, to avoid genetic problems with the babies from inbreeding.
> 
> Next, it is normal for doves (and most other birds) to lay an egg and not incubate it right away. They may not start incubating until they lay the second egg. This way, the babies hatch the same day. You don't need to do anything to make the hen sit on her egg(s). Just leave them alone and they will figure it out. If your doves are laying eggs on the bottom of the cage, they may or may not be fertile. They could just be "accidents". But they may not want to sit if you have too many doves in the cage, there is no real nest, or there is too much commotion.
> 
> ...


Thank you for all your information. I am new to owning doves. My question is my pair had one dove that survived he/she is three weeks old . Is sitting and eating at bottom of cage .He flaps his wings. Then do you start flying? Can he stay share cage with parents when fully grown?


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

He will soon start flying. If he turn out to be a male, the dad will be fighting with him. Sharing a small cage won't be an option.


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